AT&T (T) Ready to Battle with Mobile Location Ads

AT&T (NYSE:T) is entering into the battle over location-based ads which empower businesses to send location-specific offers directly to phones of potential customers.

AT&T (T) and location-based app Loopt both unveiled similar, rival technologies this week that will allow businesses to send location-specific offers directly to consumers' phones.

It's an idea that has long been discussed, but, until now, hasn't gotten much traction. Location-targeted ads could be a goldmine for businesses - and a hit with consumers who don't want to deal with expiration dates or planning their coupon strategy in advance.

"Context is everything in mobile advertising, and getting the right offer at the right time and place increases consumers' likelihood of taking action," says eMarketer principal analyst Noah Elkin.

Here's how it works: Loopt's Reward Alerts application will send participating Android and iPhone users notifications that a deal is immediately available in their area. Loopt customers would then need to present their phone message to a retailer to redeem the offer.

AT&T was trading at $28.15, falling $0.23, or 0.81 percent, as of 2:33 PM EST.



Full Story

Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) Android Ads Growing Faster than Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL) iOS

Kaufman Bros, said that the mobile ad market in the U.S. is poised to jump by 55 percent in 2011, as growth in 2010 should soar by 80 percent before the end of the year, and Google (Nasdaq:GOOG) Android's ad impressions are growing a lot faster then Apple's (Nasdaq:AAPL) iOS, which should make them the main beneficiary of the mobile ad growth going forward.

On average, Kaufman said mobile advertising campaigns are now at a range of about $75,000 to $100,000 each, not a small budget. Overall advertising in 2011 is estimated to reach about $1 billion.

Kaufman also noted that a number of large advertisers like Citigroup (NYSE:C), among a number of others, are allocating more of their advertising spend to mobile devices.

Google closed Friday at $590.00, falling $4.97, or 0.84 percent. Apple closed at $315.00, gaining $0.20, or 0.07 percent.

Kaufman maintains a "Buy" rating on Google, and have placed a price target of $650 on them.