MarysHeadlines

Just last week, Yahoo came out with something unique. They’re going to be launching a mobile ad network that will allow publishers to put their content on mobile phones. Now, if you’re not quite sure exactly what that means, hang on, because this could be the latest craze since downloading tunes into your Ipod. It certainly is worth looking into.

Basically, what Yahoo is going to do is help publishers restructure their content so that consumers can access it through the Yahoo mobile search service. And, if that’s not enough, they’re also going to be launching a mobile advertising network that will display ads right alongside of the publisher’s content. How’s that for having your cake and eat it too? My bet’s on to see what people pay more attention to, the content or the ads.

Seriously, this is big news. Not only do we get to be bombarded with ads on our TV and radio but now when we whip out our cell phone to call aunt Martha to wish her a happy birthday, we can be joyously greeted by a friendly voice asking us if we’ve had our daily supply of fiber. Oh joy, I can hardly wait.

Actually, Yahoo does concede that having more ads on people’s cell phones is most likely going to bother some cell users, they insist that these services will make it so that they will be able to provide mobile users with more relevant content. They believe that the benefits will far outweigh the downside.

Who are they kidding? I don’t know about you, but the last thing I want when I pull out my cell phone to make or answer an important call, is to be bothered by some stupid advertisement. I mean do these people REALLY think that ANYBODY is going to pay attention to this stuff?

Anyway, getting back to the news, as of this point in time, Yahoo only has three publishers all lined up and ready to go. However, they do claim that in the very near future they will be adding quite a few publishers to their arsenal. Oh joy.

The whole Yahoo network is actually composed of several elements. The first is a mobile ad network. This network serves to let publishers choose the kind of ads they want to run next to their content. Well, I guess that’s a good thing. You certainly wouldn’t want an ad for Ripple alongside a book about how to get sober. I think that would be quite counterproductive and also give the consumer a stroke trying to figure out whether to read the book or just get rip roaring drunk.

The second service is a Mobile Content Engine. This is the service that actually allows the publishers to deliver their content to each persons’ mobile phone. Can’t see much harm in that, unless of course this content comes via a guided missile.

And finally the last two services, Mobile Media Directory and Mobile Site Submit, make it easy for users to find their content. They do this by adding things like ratings to the content. Great, we’ll get to know in advance if the stuff they’ll be bugging us with is even worth looking at.

Okay, maybe I sound a little jaded, but what happened to the days when we had a phone and all we did was use it to make and receive phone calls?

Now THAT is a novel concept.

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Mary Murtha

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