Look Out -- Yahoo Testing Mobile Phone Ads
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2052821,00.asp

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc. is to begin delivering graphical ads to
mobile phones as part of a test of how it can extend corporate brand
marketing on the Web into the wireless market, the company said on Monday.

The Internet media company said it will start an initial public evaluation
later this week in the United States of slimmed-down banner ads and similar
advertising to the small, but growing number of users of Yahoo's Mobile Web
service.

"The challenge is that because cellphone screens have limited real estate,
ads have to more relevant," said Julie Ask, an analyst with JupiterResearch.

"There is an extra burden" compared to ads delivered to computer users on
the Web.

The brand advertising trial comes a month after Yahoo began a parallel test
to deliver relevant text advertisements tied to searches phone users can
perform on mobile Web browsers. That test is taking place in the United
States and Britain.

Banners ads are nothing new on cellphones. Start-ups like Third Screen Media
of Boston already work with ad agencies, buyers and mobile carriers to
deliver ads to wireless users.

But as more and more U.S. mobile phone users own phones with fast Internet
access, major Internet players are eyeing the market. On the computer Web,
Yahoo is the largest provider of image-based, brand advertising and the No.
2 supplier of online search advertising behind rival Google Inc..

It's a potentially lucrative market.

Because consumers carry mobile phones with them around town, advertisers are
willing to pay several times more for wireless ads as they for standard
computer ads over the Internet.

"The bottom line is there should be a premium for mobile advertising," Ask
said.

Now consumers can click on interactive ads to learn more details about an
advertiser's offer or to call the advertiser. The ads, which measure 150
pixels by 21 elements, are images that take up a small portion at the top of
the screen.

Yahoo's Mobile Web service is available on most phones offered by major
wireless operators in the United States. It gives consumers access to a
basic set of Yahoo services, including search, e-mail, news, stock quotes
and sports.

JupiterResearch estimates that 10 percent of U.S. mobile users browse the
Internet on their phones. But only 2-3 percent check the Web on their phones
at least five times a week-a key measure of active Internet use and
advertising readiness.

"Now is the time for Yahoo to experiment," Ask said.

As more U.S. users sign up for high-speed mobile Internet services and buy
newer phones, "Eventually consumers will treat the phone as a mini-Web
experience," Ask predicts.

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"A Borg is never lonely"