• The Washington Post, Wednesday, January 2, 2008 11 AM

Web advertising looks set to continue its double-digit growth in 2008, but a big question mark still hangs over the startups hoping to make money from the sale of online ads. Just how big is the market for software embedded in Web sites? The answer is: nobody knows, but companies like Freewebs and Clearspring are pioneers of the emerging space. Uncertainty aside, former executives at successful Web companies like Google, AOL and PayPal founded many of these startups. Social news site Mixx, for example, is the brainchild of the former general manager of Yahoo News.

It could also be a landmark year for mobile phone advertising. Google's Android mobile operating system and Open Handset Alliance should spark a mobile software boom. "For us, it's like adding jet fuel," says Jon Jackson, chief executive of Mobile Posse, a Tysons Corner company that sends banner ads to mobile phones.

Indeed, everyone from AOL to smaller players like SMS advertiser Distributive Networks is banking on consumers using their cell phones for content. Even so, AOL exec Kevin Conroy concedes "There are limits to monetization" on mobile phones.

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