When most consumers hear the words “mobile advertising”, the first association in their minds is “SPAM SMS.” This is certainly not a great thing to have associated with our industry. However, the unfortunate truth is that through 2007, over 70% of mobile ad spending has been in the form of “Push-based” advertising. That’s where subscribers receive SMS or MMS or WAP Push ads without permission, and for the most part, with little to no relevance. But all is not lost…

Starting 2008, the market situation has changed dramatically in China. In March of this year, the Chinese government and the mobile carriers have put extra focus on the matter of SPAM messages and have shut down several major offenders and adjusted systems and policies to limit all wireless Service Providers (SPs). This included the country’s push-advertising firm, Focus Wire...