What's hot: Mobile advertising

So confident is Google in the potential of mobile advertising that the Internet giant staked its wireless future on ad revenues--its much-ballyhooed open-source mobile platform Android effectively turns upside down the conventional wireless business model, giving away software and services in exchange for income derived from advertising efforts. As location-based search, sponsored content, idle-screen pitches and related mobile marketing initiatives grow in scope and reach--and as targeted, contextual campaigns slowly but surely become the norm--forward-thinking operators will be forced to give serious consideration to embracing advertising-based consumer models alongside traditional subscription-based services.