Yesterday’s keynote at Web 2.0 Expo featured an interview of Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google Inc. by John Battelle. John asks such great questions. I really enjoyed the session, but I kept finding myself distracted by Eric’s horrific outfit; it was reminiscent of Mr. Rogers (remember “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood?”). He needs a fashion consultant. Heaven knows he could afford one. 😉 I doubt even Bill Gates would be caught dead wearing that sweater and tie combo.

And what’s up with Eric not knowing what “Punch the Monkey” was? Guess he’s never surfed the Web?

All right. Enough of the useless banter. I’ll cut to the chase…

What’s the key takeaway from Eric’s keynote? For me, it was what Eric sees as the two key growth areas: Mobile and Local. Whether or not you want to be on Google’s radar and get acquired by them, this was an important statement. Sure, web search is where the action is currently. But if you aren’t ALREADY delving into mobile search and local search, you’re already behind. Mobile and local will be HUGE. Mark my words… er, mark Eric’s words.

Watch the WebProNews recording: