The mobile world is keen to replicate the success of Google (and to a lesser extent others) in making advertising pay on the web. Mobile advertising was one of the major themes at the last two CTIA shows and will likely continue to be so. But I always find myself wondering whether mobile advertising isn’t just another example of these companies doing what they want, not what their customers want.
Pretty much all advertising, Superbowl notwithstanding, is an attempt to force on consumers something they don’t want. And the last thing I want is another venue (my cellphone) where I will be subjected to it. Isn’t this one of the biggest reasons why the pause and FF buttons on your remote are so important? I certainly understand the constant drive towards new sources of revenue, and there are some interesting business models which rely entirely on advertising, but I can’t help but feel that in this case mobile operators are inherently fighting their customers. If they were to use advertising on an opt-in basis to reduce service fees I can just see customers responding to it, but I assume they’re just going to use it to grow revenues, and it will end up being a source of considerable friction with their customers.
