Got a smartphone? Google knows how you use it.

No, this isn’t another editorial about smartphone tracking. This is a little on the lighter side … or is it? Google recently commissioned a survey to determine what smartphone owners primarily use their phones for and how they use them in terms of consumer searches, online shopping and response to mobile advertising.

Here’s the gist of what the market research firm, Ipsos OTX, found and what the Google spies uncovered:

1) Smartphone users are talented multi-taskers. Here’s the gruesome truth about what else they’re doing while using their phones.

a.72% of smartphone users use their phones while consuming other media.
b.70% use their smartphones while in a store.
c.33% of smartphone users use their phones while watching TV.
d.39% of users admit to having used their smarpthone while going to the bathroom.

2) Smartphone users are looking for you on their mobile devices.

a.95% of smartphone users have looked for local information.
b.88% of users who seek local info take action within a day.
c.77% use their phones primarily to search (57% of whom search primarily for news; 51% for dining; 49% entertainiment; 47% shopping; 32% technology; 31% travel-related info; 26% finance; and 17% automotive).
d.61% of those seeking local info were searching for a phone number to call a business.
e.59% of those seeking local info were searching for an address to visit a business.
f.45% use their phones to help plan activities.
g.44% of those seeking local info were searching to actually make a purchase.

3) Smartphone users use their phones to purchase the things they want.

a.90% of those who use their phones to search have take action as a result of a mobile search, with 53% leading to a purchase.
b.24% of users have recommended a brand or product to others as a result of a smartphone search.
c.79% of the survey respondents use their smartphones to help with shopping.
d.74% of smartphone shoppers wind up making a purchase.
e.35% purchase via their phones.
f.27% of smartphone purchases were made through a mobile website.
g.22% of smartphone purchases were made through apps.

4) Smartphone users will become customers in-person and online.

a.76% purchase conventionally in the store.
b.59% purchase online via a computer.

5) Smartphone users respond to traditional and mobile advertising.

a.71% of users search on their smartphones because of an ad they saw, whether from traditional media, online ads or mobile ads.
b.82% of users notice mobile ads.
c.42% of those who notice mobile ads click on the ad.
d.27% of those who notice mobile ads contact the business.
e.35% of those who notice mobile ads visit the website.
f.49% of those who notice mobile ads make a purchase.

6) Smartphone users LOVE their phones.

a.20% report that they’d give up their cable TV in order to keep using their smartphones.

So what does this all mean for your business? Well, these are only the results of a survey, but the trend is clear and certainly impressive. Coupled with what we reported in an earlier blog—that smartphone ownership has tripled in the last two years and that by the end of 2011, it’s expected that nearly a third of all U.S. cell phones will be smart ones—the argument for mobile-friendly websites is nearly inarguable, or will be soon.

Smart marketers are looking at how to reach their customers on smartphones. Just sayin’.