Mobile ads - wait until when?

“What’s more, targeting ads to mobile phone users is still in its infancy. The carriers sit on a trove of user information and location data that is largely unavailable to marketers. Brightkite hopes to change that by showing ads to users based on their physical location. In a campaign launching this month, it’s combining location and prior user behavior with augmented reality to show users on-screen product offers from nearby retail outlets.”

Mobile Ads: Wait Until Next Year

Agreed.

One of the problems with display advertising is the lack of context data. Unlike with traditional media, where a billboard is always a billboard and is seen by someone in the car while in traffic, online ads have no context attached to them.

In mobile, at least there is (in theory) location info. But because of privacy issues I’m not sure how that can scale. So what’s left for mobile advertising, then? Brand ads, 50 pixels at a time?