TechSpot - PC Technology News and Analysis

Having to be bombarded by advertisements as you browse, while annoying, is considered to be a part of the Internet experience. But what about your cell phone? Considering that the average cell phone plan vastly outweighs the cost of an Internet subscription, you'd think the extra money went to something good, such as removing ads. That isn't the case, apparently, and Verizon is looking to roll heads as they introduce ad placement on your cell while you access sites using it. Web-equipped phones are increasingly common, despite most cell data plans being fairly expensive. Why would Verizon do something that treads so much on dangerous ground? Money, of course:

“We know we can make significant dollars in mobile Web advertising in 2007,” said John Harrobin, vice president of marketing and digital media for Verizon Wireless. “That said, we likely will not — we want to take it carefully and methodically, and enable the right experience.” More generally, he added, “Mobile advertising is going to take off in 2007.”
It'll be a sad day when even your cellphone is overrun with ads and spam messages, but sadly that is exactly where Verizon is looking to take us. How long until the other major service providers follow suit? Interestingly enough, the article makes no mention of the ethical consequences of this or the potential obtrusiveness to a customer, and instead only cites how many more dollars the advertising companies are expecting to earn. Verizon definitely isn't doing us any favors here, considering that they don't mention any sort of ad-free or discounted services for this.