It turns out that WAP ain't crap anymore. Some major brands that once wouldn't touched the over-hyped technology are now building WAP sites that essentially serve as information sites about a company or product. They are becoming the first step in the world of WAP marketing. The effort is a bargain compared with traditional advertising platforms like television, and mobile phone ads can better target certain demographics. One can find WAP banners, links and--occasionally--interstitial ads from the Ford Motor Co., Progressive Insurance and Aruba Tourism, among countless others. Sprint Nextel fired one of the first salvos in September, announcing plans to use Enpocket technology to integrate ads in the WAP deck [1]. Virgin Mobile is pushing Sugar Mama [2], a program that gives its young subscribers more airtime in exchange for watching advertisements on the web. In short, mobile advertising still means different things to different carriers, but they all know there are some pretty hefty revenues to be made. They just have to make sure they don't anger the customer.
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/sprint-nextel-to-offer-on-deck-ads/2006-09-12
[2] http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/editor-s-corner/2006-06-20