Mobile is mainstream--no longer emerging--which means advertisers and marketers need to be always on to reach consumers, according to Tilds, an executive from an agency created about a year ago combining JWT, Y&R Wunderman, Ogilvy and GroupM. "The more mobile data people use, the more they search, and I think it will continue to increase this way," she says. "People are using mobile for impulse local searches, impulses, and restaurant and entertainment. Today, hotels make up about two thirds of the pay-per-call ads served."

What do consumers search for on mobile phones? People look for local listings first, which gives smaller businesses an opportunity to reach a wider audience, followed by news and information, and mobile content. Tilds told conference attendees it's not just about sending and receiving text, but rather about finding things online to consume.

Mobile isn't just about search and keywords. Smartphones with the capability to quickly process video and payments will change the way people consume content. While today's high-end smartphones have more capacity to process more data than a five-year-old mid-range laptop, they also have the ability to complete financial transactions.

Moira Jacobs, director of business development for the mobile solutions group at Kanematsu USA, a mobile solutions provider, came to the conference to learn more about mobile commerce and integrating two-dimensional bar code technology on product packaging, print and television advertising. The codes let consumers download information to their mobile phones.

Kanematsu is working with Kraft Foods in the United States to develop a way to put 2-D bar codes from Boston-based NextCode on product packaging, connecting consumers to nutritional information, recipes, coupons, and more on the company's Web site.

The technology relies on a standard camera in mobile phones, but does require consumers to download a small application. "You either need to download a Brew application on your phone, similar to the one we developed, a Java application, or in the future phones could come pre-loaded with the application on the handset," Jacobs says.

More than two-thirds of online marketers that participated in a recent poll by eMarketer plan to do no more than dabble in mobile marketing this year. The research firm estimates that U.S. mobile advertisers will spend 89% more in 2008 than they did in 2007. While percentages are high, overall it equates to a mere 6% of U.S. online ad spend. Advocates believe it should improve as phone screens get larger, considering that 80% of U.S. adults have mobile phones.

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