Mobile Ads Get the Call

Google thinks mobile phone users will be so excited about receiving ads that they'll want to call and talk about it. The company filed a patent for "click to call" technology that initiates phone calls when clicking on a ad.

While pay-per-call is an intriguing option for advertisers, I just don't see the value for most mobile phones users. Okay, so many people also use their mobiles at home and the office, but most of the time I'm using my mobile I'm somewhere where the last thing I want to do is talk to someone about a sales pitch.

If an ad does happen to catch my fancy, I'd much rather have additional information emailed to me, make a purchase immediately, or talk about it when I'm on a fast connection and don't have to worry about using up my free minutes.

Click-to-call is best suited for high speed connections where a VOIP or IM session is automatically launched. The exceptions might be vertical such as real estate or concert tickets where the demand is high and timeliness is worth interrupting your day.