Earlier in January, GameDaily BIZ reported that Gameloft signed onto Admoda. At the time, this was billed as "the first major mobile games brand to utilize Admoda." The mobile in-game ads technology lends itself towards concentrated ad campaigns. This means it can do things like target specific handsets, particular countries, even different languages.

All that made us wonder: what's the real potential for Admoda in the young mobile in-game ads space? And who exactly is this MobVision company behind it? What's the future for advertisements on mobile phones? Do these pants look good on us? We posed all these questions (except the last one) to Terry Jackson, CEO of MobVision.

The company MobVision has been kicking around the U.K. mobile scene since 2002. It was only back in 2005 that the company entered the field of in-game ad solutions. Now, however, Admoda takes half of the company's resources, and is sometimes mistaken for a company unto itself.

"We're a small privately funded company," commented Jackson. "We've rejected venture capital investments, deciding to stay flexible. We have a small team; with a core of 8 people in management, with numerous contractors and the like. Right now, our core products are Admoda and Mobile1to1, a live mobile video chat application."

"We run targeted advertisers campaigns for [our clients like Gameloft]," he continued. "Our product lends itself to game publishers very well because we can run branded full colour ads for their games. Companies who publish Java games can also specifically target Java handsets. Campaigns can be run using a combination of text ads and static/animated banners, with text underneath the banner. Our technology allows a client to specify which type of ads are seen in certain countries."

He also spoke of the use of WAP and the use of the Internet for mobile phones. "We're getting millions of impressions a day from all over the world, and our inventory is growing daily. In countries such as South Africa PCs are not so common place and therefore WAP is often the user's first exposure to digital content," Jackson added. "Data charges are still holding back the growth of mobile internet. This year we should see more Operators offer flat rates and tariffs that include all-you-can-eat data."

Jackson couldn't talk about specific companies or ad campaigns he was working on due to the omnipresence of NDAs. He did disclose in confidence a campaign for a huge heavy metal rock band (which is apparently a huge hit in Europe as well). While most mobile ads are primarily about mobile content right now, Jackson thinks more high street brands will chime in during the next 12 months.

"Admoda benefits publishers in a number of ways," explained Jackson. " We have been building and running our own WAP sites, and selling content since 2002. We understand the commercial and technical challenges associated with the mobile internet, and have incorporated this knowledge into our technology. We haven't simply raised venture capital and sprung on the market. Integration of our ads is easy. Publishers can simply cut and paste the standard banner code into their mobile internet site. We also have versions of our code to fit directly in with your site's development language. These include PHP, JSP, ASP, .NET, Ruby. We can also incorporate our ads into java applications... perfect for in game advertising"

" Admoda has a sophisticated white label solution ideal for Agencies and large brands who wish to manage their own Advertiser and Publisher Network. Admoda can now also offer a reseller package. For companies who have a number of B2B clients such as those who offer Webmaster Services, WAP Builder solutions, Hosting, Billing etc this option is ideal. The Admoda Reseller package is a simple bolt on solution. Technical integration is possible or a simple referral scheme can be utilised."

"Admoda is a sophisticated WAP advertising solution allowing advertisers to run highly targeted WAP ad campaigns directly to the hands of their target market. Admoda is a straight forward, efficient solution where advertisers can set up campaigns, upload banners, set their targeting, buy adclicks, and activate campaigns. Advertisers receive a log in to an online interface providing them with a wealth of information, campaign statistics, and all the tools they need to create and optimise campaigns.

"Admoda currently has an inventory of approximately 400 Million WAP impressions per month and is uniquely positioned to allow advertisers to run huge targeted ad campaigns to wap site users all over the world. Advertisers can currently target a campaign by country/countries; date/day/time; device/capabilities such as java phones, symbian phones, video capabilities, ringtone capabilities; Network Operator. Certain demographics can be targeted too by running ads on WAP sites which have a certain user base."

It doesn't take much brainstorming to realize the advertising potential of mobile. After all, penetration is constantly growing globally and could one day be greater than either PCs or TVs. It's not too difficult to imagine a future where every person in the privileged nations of the world will have one. With a mobile phone in everyone's pocket, there's no way that advertisers are going to ignore the potential for marketing.

When asked if mobile ads will one day be as big as TV ads, Jackson responded, "Yes, I think it will. Coca-Cola really made a statement when they said that mobile would be very important in the future - mobile ads offer so many possibilities. Other advertising mediums won't disappear of course, mobile will simply complement them. TV ads are almost expected - you can either sit through them or simply go and make a cup of tea. Mobile advertising presents the marketer with the opportunity to be much more personal and direct."