nothing evil this way comes

News has broken (via Self Made Minds) that Google is trialing AdSense for mobile. We have assumed they would do this for quite some time, and have no reason to believe this is not true. This is obviously a significant event for AdMob and mobile as a whole. We've discussed Google with the press and partners ad nauseum and in the blog a number of times as well.
http://admob.blogspot.com/2006/08/plot-thickens.html
http://admob.blogspot.com/2006/01/wwgd.html

In our time as AdMob we saw Google launch AdWords for mobile, Yahoo launch a mobile publisher network, Microsoft acquire ScreenTonic and AOL acquire Third Screen Media. During almost all of these events, someone or other predicted major difficulties for AdMob, and I'm sure this will be no different. I don't mean to downplay Google. We have immense respect for them as an innovator and a competitor (I don't think we've hired a single employee that hasn't quizzed us on our position vis-a-vis Google before coming aboard). I just think there are more than enough cases where a focused company has done well despite competition from Google and other large players.

As I said in one of my previous postings, Google is going to bring new attention to the mobile market as a whole, and this type of competitive activity has only helped in the past. Mobile advertising is really heating up and competitors both large and small are entering the market. This should come as no surprise really. It's how things are supposed to happen. Meanwhile, we're not resting on our laurels. We've been thinking about precisely these competitive dynamics for quite some time, and have been working diligently on a number of initiatives that we are confident will help to cement our position as leaders in this market.

Should be fun.

- Omar