Microsoft announced last month that it would add advertising to its mobile IM and e-mail tools.
Yahoo also announced last month that it would sell advertising "space" on text messages that users have signed up for to receive content like news, horoscopes, sports scores and weather.
Both Nielsen and ComScore added programs recently for measuring mobile advertising and audiences.
Like the rumbling of the ground on Santorini, these events should serve as harbingers of the disaster to come.
Who's to blame?
There's plenty of blame to go around for the impending disaster. But deserving more of their fair share of the blame is the coveted 18-24 year-old demographic who, according to research by BIGresearch, are roughly twice as likely as other age groups to reward mobile-phone advertising with purchases based on those ads. And the Harris Interactive report says that when it comes to mobile phone ads, " Teens will bite on nearly everything ." They say the young are our future, and in this case, that's a bad thing.
But even among the general population, there simply isn't enough resistance to mobile advertising. Research and Analysis of Media (RAM) conducted a survey that found mobile ads "more effective" than online ads -- about 20 per cent more effective.
Even though some users may assume their wireless carrier is a partner that will help them resist unwanted ads, carriers, in fact, are working hard on developing programs to facilitate advertising.
Even the handset makers want a piece of the action. Nokia this week launched its Nokia Advertising Alliance, which combines, according to the company press release, "leading mobile marketing solutions, including couponing, location-based targeting, image recognition, and other emerging technologies, to offer advertisers a simple way to increase consumer engagement."