Google, Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is rolling out another serious swipe at advertising in a relatively new category: mobile phone screens. Although mobile advertising is nothing new, Google's intense focus on this new platform for display ads is ramping up excitement in some circles. After all, there are many more cellphones with mobile web capability than there are PCs worldwide. The trick is to get consumers and businesses using the mobile web. The iPhone has helped kickstart interest in this that had been pretty much dormant before last year for a range of reasons.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin even said at Google's recent quarterly results conference call that "The mobile ads work very well ... there's nothing to dissuade me it would be any worse than traditional desktop search." If that holds true -- and we all know how desktop search has panned out -- mobile search may be a huge blockbuster.

Faster data connections are available with many wireless carriers now, smartphone shipments are increasing, and attention to the mobile web has gained a huge amount of steam due to the iPhone and its full web browsing capabilities. Once Google's Android operating system begins shipping and the mobile web is a single button press away, Google's next frontier to attack will be the mobile search market. And, of course, selling display ads along with all those searches.

Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) have been saying for years that the next frontier for internet-based advertising is the cellphone screen. With wireless handsets having high-speed data connections and really impressive (but small) screens, and with cellphones outselling PCs one would think both companies are right on the money. Not a quarterly conference call with Google can go by without CEO Eric Schmidt alluding to the mobile ad space as a whole new frontier for Google.

When a research firm like Gartner predicts $11 billion in industry revenue from mobile advertising in 2011, that is the kind of figure that makes many stand up and pay attention. But so far, mobile advertising reality is not turning out to be rosy as that. Mobile advertising is an industry worth under $1 billion in 2007; can it really skyrocket to over $11 billion in four years? Most likely, no.

A main reason for this is the incredible complexity of mobile web browsing on the mainstream cellphone (lack of a keyboard, perhaps?). I'm not talking Palm Treos, iPhones and other muscular, do-it-all phones, but the kind the average joe carries in that front pants pocket. Do you know of many people who regularly access the web on their cellphone? Think about it for a second. According to Jupiter Research, only 16% of Americans regularly access the web on all those cellphones. What's going to get that figure up to 50%?

For one, a much less convoluted way for normal phones to hop on the web, making it as easy as web browsing on a PC. It's nowhere near that now, save for a handful of device categories like smartphones and the like. Think text messaging could be the answer? Will customers stand for being interrupted with advertising over text messaging? It's an opportunity that could launch a consumer revolt more than anything. What's left, then? Mobile advertising will get there and indeed win the day -- just not by 2011 and in the numbers predicted.

Even now that the battle for internet advertising search dollars has all but been won by market leader Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), market followers Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) are still not giving up without a fight. Both internet portals are just shifting as fast as possible to the mobile space. As in, mobile phone.

But Google already is a leader there as well -- and it's something I've heard from Google CEO Eric Schmidt's lips for over 18 months now: the new frontier is mobile. Mobile search, navigation, browsing and related activities will be brought (hopefully) to a more broad audience due to numbers alone. There are way more internet-capable mobile phones in use globally and in the U.S. compared to total personal computers in use. Sounds like quite an opportunity, yes?

Get ready for ads to invade your cell phone. Yes, today Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE: NOK) announced that it is purchasing Enpocket (the price tag was not disclosed). Enpocket has a sophisticated platform to manage mobile advertising campaigns – using things such as SMS, MMS, and even video. The firm has deals with companies like Sprint (NYSE: S) and Vodafone.

Right now, the mobile ad market is fairly small – but it's expected to grow quickly. And, it looks like Nokia wants to be a part of the action.

I had a chance to interview Dipanshu Sharma, who is a wireless expert and founder of V-Enable (which is a mobile search provider). According to him:

"Quite exciting to see Nokia take an active role in overall mobile value chain than just handset sales. Nokia has a very strong presence in Europe and Asia, with their own advertising platform and where customers buy handsets mostly directly than through carriers.

"I guess after Google, Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Yahoo, Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO) kept pushing Nokia to preload them and make statements that mobile advertising is a bigger play than online advertising in the long term, Nokia had to do something to be part of that value chain. Again, this deal shows the new leadership at Nokia is serious about being a solution for the consumer."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including The Complete M&A Handbook and The Edgar Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements. He also operates DealProfiles.com.

I kind of like the fact that there are no ads on my cell phone. It seems like it's the last place without them.

But, I know this will soon be wishful thinking.

Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) AOL agreed to buy privately held Third Screen Media, which is a leader in the mobile ad business.

Of course, the other big players – like Yahoo (Nasdaq: YHOO), Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) – are gunning for the space as well.

So what does the Third Screen Media acquisition mean?

I had a chance to interview Anne Baker, who is the vice president of marketing at Action Engine (which develops mobile applications). According to her:

"The recent purchase of ScreenTonic by Microsoft and Third Screen Media by AOL is sending a clear signal to mobile consumers that they should get ready to start seeing advertisements on cell phones very soon. Although mobile advertising is still in its infancy, it is predicted to be a billion dollar market in less than 5 years, and it looks like many of the big brands are counting on it as a new source of future revenues. The question that remains is: Do these companies have the technology in place to make the experience of receiving mobile advertising on the phone simple and non-intrusive to the consumer? Recent studies all point to a lack of consumer tolerance for cell phone advertisements that are irrelevant, slow to load, and screen space intensive. If the big brands don't combine their new mobile advertising investments with the technology necessary to deliver the advertisements in a consumer-friendly manner, they have the potential of driving consumers further away from the mobile Internet and causing real damage to their brands."

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

This week, the biggies of wireless attended the CTIA conference in Florida. As always, there were some big announcements, such as from Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S) regarding its huge mobile build-out of WiMAX.

Dipanshu Sharma, the founder of V-Enable, was also there (his firm develops voice-activated wireless applications). Here are some of his takeaways:

Mobile TV
Verizon's (NYSE: VZ) MediaFLO handsets got a lot of attention. Last year mobile TV was dominated by companies using IP streaming for watching TV on the phone. Streaming over IP clogs carriers' networks, so this year both MedioFLO and DVB-H were showcased. It was mostly MediaFLO that stole the show for mobile TV. Verizon already had a MediaFLO-enabled handset, and Cingular has promised to launch by end of this year. I checked out the phones myself and have to say the video quality was almost HD. For the near term, the service is marred by lack of channels (mobiTV has more channels), but I am sure QUALCOMM (NASDAQ: QCOM) will resolve that sooner than later.

Slim phones
Lots and lots of slim phones. I saw one Samsung phone that was slim and wide, rather ugly. On the other hand, Samsung's music phone with screens on both sides was quite innovative.

LBS (Location Based Services) and local search
We saw a few LBS companies demonstrating use of phones' GPS capabilities for navigation. Telenav and NIM have commercial products for the same. As for local search and 411, V-Enable announced that its product won best of show (wireless software) at CTIA by Laptop Magazine. Infospace (NASDAQ: INSP) announced a free local search product for RIM's (NASDAQ: RIMM) BlackBerry.

Mobile advertising
I probably met so many mobile advertising companies that have differentiators that sound all the same that I can't even remember their names. Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) also announced its mobile advertising product. It's unclear if there is room for so many mobile advertising startups to exit, especially when Yahoo! and Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) are entering the market very fast.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.