Two consumer advocacy groups plan to file an FTC complaint about mobile marketing and its emerging practices. The advocacy group Digital Democracy filed its complaint in conjunction with U.S. Public Interest Research Group.  

According to an article in MediaPost, Jeff Chester, founder of Digital Democracy, says, “We’re filing a complaint to force the FTC to take a proactive stance. Mobile ad companies incorporate the same problematic business practices that we witnessed with PC-based broadband marketing, including behavioral targeting and profiling techniques — except that this time they know your location.”  

The main focus of the complaint is behavioral targeting in general since this type of data is often captured without first obtaining consent. The Federal Communications Commission already prohibits marketers from sending text message ads to consumers without their opt-in consent, but some other types of mobile ads — such as wireless application protocol banners or search ads — are not similarly restricted.  

The Kelsey Group forecasts the mobile marketing segment to grow from a current $33.2 million to $1.4 billion by 2012. Our forecast also predicts the mobile Internet population will grow to 91 million by 2012, making the mobile advertising market too attractive to ignore.  

The goal of the FTC complaint is to place restrictions on mobile advertising while the category is still developing. The downside is that these types of restrictions are the very things that have kept the mobile advertising industry from developing in the U.S. With search growth slowing, mobile advertising is the next logical platform for growth and investment particularly by the major portals, meaning it will be a hard-fought battle to maintain the freedom to experiment with advertising formats and data gathering techniques to determine what consumers will and will not accept on their mobile handsets.   

“Free one touch directory assistance” from Google’s free directory assistance service, Goog-411, is being advertised in Office Depot’s newspaper circulars as a main feature on GE Dect 6.0 Digital Cordless Phones.

The ad copy spells it out:

1- Use the dedicated one touch button on your GE phone.
2- Search for a business by name or category.
3- Goog-411 connects your call FREE of charge.

What it looks like is the beginning of a new “bounty” relationship that could pay nice dividends for GE, while bringing increased visibility to Google’s DA effort. The last time we saw this tactic was with PC makers, which routinely won bounties from Internet service providers like AOL and Earthlink in the mid-1990s.

All right, this isn’t directly tied to local search, but it’s really cool. This morning, at the Macworld expo, Steve Jobs introduced the newest addition to the Apple family, the MacBook Air.

It’s small enough to fit into an interoffice envelope and gets five hours of battery life — significantly raising the bar for laptop mobility standards. More details and specs are here. Other Macworld announcements, including an iTunes rental service and new AppleTV, are here.

While the other telcos have divested their Yellow Pages units, AT&T maintains that there is real synergy in pursuing a three-screen strategy. Rather than selling the YP unit and using the proceeds to build out its network, a la Verizon, AT&T is betting that there is a home field advantage in keeping its landline, mobile and U-verse video customers intact, and selling advertising — especially local advertising — across the digital channels.

It is a big bet. U-verse apparently has had start-up pains in an intensely competitive video marketplace. And mobile advertising obviously needs to be very sensitively handled. AT&T could always change course and spin out the YP unit. But for now, I like the ambition of it all.

Speaking at its 2007 analyst conference, Ray Wilkins, group president of diversified businesses, said his revenues are $600 million today, but that he hopes to see $1.5 billion in non-print advertising revenues by 2010. Yellowpages.com, especially, is the core of the opportunity, since it represents a giant umbrella for all the products. It is expected to get 30 percent revenue growth CAGR over the three-year period.

The basis for these projections is integrated sales from the YP sales force, a boost in searches from 2 billion to 3 billion, the integration of Ingenio’s Pay-Per-Call platform and the general growth from search revenues, especially on the mobile side. Wilkins noted that 18 million wireless handsets will be pre-installed for AT&T mobile search next year, and enabled in 20 million others. By the end of the year, he said, digital ad insertion will begin in U-verse homes.

It is hard for me to comprehend, but we are finally finished with ILM:07. We were grateful to have had 650 interesting and enthusiastic attendees from all over the world, 72 stimulating speakers, a full load of sponsors and an excellent partnership with SES.

Our next conference, April 30-May 2 at the Westin in Seattle, will be a highly differentiated affair. Stay tuned for what we are doing with that (but not for a couple of months, OK?).

For those of you who can’t get enough coverage, a virtual conference will be up with all the PPTs in a couple of weeks (but only for attendees). You can also order the DVD.

For immediate gratification, however, check out the posts from my talented colleagues on the Kelsey Blog.

I especially liked Michael Taylor’s write-up of our discussion with Mahalo CEO Jason Calacanis. Michael is totally correct: “The long and short of Calacanis’ comments go to several of the key themes heard over and over again at ILM:07 — relevant content, deep content and engaging, passionate people are all needed to make a highly relevant and personalized search experience.”

In addition to the Kelsey write-ups, Mike Boland has captured links from the press and bloggers who attended our event. It was good to have them aboard. And Mel Taylor took some great pictures.

