Do you use mobile search? I do. Probably not as much as I should though. Even Google’s voice search can be cumbersome at times… but still, I’ve been helped out of a few situations by tapping out a search query on my iPhone.

The world’s fave search engine made huge steps today to stake its claim for the domination of the mobile search market by announcing the launch of its latest product: Google Goggles*.

Google Goggles lets you use pictures taken with your mobile phone to search the web. It’s ideal for things that aren’t easy to describe in words. There’s no need to type or speak your query – all you have to do is open the app, snap a picture, and wait for your search results.

Google Goggles works better with certain types of queries. Try taking pictures of books & DVDs, landmarks, logos, contact info, artwork, businesses, products, barcodes, or text. Currently, it’s not so good when taking pictures of animals, plants, cars, furniture, or apparel.

So the visual search concept is simple yet a complete game changer for Android handset owners. Imagine being able to take a photo of a bottle of wine and being sent the nearest retailer’s address. Or having the ability to snap the cover of a CD or a book and being sent real time reviews and prices.

This is mindblowing stuff which will definitely have Bing chasing its tail for a while. I suspect facial recognition is the big one here but until Google is clear with where it stand on personal privacy issues I’m sure it will leave it off the list of cool features.

The following video scratches the surface on Google Goggle’s possibilities. I particularly like the OCR business card scanning feature.

[If you cannot view the embedded clip, click here]

The ambitions are suitably high for Google’s visual search. Talk of being able to identify a tree from a photo of its leaf or taking a snap of a chess game only to have Google suggest a next move based on the pieces’ spatial positioning on the board.

Usage Examples:

1. Become a wine aficionado:

2. Blag your way around art:

3. Throw away your tourist guides forever:

4. Augmented Reality (AR) mapping:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrE7yVJaA08

5. Instant book reviews:

6. Biz Card scanner:

7. Scan a logo and get company info:

Goosebumps.

*Google Goggles is not to be confused with Google Mail Goggles which is something completely different.

Note: Google Goggles is currently available for Android devices running Android 1.6 and above.

This kinda stuff makes me want to ditch my iPhone and purchase an Android phone. I don’t think that Google will turn this into an iPhone app any time soon, and even if it does, I doubt Apple will be quick to authenticate the app (remember Google Latitude?).