MediaPost's Online Media Daily reports that major ad network 24/7 Real Media will begin serving up mobile ads:

PREPARING ITS PUBLISHERS FOR AN expected wave in mobile adoption, ad network 24/7 Real Media is adding mobile ad serving and reporting to its Open AdStream ad management platform.

About a dozen publisher clients have begun implementing the Open AdStream Mobile Edition at an incremental cost, according to Ali Mirian, product manager of publisher solutions at 24/7 Real Media. A key selling point is that Open AdStream negates the need to purchase, install, learn and maintain a stand-alone technology for mobile ads, he added.

 

And how big is that wave they are expecting?

Despite slow adoption, technology companies and advertisers are still jockeying for position. Mobile advertising, for one, is expected to double this year to more than $878 million, according to market research firm eMarketer. Worldwide, Piper Jaffray recently projected that mobile search revenues will generate $11 billion by 2008.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported this week that small businesses are beginning to build mobile websites:

Johannes Tromp says the Web site for his South Carolina bed-and-breakfast generates good business. But last fall, he found a way to reach even more potential customers: He made a version of the site for cellphones.

Mr. Tromp signed up for a mobile Web address with the newly available suffix "dot-mobi" and used a self-starter kit from a company called Roundpoint Ltd. to build www.kilburnie.mobi, the mobile site for his Inn at Craig Farm. He says he's gotten a surprisingly good response, with 30 to 40 new calls per month from interested travelers who heard of his inn by accessing the cellphone site.