Here are easy links to Kelsey ILM:07 posts:

1. TKG Analysts Lay the Groundwork (Michael Boland)

2. Winebaum Provides a Fresh Look at Local Search (Michael Taylor)

3. Cash Is King for Local Search Investors (Charles Laughlin)

4. Herratti’s Citysearch: Social Media Video Partnerships (Bobbi Loy-Luster)

5. NCI: ‘We Can Work with Zillow’ (John Kelsey)

6. ILM:07 Spotlights mobilePeople (Stephen Marshall)

7. Stubbs Discusses AT&T’s Post-InGenio Vision (Michael Taylor)

8. TMP’s McKelvey Discusses Online/Offline Research Data (Michael Taylor, Michael Boland)

9. New West’s Weber and Independent Local Media (John Kelsey)

10. Marchex’s Horowitz: Bet on People Already Winning (Charles Laughlin)

11. Google’s Hanke: Maps, Mobile and Mashups (Michael Boland)

12. An Intuit-ive Approach to SMB Marketing (Stephen Marshall)

13. Injecting Social into Local Media (Michael Boland)

14. Taking It Home: The Final Panel at ILM:07 (Stephen Marshall)

Interactive Local Media: 07 is ready to roll Nov. 28-30 in L.A. That’s next Wednesday through Friday!

The show, which is being produced in partnership with SES Local, has attendees from all over the world. One exec told me he is coming on Wednesday, taking the red eye to New York that night due to a prior commitment, and flying back on Thursday night for the final day.

Attendance-wise, we have the biggest sign-up list for a Kelsey event since the mid-1990s. Almost everyone that we have slotted will actually be there. While the agenda has been tight for some time, with 70-plus speakers, here are some last minute adds:

• Christophe Maire, a cofounder of Nokia’s Location-Based Experience Development, is set for Day 3. HOT DISCUSSION TOPIC: Nokia’s $8.1 Billion purchase of NavTeq.

• Laurel Gilbert, from Microsoft’s Atlas division, is speaking on our localizing national advertising panel. HOT DISCUSSION TOPIC: How Microsoft will use Aquantative to transform itself into a true Web advertising giant.

• Doug Kilponen from MerchantCircle is speaking on the localized shopping panel. MerchantCircle just received a $10 million cash infusion from IAC and others. HOT DISCUSSION TOPIC: Best Practices for Signing up Small Businesses.

• Claudia Poepperl from mobilePeople is set to provide a demo of the London-based company’s cutting-edge social mobile technology.

We are also expecting a drop-in from a top executive of a company that’s been in the news, but we can’t say much more about it. And speaking of news, there are lots of interesting news announcements that will drop around the show as well. So, will we see you in L.A.? Here is the registration page.

The numbers are looking very, very good for the Interactive Local Media:07 conference in L.A. Nov. 28-30. Internally, we think this one is a record breaker. Register and book the hotel while you can. The latter tends to sell out.

In recent weeks, we’ve been putting the final touches on the program. For instance, we’ve added Facebook’s Chamath Palihapitiya, who is VP of product marketing. Here’s a snippet about Chamath from Fast Company’s cover story this month:

“Palihapitiya, 31, is tall and whippet thin, with elegant manners and a ready smile. A former electrical engineer, born in Sri Lanka and raised in Canada, he ran AOL’s instant-message group, then jumped to the venture fund Mayfield. He is part Sand Hill Roadster and part freethinker.”

Other notable adds include ShopLocal CMO Bob Armour, Scott Ferris from Microsoft’s Atlas division, LA Times.com’s Robertson Barrett, and City Voter’s Josh Walker. There is also a brand-new Local Mobile panel, featuring Gary Roshak, who has migrated from Marchex to Yahoo!, Jeff Torgerson at InfoSpace, and Collin Holmes at V-Enable.

Also, take a look at the SES side of the show. Google Local head Eric Stein, Zorik Gordon from Reach Local, and Topix head Chris Tolles are just some of the great execs SES is bringing in. Kevin Heisler and Kevin Newcomb are moderating the SES panels.

The Kelsey Group also has its LinkedIn networking set up for the show. We’ve got dozens participating already. Once you register, you should sign in for that, too (even if you haven’t used LinkedIn for a while). See you in L.A.?

The game changing device and forebear to the iPhone turns six years old today. The unofficial Apple blog has the story, along with a video of Steve Jobs’ original unveiling keynote at Macworld.

It’s amazing how much the device has evolved since 2001; yet another piece of Moore’s Law in action (insane sales growth also doesn’t hurt product development pace). This pace is also exemplified by the fact that the video iPod, new less than two years ago, is now branded (with some tweaks) as “iPod classic”.

If you want classic, you should see my iPod — the original 5 gigabyte model celebrating its birthday today and shown to the left (with far fewer scratches). The funny part is that the coveted breakthrough device of six years ago now gets weird looks at the gym as being a gadget relic. Imagine what the iPhone will look like in 6 years.

A funny jab at this fast-paced product rollout was also shown on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update. It was previously available on YouTube and has been taken down along with many other SNL clips, but is covered by Engadget.

