“Verizon to Allow Ads on It’s Mobile Phones”, this is a good read.

“Beginning early next year, Verizon Wireless will allow placement of banner advertisements on news, weather, sports and other Internet sites that users visit and display on their mobile phones, company executives said.”

No specific mention of the underlying delivery method of mobile ads, but it’ll probably go something like this: text and static graphics (1st generation), video and other interactive content (2nd generation? if, ever!?) …

What about Flash Lite? Well, at some point Flash Lite content ads *might* be possible in the future (2nd gen ads, perhaps) … but, please let’s not go there yet though … Why you ask?

Personally, I think introducing Flash Lite ads so early could be potentially dangerous, especially if done incorrectly, or abused as we’ve seen on the desktop.

Maybe sometime down the road, there might be an ecosystem for mainstream Flash Lite ads if they can be done correctly and consistently. Granted, this shouldn’t be a problem for on-deck ads … so perhaps this may appear sooner rather than later, no one knows yet.

Based on the article, it’ll probably be text to start with. Yes, play it smart … K.I.S.S.

This will get a chance for Verizon users to get used to the idea of text or static graphical ads on their mobile devices (I think Sprint and even Helio (here in the US) are doing this to some degree as we speak). Hopefully this is done unobtrusively … gmail style (if you will).

When’s the last time you noticed a goggle or gmail ad? Me? I hardly even notice at them nowadays. I’ve trained myself to ignore them I suppose … but on mobile it’s a different story … smaller screen, means less screen real estate, etc. This is an encouraging statement:

“Verizon officials said their initial foray would be a cautious one — they will limit where ads can appear, and exclude certain kinds of video clips — and thus may invite greater demand to place ads then they can accommodate.”

But this statement, leads me to believe, Flash Lite might actually have a part to play, at some point:

Advertisers “are crazed to get information� onto the phones, Mr. Goodrich said. But the effectiveness “will be really limited until you’ve enabled site, sound and motion.�

But Mr. Harrobin said that in the tests, consumers did seem to accept a single banner at the top of a page.

So Verizon, yes, be careful not to piss off your customer base. Start with 1st gen static text and graphics, and work from there. With 2nd gen ads … think about being smart: make the ads transparent or stick them on sub-LCD displays. Better yet still, utilize wallpaper and/or screensaver modes when the user is essentially idle.

Once you’ve nailed down how users accept ads, then use Flash Lite and make them interactive … make them fun, make them compelling. Customers will then accept ads into their mobile user experiences. Build, deploy, test, evaluate, simplify, iterate. Apply Kaizen!

Will we be getting Viagra ads now on Verizon? God, I don’t think so (I hope not). Eventually, I think it will happen, but probably not very soon. Based on this article, I think we’ll see some savvy mobile marketing campaigns first on Verizon.

What is the state of mobile adveristing in your region? SMS? text? video?

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I wonder if we’re not to far off from RFID + mobile ads. Just maybe … if the experience was somehow managable and “personal-able” … not be quite so obtrusive … Imagine, walking down the street and your mobile turns a bluish hue to indicate a gadget on your wishlist is on sale in the store on the 3rd floor … you press a key and get a Flash Lite ad enticing you to enter the store (a 10% mobile rebate coupon?) …

Hmmm, just a thought (forgoing all the technological, logistical, and potential privacy issues).

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 28th, 2006 at 2:24 am and is filed under Flash, Mobile, Verizon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.