Apple is getting into the still tiny mobile advertising space with its intended acquisition of Quattro Wireless. This announcement follows Google's plans to acquire AdMob, another mobile ad platform.

Google's move into this space is hardly surprising, however - the company’s whole business model is based on digital advertising. Apple, though, which rarely makes acquisitions, is another matter. Expanding into this space - which only represents a tiny slice of the current online ad market - suggests that Apple is among those companies that believe mobile computing will be the main way consumers access the internet in the future.

It also suggests that Apple is seeking to monetize its huge user base more directly, and will be moving beyond its main business models of the App Store and subscriptions.

Ad Reception?

That is good news for advertisers, which have been only able to access this constituency through indirect means - other third party mobile ad networks, or the App Store. The question is, will iPhone and iTune users be receptive to advertising on their devices?

Mobile phones are intimate devices, especially iPhones which can be endlessly customized, says  Adam Hanft CEO of the marketing and branding firm Hanft Projects. (via The E-Commerce Times). Advertising doesn't really work in this environment, he said.

"It's a jarring intrusion that poisons the experience. And it's too easy for consumers to ignore. The cliche of sending someone a message for a discount on a latte when they're passing a Starbucks has encouraged many tens if not hundreds of millions of misspent assets, of which the Quattro and AdMob acquisitions are two recent examples."

New Formats

To appease grumpy users, Apple will probably insist that its advertisers craft ads that are fitting to the iPhone and iTouch environment. That shouldn’t be too hard of a reach, Hanft said, as most Apps developed for the iPhone are glorified ads in the first place.