Big names, interesting people, compelling research. Forgive the commercial message here, but we’re set to deliver the goods at The Kelsey Group’s Interactive Local Media 2007 (ILM:07), Nov. 28-30 in L.A.

I think there’s something for everyone. And this year, as most of you know, we’ve partnered with Search Engine Strategies for a series of practical “build it” local search sessions. The SES portion of the event features great execs like Chris Tolles, who runs Topix; Zorik Gordon, who runs Reach Local; Brad Geddes from Local Launch; and Court Cunningham from Yodle … SES is a great partner.

If you haven’t checked the ILM:07 landing page for a couple of weeks, you are going to be bowled over by all the great additions. Just today, Google Maps visionary John Hanke confirmed as a keynote. It’s kind of fun when you can look up a keynoter on Wikipedia. We’re also adding Marchex CEO Russ Horowitz to a session that features Bill Day, the company’s chief media officer (and cofounder of About.com).

Some other recent “adds” include:

• Jay Herratti, who runs Citysearch, and is being interviewed back-to-back with Jennifer Dulski, who runs Yahoo! Marketplace;

• Jorrit Van der Meulen from Zillow, who is partnered on a cutting-edge real estate session with NCI head Dan McCarthy and Homethinking’s Niki Scevak;

• Jeff Hughes, head of online advertising for General Motors, who is speaking about localizing national advertising with Centro’s Shawn Riegsecker and Consorte Media’s Alicia Morga;

• Mark Gorenberg at Hummer Winblad, who is partnered on the Local Investment panel with Kara Nortman from IAC/InterActiveCorp and Nick Veronis from Veronis Suhler Stevenson … (hey, this is a pretty smart panel);

• Robyn Rose, who’s building the LocalSearch.com platform for Idearc. She is on an all-star “convergence” panel with Candice Faktor from Toronto.com; Elaine Kunda from ZipLocal; and Malcolm “Premier Guide” Lewis at Local.com;

• Mike Orren from Pegasus News, who will talk about building TV station community sites, as will CityVoter’s Josh Walker;

• Chris Wagner from NeuLion, who will show us the company’s IPTV system for local sports teams;

• Jonathan Weber, of Industry Standard fame, whose NewWest is leveraging the Web to promote and cover the regional development of the Rockies.

All these speakers are being added to the great execs who we announced a couple of weeks ago. Top execs like RHDi’s Jake Winebaum; Autobytel’s Jim Riesenbach; Mahalo’s Jason Calacanis; TMP Directional Marketing’s Stuart McKelvey; Yahoo! Search Marketing’s Dave Schwartz; comScore’s Brian Jurutka; Judy’s Book’s Chris DeVore; Krillion’s Joel Toledano; Retrevo’s David Galvan; and Shopping.com’s Josh Wetzel.

In the next week or so, we’ll be adding a couple of real surprises as speakers (we hope); as well as a great Local Mobile panel, which takes its lead from Matt Booth’s Mobile Forecast.

(Tip: If you plan to come, sign up now for a cheaper rate, and book your flights and hotel ASAP. It takes place one week after Thanksgiving, which is a busy time. It is a NICE time to be in L.A. But get situated, OK?)

While I am in Reston, VA, attending Kelsey’s Directory Driven Commerce conference, I thought it would be a good time to start talking about our next show, which I am co-producing: Interactive Local Media 2007. The show is being done in tandem with SES Local, takes place Nov. 28-30, and is at the Los Angeles Hyatt Regency Century Plaza — a nice location with a very good pool and a lot of local history (movie stars, Reagan, Nixon, all that).

Kelsey started doing this show in 1997; I started co-producing it in 1998, and we are proud of the legacy. It is typically the biggest local show in the industry, with the best networking, the best speakers and the best demos. My goal is for every participant to get an inspiring, 360-degree perspective on local online, mobile and video issues.

We’re just getting started confirming our guest list of 50+ speakers. Watch this space for updates. But here’s who we have to date (in alpha):

• Jason Calacanis, CEO, Mahalo

• Bill Day, Chief Media Officer, Marchex

• Chris DeVore, Cofounder and COO, Judy’s Book

• Jennifer Dulski , GM, Yahoo! Local

• David Galvan, VP, Retrevo

• Elaine Kunda, President and CEO, ZipLocal

• Malcolm Lewis, VP, Local.com

• Stuart McKelvey, CEO, TMP Directional Media

• Alicia Morga, Chairman and CEO, Consorte Media

• Daniel McCarthy, Chairman and CEO, NCI

• Mike Orren, President, Pegasus News

• Shawn Riegsecker, Chairman and CEO, Centro

• Jim Riesenbach, President and CEO, Autobytel

• Niki Scevak, President, Homethinking

• Joel Toledano, Cofounder and CEO, Krillion

• Nick Veronis, Managing Director, Veronis Suhler Stevenson

• Jake Winebaum, President, RHDi; CEO, Business.com

We’re putting the Kelsey analysts up front with the new mobile forecasts and other research. There’s a lot of mobile at this thing.