• The Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, May 28, 2008 11:15 AM

Analysts may have "overshot reality" when it comes to the bold predictions around mobile advertising, but The Wall Street Journal says that ads sent via text message are starting to catch on, at least. Marketers say that SMS messages have their advantages: Text ads lend an interactivity to marketers' campaigns that's easily measured, and almost all cell phones can send and receive them. Consumers also choose to receive text messages, which addresses some marketers' concerns about compromising user privacy.

Marketers are also starting to combine content with their text messages. For example, Coors Brewing Co. recently sent NFL draft updates to consumers that would contain a short line about Coors Light. On Tuesday, Web giant Yahoo announced a new trial partnership with 4INFO to deliver similar messages via text. Under the arrangement, 4INFO will deliver mobile content, such as news updates, horoscopes, sports scores, weather forecasts and other news alerts for Yahoo via SMS messages that contain a small ad. Yahoo can sell the ads, either alone or as part of a broader online mobile ad package, or 4INFO can sell them through its mobile ad network.

Ad execs report click-through rates with text ads of between 1 and 10%, which is significantly higher than banner ads.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »