Handled with sensitivity and intelligence, however, wireless advertising revenue can become as valuable to wireless service providers, advertisers and publishers as commercials are to TV networks. The key to the adoption of this emerging new medium is an unfaltering compliance with privacy policies coupled with a basic intention to offer services that a consumer values. Examples include a sponsored news update that a user specifically requests or coupons that coincide with the specific likes and interests indicated in a user's profile. Flooding consumers with random spam will only serve to alienate them and lose their business. Offering uniquely personalized, opt-in advertising, on the other hand, will open doors for wireless marketing to subsidize the wireless Web.
Early Signs Are Good Early signs of consumer acceptance are promising.
In our first week of launching our wireless network, we delivered over one million ad impressions, and we measured a click-through rate of more than 15 percent. In addition to online stores, wireless advertising opens doors for local retailers. There are a number of business models, but the basic premise is similar to that of wired ad networks in which advertisers rely on the network to provide real estate from publishers and serve up ads, coupons and promotions to relevant consumers. However, wireless marketing carries its own set of complexities. First, the ad network must build in the technology necessary to gracefully contend with the 50-plus types of mobile devices, all of which require a different method of receiving ads.