"In five years, the wireless internet will be bigger than the desktop internet," says wireless analyst Rajeev Chand in a USA Today article by Leslie Cauley (1/10/08). This presents fresh challenges for Google, in particular, because both the algorithm and the ad model it uses may not work as well on mobile devices as it does on the desktop. Dan Olschwang, ceo of JumpTap. says Google must "seriously overhaul" its approach. Specifically, says Dan, "If somebody asks, 'Where is the closest gas station? they need that information now, and they don't need 20,000 results." In addition, mobile devices "have historically been off-limits" to the kind of banner ads that are a staple of the desktop experience.

This is a key reason why Google announced Android -- a consortium of 33 companies whose goal is "to create 'consumer choice' by making it easier for customers to use any wireless application they want." According to wireless industry analyst Jane Zweig: "This is about extending Google's presence in people's lives under the guise that the wireless industry isn't providing an open environment (for applications)." Google meanwhile enjoys a certain level of cover in this scenario, because its ads are being served to someone else's customers -- those of the wireless carriers.

Any customer complaints about ads on their mobile devices would likely be directed at the likes of T-Mobile, for example, whose Cole Brodman, is none too eager to put hard-won customer relationships at risk. But T-Mobile is playing along with Google anyway. "For us, the choice was to be part of it or watch it happen," he says. "We chose to be part of it." Small wonder: Online retail sales totalled some $116 billion in 2007, says JupiterResearch, and some 38 wireless devices are sold every second, according to International Data Base: "At that rate, within 24 months another billion devices will be added to the 2.5 billion currently in circulation." ~ Tim Manners, editor