If you connect the acquisition and investment dots, you wind up following Acuity Mobile to Navteq to Nokia. And since Acuity deals in mobile marketing, Navteq works with maps, and Nokia’s all about cell phones, this could indicate that some pretty big companies are growing more interested in location-based advertising.
Granted, a press release spelled out at least one part of the equation, but any and all credit for spotting it and making other connections goes to Om Malik. Although I’m not sure we’ve taken the time to say so, it’s great to see Malik at work again, and trying to steal credit would hardly be a nice way of welcoming him back.
To return to the story, then, it looks like Nokia might be preparing to charge into a new advertising market. Its fast start would, in turn, force others to follow. AOL’s been surprisingly on top of mobile advertising, and others have worked in that arena, as well. Also, Google’s already got the Maps for Mobile “My Location” feature going for it.
All in all, this seems like the sort of technology that could easily show up on everyone’s phones six months from now. We’re not claiming that it would show up in perfect working order, however, and we’d expect that user response would play a big role in its adoption. A poor response is, after all, most of what’s held regular mobile advertising back.
But whether the release is in six months or six years, location-based advertising seems to be on its way.
