Mobile providers join to launch targeted ad service

Five unnamed mobile service providers have joined with ValueClick to launch a service that targets better demographic targeting of mobile ads. The mechanism used for ad selection is heavily linked to behavioral targeting, and it seems clear that the move is the long-awaited move by some mobile operators to gain some traction for themselves in the mobile advertising space. However, the ValueClick partnership doesn’t necessarily provide them the means of truly controlling their destiny, and we believe the mechanisms used in the trial (at least from what has been described) to be primitive. This comes as an analyst firm predicts that mobile search ad revenue will reach nearly $5 billion by 2013.