The latest headline on the Google Mobile Blog says it all: “To 100 million and beyond with Google Maps for mobile.”

Following its introduction to the mobile world some five years ago, Google Maps for mobile has reached a significant milestone.

The number of individuals now using their mobile phones instead of a piece of paper to determine their destination route (via Google Maps for mobile) has exceeded 100 million per month.

Not resting on their accomplishments, the folks at Google have been ramping up efforts in recent weeks and months to make Google maps for mobile an even more integral part of our daily lives and journeys.

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Google Mobile is making history… literally.

This week, Google is launching a new search history feature that should prove itself to be a handy tool to those of us who need a little more “history” in terms of our mobile browsing.

Designed to help users quickly get back to sites they’ve been to from Android, iPhone, or desktop searches, Google Mobile is making it possible to simply sign in and then tap the new history link at the bottom of the Google homepage.

If you’ve enabled search history in your account, the “history that you see is a combination of all your searches done while you are signed-in, whether you are searching from a laptop at home, your desktop computer at work, or your phone while on-the-go,” Google says.

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Google today announced new location-aware mobile display ads for both iPhone and Android devices, introducing iAd-like expandable ad-units that incorporate maps for click-to-call and other rich functionality.

Advertisers will be able to check a “location extension for display” box and their ads will become geo-enabled when viewed in mobile browsers or apps.  It works by including a small double-arrow in the ad-unit, that when touched, expands into a full ad that includes a map overlay with the business pinned on a Google Map.  In addition, the map overlay includes two large calls-to-action for “get directions” and “click-to-call.”

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Google Docs has gone mobile.

Google announced today that it is expanding the capabilities of the Google Docs viewer to accommodate iPhone, iPad, and Android platforms by enabling users to open a wide variety of documents via their mobile device with the Google Docs Viewer.

Since the start of 2010, Google has allowed users to store a wide variety of file types (up to 1Gb of data) online. But, until now, the cloud-based data was only accessible on non-mobile devices.

Mickey Kataria, a Google Docs software engineer, announced on the Docs Blog that the upgrade will “help you view PDFs, .ppt, .doc and .docx files you’ve uploaded to your documents list, without needing to download the file.”

Additionally, you can now “switch quickly between pages and pan/zoom within a page.”

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Strategy Analytics, a research and consulting firm, today released data from its “Global Forces Program” (GFP) that quantifies Google’s disruptive impact in the Mobile Information and Communication industry (M-ICT), while also saying that Apple and Microsoft’s behavior in the industry causes “stress, aggravated competitive dynamics and threats to profits.”

For more context, Strategy Analytic’s says its Global Forces Program scans the industry to provide early warning on disruptive forces, innovation with potential for strategic impact and emerging forces that will threaten traditional modes of operation.  GFP research studies the behaviors and strategies of a range of firms in the M-ICT space, including services providers, content providers, device manufacturers and software developers.

It doesn’t take much to realize that Google is obviously the predominant distruptive force in the mobile industry, given its open nature and sheer reach in a wide range of technology channels.  While Apple also has the potential, its closed and secretive nature hinder its overall ability, though the company’s growth in the mobile channel is no indication.

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I’ve been playing with my EVO almost nonstop ever since I got my pre-ordered phone on Friday–and didn’t even open my laptop (a MacBook, so hold the claims of bias, please!) until it came time to write this post. Despite yesterday’s news of the latest iPhone, I’m certain that HTC’s EVO, and its similarly-spec’ed Android cousins, are what will finally change the way consumers access the Internet–and thus, the way marketers reach consumers.

We’ve been saying for years that the Web and the mobile space are destined to become one. Just yesterday Morgan Stanley released a report forecasting that by 2012, smartphones will outsell all personal computers, both desktop and notebook, to the tune of almost 500MM units. (More on that report in a later post.) Soon, the marketing approach to reach consumers won’t be “mobile Internet advertising”–but simply, “Internet advertising.” One would reach them the way they’ve done on traditional Web channels, such as ads placed right on YouTube videos (the EVO defaults to HQ versions of vids and its huge screen displays them nicely); email and Facebook marketing campaigns that reach customers instantly; and the like.

That’s because in the end, consumers will respond to phones that offer the most PC-like experience. The way portable computers were first touted as “desktop replacements” a decade ago, the hottest handsets will be “laptop replacements.” And this is where the EVO succeeds.

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Google has decided to include App Store results in its mobile search page, a move that will enable users to more easily find and download their desired iPhone or iPod touch applications.

As of Wednesday, says the search giant on its official blog, if you go to Google.com on your iPhone or Android-powered device and search for an app, “we’ll show special links and content at the top of the search results.” For now, however, mobile app search results are only available in the US. Other countries and devices, though, are planned for the future.

You can also get a quick look at some of the app’s basic details including the price, rating, and publisher. These results will appear when your search pertains to a mobile application and relevant, well-rated apps are found.

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