Advertisers Eye Your Cell Phone

If you’ve dreamed of having ads beamed right to your cell phone, a slew of new Bluetooth-enabled products might make you drowsy. Get close enough to one of these billboards or displays, and it’ll ask you to accept a download—a video, song, or coupon. Given cell phones' prevalence, "it's too good an opportunity to miss," says one analyst.

Marketers say it isn’t spam, but Reuters reports mobile carriers prefer Code 2D ads—swipeable barcodes that take consumers to websites, and give phone companies a cut. But most observers agree the public needs to get something from the deal—"It has to be more than 'your next McDonalds is 200 meters on the left.’” (More advertising stories.)