Mobile advertising heating up

Just as we predicted at the beginning of the year, mobile advertising is heating up. Yahoo and go2 Directory Systems are set to announce a deal today that will put Yahoo-sponsored listings on the go2 Directory local-search Web site carried by Verizon Wireless, Sprint and Cingular Wireless. All of the major operators have been studying ways to bring in advertising without annoying customers, and it looks like they are ready to move this year.

Several operators already allow existing content publishers that reside on the carrier's deck to insert in-house advertisements, and they are looking at bringing outside advertising onto the carrier deck as a way to subsidize content on their portals. The bottom line: They know there is a limit to how much customers are willing to pay for content, while advertisers see a captive audience in the millions of mobile customers who turn on their handsets everyday.

To read more about the advertising trend:
- check out this article from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)