Staying on top of mobile advertising best practices and methodology, the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) today published a new whitepaper outlining the use of Rich Media ad-formats and units in mobile advertising campaigns.

The new whitepaper, created with the help of numerous member companies, includes definitions, attributes and examples of Rich Media advertising that are currently being used in the marketplace.  Within the document, the MMA created a definition for “Rich Media Mobile Ad Units,” which are interactive and/or non-interactive ad units displayed on a mobile web page and/or in a mobile application that offers one or more of the following: (i.) inclusion of streaming video content or animated GIF within the ad unit; (ii.) inclusion of sound; or (iii.) a richer interactive feature set than basic mobile click-through, such as user interaction that occurs through input other than a “click” or “tap.”

Though one would believe Rich Media use in mobile-ad campaigns is large, Millennial Media indicates that in the fourth quarter of 2009, an average of only 19% of U.S. mobile advertisers used Rich Media Mobile Ad Units.  While the whitepaper encourages experimentation with the use of Rich Media formats, it’s clear there’s some ambiguity as to how to best use the concept effectively.

In getting a better understanding of guidelines in terms of formatting, the MMA invites companies to share best practices with the MMA’s Mobile Advertising Committee in order to influence future Rich Media Mobile Advertising Guidelines for the industry.  As always, the MMA is at the forefront of organizing and interpreting new technologies and methods associated with mobile marketing and advertising, with the new whitepaper being a perfect example of providing an invaluable resource for marketers.

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Microsoft has always had high hopes for Silverlight, it’s Flash alternative, and has announced its availability to mobile developers in hopes of gaining usage in the explosion of mobile gaming and the future of 3D development on mobile devices.

Developers can download a comprehensive set of tools for Silverlight development on the Windows Phone 7 Series, including Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone, Windows Phone 7 Series add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC, XNA Game Studio 4.0, Windows Phone 7 Series emulator for application testing and a separate downloadable Expression Blend for Windows Phone Community Technology Preview.

Though there’s hardly a thriving development community waiting in the wings to develop apps for the Windows Phone 7 Series, doing so using the newly released Silverlight development toolset allows access for things such as the accelerometer, a Microsoft Location Service for  location information, the Microsoft Notification Service to push information, regardless of whether or not an application is running and hardware-accelerated video with DRM, among other things.

It’s definitely a comprehensive suite of tools, but the problem remains that there’s simply no interest in developing for Windows Mobile devices- at least not yet, or anytime in the near future.  Developers focus on platforms that sell, and that are popular with users.  At the moment that’s iPhone and Android, bottom line.  This isn’t to say that Microsoft isn’t doing the right things to set the stage for increased consumer enthusiasm and interest from developers, but there’s still a long way to go.

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For the first time ever, advertisers will spend more on digital than print, according to a new study by Outsell released today titled “Marketing and Ad Spending Study 2010: Total US and B2B Advertising.” But mobile marketing isn’t quite ready for the spotlight yet, and will see a spending decline in the coming year. The study finds that advertisers will spend 16% less on mobile in 2010.

Of the $368 billion marketers will spend this year, 32.5% will go toward digital, 30.3% will go towards print. “It’s a watershed moment,” lead author of the study and Outsell vice president Chuck Richard told Forbes.com. However, in regards to mobile marketing, “the proof isn’t in yet that mobile spending is all that effective,” Richard adds in the article. He gives the example of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit iPhone app which was the 33rd-highest-grossing mobile app in the iPhone store — 32,000 people paid $2 to download the app, netting $64k. However, one page of advertising in the issue makes $135,000. Richard obviously isn’t a fan of mobile marketing. “It’s time for a reality check,” he says.

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The following is a guest post from Simon Vella, CEO of InvolveMobile…

If you have any doubt whether SMS spam falls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), you will be one of the remaining few in 2010. The TCPA has struck again, with the District Court of Northern Illinois recently upholding the FCC’s view of text messaging in Abbas v Selling Source. In this case, Abbas allegedly received SMS spam messages and sued Selling Source under the TCPA. Most of Selling Source’s arguments were rejected by the court, including their attempt at First Amendment defences.

There are now an increasing number of judgments extending back to 2005 that put SMS spam messages firmly into the sights of the TCPA. With the CAN-SPAM Act only regulating email to sms gateways, it now appears to be the primary vehicle for plaintiffs dealing with unsolicited text messages. Further to this, a Minnesota judge recently rejected the application of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act to a receipt of text message spam.

