It was only a matter of time, really, until advertising hit your mobile phone. Like it or not, that day has arrived. Certain advertisers have been sending text ads to their customers already, but now the game has changed.

Customers can now “opt in” to receiving location based ads on the mobile phone. What is a location base ad? An ad that responds to your location, using GPS enabled phones. for example, if you are standing outside of a store and trying to decide whether or not to go in, a location based ad might pop up in your text messages offering you a deal or discount on something the store offers.

I think you’d have to be a true died in the wool shop-a-holic to opt in for something this invasive, but according to advertiser CBS-Loopt they already have some takers. Personally, I’d find these ads far more invasive than helpful, not to mention potentially expensive. If a user doesn’t understand that they may have to pay for text messages if they don’t have an unlimited text plan, it could cost them a pretty penny.

Even Web 2.0 companies are getting in on the ground floor of mobile ads. Start up company Fluc launched with a plan for mobile ads similar to that of CBS-Loopt, though Fluc hasn’t declared how they will deliver the ads. They have a choice of using a GPS based system like CBS-Loopt, or simply basing ads on a user’s home location and city.

It’s amazing companies are still going forward with the plan after famous pollsters Nielsen determined that mobile text ads are the least trusted ad format by customers. I guess the temptation to make a buck no matter what is too great to ignore. Luckily, the ads aren’t yet available on all mobile networks, though given time they will be. After all, even Google AdSense has a mobile version now, and what Google does, the rest do follow.

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