Comment Articles

Wireless ads - unplugged

Steven Vonder Haar AnchorDesk

Published: 28 Jun 2000 16:27 BST

The movie has played on the Web before - and let me tell you, the ending is not pretty. The idea of getting stock updates on the go, checking e-mail from remote locales and getting customised news updates at the touch of a button certainly has appeal. The question is whether a business model exists for supplying content to wireless devices.

For a reality check, let's look at the burgeoning market for streaming video. On-demand video and audio delivered via the Web can be pretty nifty. It's like having a bushel of cable television programming and video clips at one's fingertips. For those lucky enough to have broadband, the video experience can be particularly nice. About the only thing streaming video lacks these days is a business model. Indeed, attempts to develop original programming for online delivery seem particularly dicey.

Just ask the folks at the recently departed Digital Entertainment Network. There was a dot com that had a reasonable amount of industry buzz, a well-defined target market and seemingly deep pockets. It might have helped if the company could have found a way to sell some advertising - or at least some trinkets via a Web store.

As Wall Street has turned its fickle back on fledgling Internet companies, the importance of having a viable business model, or at least some type of incoming cash, is magnified all the more.

So let's go back to the wireless world, an interactive sector that makes the streaming video industry look like a bastion of business planning. At least some hopeful signs are peeking above the horizon. Last month, a fledgling industry group focusing on wireless advertising merged operations with the larger IAB (Internet Advertising Bureau). The deal set the stage for developing standards for ads delivered via wireless devices, providing hope that a viable business model may yet emerge for delivering revenue-generating ads on wireless devices.

The Wireless Advertising Industry Association, formed as an independent group in April, will now operate as a subsidiary of the IAB. The combination is expected to unify industry support for standards. While some online advertising companies will likely begin tinkering with online ads this year, the litmus test will come when major advertisers begin experimenting. And that's not likely to happen until standards are set.

Read on...