Let’s take a look at something in your post that has not had any comments as of yet, but needs to be addressed and emphasized.

When asked to be on a panel discussion because you are an expert, your industry knowledge is what folks want to hear, not your product pitches. If you understand your industry, then customers will seek you out for your products. But if you preach your products, customers will run away from you and your company - as well as annoying every other expert on the panel.

As a frequent speaker, your comments are well timed for the mobile space. Companies are looking for knowledge at this time, not a sales pitch. I more then appreciate your comments on this topic.

Good post, and I mostly agree. But there’s more to the social contract than ‘ads = free stuff’ - people will still vote with their feet if the ads are intrusive, misleading, simply too frequent, or they become aware of potentially privacy-threatening targeting.

There’s another quirk to be considered, and that’s the ability to charge for a downloadable application - Apple’s AppStore is going to have a lot of imitators over the next few years. While it makes more economic sense for many (not all) of these applications to be ad-supported, I’ve personally found that in the presence of an alternative economic model, many developers are hesitant to include advertising due to its impact on the user experience.

I’m not 100% sure how this plays out over time and whether it will have a strong impact on mobile advertising in general, but it definitely informs our strategy here at Pinch Media.

Would I watch an ad for free content? We’ve all seen how fast that turned to crap, growing up remember a commercial break or two per show? Now it’s what, at least 6 and each with less and less relevant ads?