How does an online marketer take advantage of this? Consider that each mobile phone user potentially becomes a receiver of extremely targeted advertising. In some cases the user will be sent advertising. For example if they opt in as part of another program, or they can request listings through services such as Google's (or Yahoo!s or MSN's or Ask Jeeves) local search.

In addition, there may be opportunities to advertise within the content they download - imagine being able to add on a small flash advertisement of your business to the movie or music they recently downloaded.

Console gaming too is getting more popular. No longer is the average gamer a 13 year old boy. Games have become more complex (and more expensive) and are targeted at the 18-30 year olds - both men and women. In addition, vendors such as Pepsi have begun experimenting with advertising within the game.

On a popular racing game for example, as the car is driving by a series of billboards in a simulated downtown Los Angeles, the game player drives by a Pepsi Billboard. While they may not necessarily see the advertising, it does register at some level.?Much like advertisers pay for product placement in movies, they will have the ability to pay for placement in popular game titles.

The same growth can be seen in wireless gaming. It too will be popular in the next year and longer. Right now Sony has released a portable gaming unit, and Nintendo has one slated for release this week as well. These units are also built on wireless technology, which means they can communicate with each other, and other wireless devices to send and receive information, including advertising.?Which means in addition to being able to advertise within the games themselves, people who possess these handhelds will also be prime targets for targeted marketing messages.

As you may have gathered - over the next 4-5 years, wireless technology will be playing an increasingly larger role in our day to day lives, but the online potential doesn't stop there.

Technology in the home is also becoming more wired to the web. Everything from your television to your refrigerator will have a network connection. While you will be able to watch Lord of the Rings on the door of your refrigerator, you will also be able to receive targeted advertising as part of the program - either in the form of an advertisement similar to a movie trailer, or a plain text ad. Part of the cost or receiving this online content is our acceptance of receiving some form of advertising with it.

While TV on demand will be commonplace in the next 3 - 5 years, so will advertising provided with that programming.

However, in the "on demand" world, the advertising will be more targeted. No longer will you see a car commercial on your favorite home improvement show. Instead you will see advertisements from Home Depot and Walmart selling the products and/or services you've seen in the show.

Or, as part of the show there will be an interactive component which the person viewing the show can pause it and find out more information on a product or service displayed on the broadcast.

This is where an online business can take advantage of a targeted audience. By providing your site when the user is looking for more information on the product or service, you can receive a higher likelihood of conversion.

While some of this might seem like speculation, the facts remain: We are going wireless, and there is going to be continued integrating between traditionally different technologies (such as computers and televisions converging). The smart advertiser will be the one taking advantage of these emerging opportunities and not waiting to see what the other guy will do.

Rob Sullivan
Production Manager
Enquiro.com

Copyright 2004 - Searchengineposition Inc.

Related link:

Online Opportunities Part 1