Are Mobile Ads the Next Big Thing? Maybe Not.
A lot of buzz among online advertising companies these days is focused on mobile ads delivered to smart phones. Google (GOOG) executives have even talked about becoming a “mobile first” company, and Apple (AAPL) and Google have both made recent moves into mobile advertising.
But Kevin Ryan, the former CEO of online-ad company DoubleClick, said he doesn’t see mobile advertising delivering on those promises soon. Mr. Ryan, who left DoubleClick in 2005 and is the founder and chairman of high-end retailer Gilt Groupe, said that he has long been asked about mobile advertising and that “the real answer” is that he doesn’t think mobile is going to be as big as people think–although he learned very quickly that “the answer that people want to hear is that mobile is going to be huge.”
