For Pete's Sake, Don't Base (Mobile) Forecasts on User Attitudes Toward Advertising

David Card | April 14, 2008, 08:42 PM

It's a little disconcerting that the normally supply-side biased -- and that's a good thing in many cases -- Silicon Alley Insider parrots lame not-all-that-relevant consumer research on mobile ads. Hell, everybody hates ads if you ask them. But Amuhricans sure love free stuff.

Mobile advertising will happen. And it's not dependent on delivering better Web browsing, another thing most consumers don't do, or see much value in, yet. No, it's because otherwise, mobile content won't get paid for, since consumers won't foot the bill (a year ago, 1% of US cell phone users had paid for mobile video and 7% had paid for games) and carriers don't see content as a churn reducer, but rather as an ARPU increaser.

No, we as an industry haven't figured out what mobile advertising will look like yet. But we will. And search will likely be a huge part, as will sponsored content.

Jupiter's wishy washy forecast. Just kidding. We're not wishy washy. It's just going to take more than five years for this market to develop...