MediaPost’s OnlineMediaDaily reports on a speech given by Team Detroit SVP Cary Tilds at CTIA Wireless in Las Vegas:

Mobile is mainstream–no longer emerging–which means advertisers and marketers need to be always on to reach consumers, according to Tilds, an executive from an agency created about a year ago combining JWT, Y&R Wunderman, Ogilvy and GroupM. “The more mobile data people use, the more they search, and I think it will continue to increase this way,” she said. “People are using mobile for impulse local searches, impulses, and restaurant and entertainment. Today, hotels make up about two thirds of the pay-per-call ads served.”

What do consumers search for on mobile phones? People look for local listings first–which gives smaller businesses an opportunity to reach a wider audience, followed by news and information, and mobile content. Tilds told conference attendees it’s not just about sending and receiving text, but rather about finding things online to consume.

What it means: mobile and local search, approaching a turning point. Will become strategic before the end of the year for anyone playing in the local search space. The merger of Local Matters and mobilePeople makes complete sense in that context.