While mobile marketing has not yet enjoyed the spotlight it should do, it has also avoided heavy handed regulation which affects other marketing channels. Text message consents often seem to lack clarity for consumers, both through website registrations and mainstream media interaction. The proliferation of mobile cell phone lists in past years shows that consent for mobile direct marketing has sometimes been a murky area. The cases we have seen to date are already having some significant impact on the mobile direct marketing industry, with recent removals of mobile phone lists from circulation by major list providers concerned about massive legal payouts. It gives a welcome reprieve to an industry that will be increasingly under fire.

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ChaCha, the mobile question and answer startup out of Indiana, has partnered with Localeze to offer local business listings on its homepage, adding to its massive Q&A database that’s growing by leaps and bounds and users flock to the service.

The new functionality and content on its homepage provides in-depth information about more than 15 million businesses across the country, allowing visitors access through a search bar and through a direct listings page.  In both cases, they will be served a full content page that includes Google maps, directions, phone, and other contact information. Additionally, unique to ChaCha, questions and answers related to the business can be found on the content pages. Business listings can also be viewed by category and or state and city on ChaCha.com.

This is a unique integration being that ChaCha has grown into a localized service, with a majority of the questions it receives being related to local information in one form or another.  Integrating mass local business listings with its unique human-powered content should provide a unique service to users, especially now that ChaCha is publishing its answers and being picked up through search engines.

“Our goal at ChaCha has always been to provide the most accurate and comprehensive answers to our audience. This is a natural extension for our answers service, providing a way for users to instantly find and contact the businesses that interest them without additional navigation or having to deduce which search results link will provide relevant information,” says Scott Jones, CEO of ChaCha.

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I’ve always been intrigued with the concept of proximity marketing, but a perceived lack of interest in the U.S has made any news or advancements in the technology all but lost in the shuffle.  To me the concept provides a unique and inexpensive opportunity for marketers, but there has to be underlying factors prohibiting its advancement, but what are they?

With increased interest surrounding mobile marketing, it’s interesting that proximity marketing has been largely looked over, though both concepts are fundamentally different.  While there’s really no definition that exists which separates the two, the easiest way to distinguish proximity marketing from mobile marketing is simply the concept of localized content. Potential advertising audiences must enter a “localized” area such as a grocery store or a shopping center in order to receive the advertisement with proximity marketing, while mobile marketing doesn’t require such an attribute.

Education of marketers in the U.S is one prohibiting factor in my mind, with almost no news coming out regarding the technology, even though numerous companies exist on U.S soil that provide proximity marketing solutions.  Marketers are already bombarded with so-called new-age marketing channels, and adding one more to the mix will confuse the masses even more than they already are.  Still, proximity marketing offers something even mobile marketing in large part can’t provide; being extremely inexpensive and very easy to integrate.

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Mobile Posse offers a unique twist on mobile advertising with its innovative “idle screen” marketing platform that targets graphically-rich ads on mobile devices when they’re not it use, hence the idle screen terminology.

In leveraging its unique niche, Mobile Posse issued a press release today boasting it now reaches over 2 million opt-in mobile consumers on a monthly basis, serving nearly 200 million impressions each and every month and garnering double-digit click-through rates in the process.

“The two million unique user mark is a key milestone for our company,” said Jon Jackson, Founder and CEO of Mobile Posse. “Our rapidly growing subscriber base and the high consumer engagement we deliver underscores the value that active idle screen messaging provides to mobile consumers, advertisers and wireless carriers.”

Mobile Posse has done a good job at positioning itself as a pioneer and clear leader in interactive mobile advertising for the “active idle screen.”  The platform allows advertisers and wireless carriers to proactively engage consumers with graphical and interactive messages via the idle screen of mobile phones, while allowing consumers to opt-in to receive helpful and timely information, like weather forecasts and local gas prices, along with valuable offers from national and local advertisers.

Part of its growth is attributed to strategic partnerships with carriers, including Verizon Wireless, MetroPCS, and Leap Wireless.  With the introduction of its “MobiCRM” solution, carriers now have the ability to deliver full-screen, full-color CRM messages supporting customer service and product initiatives as well.

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