Don't want to type a long query, like "U.S. economic stimulus plan", on your T-Mobile G1? Just say it. Or, perhaps you'd like to browse the web without sliding out the keyboard? Well now you can. For those of you with a G1 in the US, the next time you get an Android update (which will gradually roll out starting this week), you'll be able to start searching -- and surfing -- with your voice. And you can use the feature quickly and easily because it's integrated in the Android browser and the home screen search widget.

You can start searching by voice with just the touch of a button. On the home screen search widget, look for the microphone button right next to the search box and the search button. Press that button, wait for the "Speak now" prompt, and then say your query. You'll soon see search results formatted for the Android browser.

Also, whenever you're in the Android browser, just press the "Menu" button and tap "Search". You'll see the same microphone button there too.

This makes doing successive voice-triggered searches -- and mobile web surfing -- easy and fast. Try speaking your favorite web sites, then tapping on the top search results to get to them.

Note that you can use the "Voice Dialer" app, which you can find on the main app menu, to search for your contacts with your voice to make a call. Or, simply long-press the green call button and follow the prompts on the splash screen.

Finally, if your speech is not interpreted correctly, try tapping the down arrow to the right of the search box and you'll see a drop down list of other suggested queries. Look for your query there. In the meantime, we're constantly working to improve our algorithms, so stay tuned for future improvements.

Posted by Jeff Hamilton, Software Engineer, Android team

Posted by Alexandra Kenin, Product Marketing Manager, Mobile Ads

In my last post, some of you expressed concern that intrusive and oversized advertisements on a small screen could result in a poor mobile user experience. You asked how we strike the delicate balance between ensuring a good user experience while providing effective advertising. At Google, we care very deeply about this balance and we're constantly striving to make sure that you have the best experience possible. In this post, I'll tell you more about some of the things we're doing to try to achieve this.

At the core of striking this balance is working hard to improve ad quality. The more relevant the ads, the fewer ads there need to be. In fact, when you go to google.com on your phone and do a search, we now return no more than two text ads per query. These ads can appear above or below the organic search results and most take up just two lines of text on larger mobile screens. And while a single ad may appear at the top or bottom of a mobile content page, a double ad unit can only appear at the bottom of a page. Watch the video below to learn more about ad size and placement.

Of course, we also want to make sure our advertisers have a good experience with Google mobile ads. Fewer ads per page can be beneficial for an advertiser because there is less clutter on each page and each ad gets more visibility. More importantly, showing relevant ads and maintaining a good user experience results in better click-through rates and return on investment.

I hope this addresses some of your questions. Thanks so much for your comments on my last post and keep submitting more questions. This is your opportunity to guide the direction of this series!