With all the right players in the market, 2008 will be the year the mobile ad industry really starts to experiment with targeting capabilities… and boundaries. Advertisers are used to planning most of their media dollars against some form of target, and as the story goes, the more targeted, the less wasted and the more effective. With the evolution of internet advertising, digital media was seen as an information goldmine. Not only were there myriad details to target against, but there was also the new ability to track and measure performance of nearly every dollar spent. Well, brands certainly won't be settling for anything less when it comes to mobile, and it goes without saying that on such a personal device, the target-able details will surely increase. Again, like the internet, mobile targeting is also a hotbed for privacy issues. While solutions providers like Ad Infuse are built to uphold privacy standards, as targeting capabilities mature, some companies are bound to take it too far and the percolating privacy concerns will indeed take center stage.

Mobile goes mainstream as the experience gets customized
Significant advancements continue to occur with mobile devices that allow consumers to fully customize everything from features to functionality. As multi-use, media-centric devices like the iPhone proliferate and improve, two things will happen simultaneously:

1) The digitally savvy consumer will come to expect no less than the best of everything available at their fingertips.
2) More and more creative minds will take on the challenge of innovating and integrating the mobile experience.

With the opening up of mobile devices to outside developers, we will continue to see a host of widgets and other such applications to customize and enhance overall mobile usage. With such evolution and significant personalization, more consumer needs will be met and the result will be overall increased adoption of the mobile web. Other developments, such as the continued convergence of on- and off-deck access to content, increasing availability of ad-supported and free media, further development of mobile social networking and community building, will also contribute to rapid growth in 2008. The concurrent progression of these elements will continue to make the mobile web a destination point for consumers across the globe, and in turn will fuel the growth of the mobile advertising industry at large.

With the combination of advancements in advertising and mobile technologies, 2008 is certainly shaping up to be an exciting year. And as the big brands look to reach consumers with targeted, multi-format mobile advertising campaigns, the real leaders in this industry will step up as mobile goes mainstream.

Brian Cowley is president and CEO of Ad Infuse, Inc.