Google chief sez: "Your mobile phone should be free"
by Thomas Ricker 
posted Nov 13th 2006 @ 9:03AM
In the beginning...we had Burma Shave, then there was Google. They've been tiptoeing around the cellphone interface for awhile now, but if you think they're just testing the waters, think again. With the introduction of AdWords for Google's mobile search service, the cellphone has become Google's next platform for growth. As hand-held computers coax their owners into spending 8 to 10 hours a day watching TV, surfing the web, listening to music, shopping, texting, navigating GPS, snapping pictures, and streaming videos, Google expects cellphone advertising to one day match their computer-based ad revenue which already generated about $10 billion for the year. Indeed, ads are expected to become so prevalent that "your mobile phone should be free," as Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, told Reuters. While he conceded that phones may never become totally free for the consumer -- at least outside of Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong -- advertising will drive down the costs substantially as it has for newspapers. Oh fun.
