The company already has a mobile-specific ad service, but this new feature means users won't have to create ads in mobile formats. Additionally, the ads can point to desktop landing pages so users don't need to create mobile landing pages.
In order to target ads for mobile devices like the G1 and iPhone 3G, AdWords users need to log in to their accounts and click on the "campaign settings" tab. Then, in the "Device Platform" option, the user has to select the option for the "iPhone and other mobile devices with full internet browsers."
Despite having its own mobile platform and devices, Google specifically singles out the iPhone when it describes this new service. This is because the iPhone's mobile Safari browser is widely considered to deliver one of the best mobile Internet experiences, and its users generally surf the Web at a greater rate than other customers.
"The iPhone was the first mobile device with a good Web browser, and more such devices will follow," Google CEO Eric Schmidt said in an interview earlier this year. "Advertising will then become very personal. In a few years, mobile advertising will generate more revenue than advertising on the normal Web."
In the short term, the looming economic slowdown is expected to eat into the mobile advertising space because it's still somewhat unproven. But the overall market is expected to skyrocket as more consumers access the Web from their cell phones and smartphones, and revenue is expected to grow from $1.4 billion in 2007 to $10 billion by 2013.
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