MySpace is no doubt getting its butt kicked on the desktop by rival Facebook, but the former heavyweight champ is taking the fight to a mobile device near you. According to Mobile Marketing Watch, “MySpace is reporting that its mobile usage increased nearly 500 perent last year, with users ‘now generating 7 billion mobile page views per month.’”

What’s driving the growth? Applications, apparently. According to MySpace vice president and general manager of mobile operations John Faith, who spoke at the Nokia Developer Summit in Monte Carlo, in the last year, “MySpace went from less than 10 percent of its mobile traffic originating from mobile applications (vs. the mobile web) to approximately 35 percent.”

All impressive, but maybe most interesting is the estimate that 50 percent of all MySpace traffic “within the next few years,” will be mobile. Not sure what “next few years” means, but it sounds sooner rather than later.

Facebook, however, is likely on a similar path. We noted in Feb. 2009 that 13 percent of all FB traffic was via mobile. And that number has likely gone up since then.

As social networking sites gain traction with recruiting, the mobile component cannot be ignored.

So many things about mobile remind us of the early days of the Web, or at least the Web since Netscape. From the simplicity of design to the walled gardens to the rate of growth and excitement, the aroma of 1998 is undeniable. And search is no exception.

And like search on the desktop, everyone is looking for a better, more relevant way to do things. Like Google’s PageRank helped separate them from the competition - and still does - the question of what’s good search on a mobile device has yet to be answered. Google will do their best to figure it out and make a significant play thanks to the shear gravitas of the brand and how it defines online search to so many consumers.

But as mobile users scour their devices for the best user experience possible, application stores are taking off as a key platform. All criticism of BlackBerry aside, searching for apps has real promise to help companies elbow their way into the mindscape of a lot of users.

There’s no data that we know of to support this opinion, but thinking that a growing number of people connect the dots when asking, What’s a good site for news?, by heading to their mobile device’s app store for an experience that’s amenable isn’t much of a stretch.

So, the question Are app stores the new search engines? seems legit. And as such, does an entirely new discipline of SEO follow suit? And then does spam bring up the rear?

Apps are delivered to users by popularity by default. The number of stars an application has can undoubtedly float them to the of the mountain or sink them to the bottom of the sea. So, the undeniable practice of outsourcing positive reviews is bound to happen, assuming it’s not happening already.

As app stores continue to gain steam for a growing number of users, rethinking search - and spam - are inevitable.

A recent WSJ article entitled, Big U.S. Companies Tap Into Mobile Wave, outlined how some of America’s biggest brands are leveraging mobile to connect with users and prospects. It’s a fantastic wake-up call to the groundswell of mobile that all organizations should be paying attention.

Personal highlight:

We want to move with this fast-moving tide, said Douglas Brown, senior vice president of mobile product development at Bank of America Corp., which now has 2.3 million customers doing their banking via mobile devices.

Let me read that again. Yep, it says 2.3 million. That’s a lot of people doing something that arguably is an at-home activity or something relegated to ATM visits. I’m always amused at anyone who says people won’t checkout employment opportunities on their mobile device. Au contraire, I retort.

Wonder if the recruiting team at Bank of America is utilizing mobile to recruit? Doubtful. I know most people aren’t there mentally - especially employers who are slow to innovate and take risks in relation to marketers - but mobile is simply not a niche market. Checkout this quote from the story:

“The audiences we serve are using mobile devices non-stop,” said Allen Duan, vice president of digital distribution at MTV Networks. “Mobile is essential to reach our audience, and it’s also a revenue driver for us.”

Mobile is an idea whose time has come. Hey, if The Wall Street Journal says it, it’s gotta be true.

Crunchgear is reporting the growing importance of mobile devices to social networking giant Facebook. “Facebook strategists clearly see the potential for growth in the mobile sector, seeing as 13 percent of their users log in from their phones.”

With the likelihood that traditional desktop growth opportunities are slowing for Facebook, this is no surprise. Personally, about half my Facebook usage is now mobile.

It’s interesting to note that as more and more employers are blocking Facebook - and other sites of their ilk - that employees are accessing such sites from the phones. Take that, boss! It’s a trend that’s likely to impact job search as well, as a growing number of employers crack down on career destinations.

I fully expect future phone purchases to have direct access to Facebook. Maybe it’ll be just like the Internet Explorer icon that’s present on just about every PC bought today. And it makes sense: The company has done a great job providing mobile-friendly Web sites for a wide variety of devices. The article points to deals with Palm and Nokia, but the race is certainly on for domination of the mobile “desktop.”

And no surprise the article touches on MySpace, saying “We’ve also heard that MySpace might be announcing support for Nokia and Palm phones (which wouldn’t be surprising given that its CEO is giving the event’s keynote).”