Every now and then Google goes and does something that you know is going to have a massive effect on the Internet. First it was contextualized advertising. Then it was video ads. And now it’s AdSense on mobile phones. Yes, you read that right. Google now lets publishers put AdSense units on web pages created to be read on mobiles. At the moment, you’re limited to just one unit on each mobile page and the inventory is going to be fairly limited but with a phone in every pocket, it’s only a matter of time before this really takes off. Of course, that means that you have to create content for mobiles. Once you’ve created content for a website, the hard work is already done but plenty of work will still be left. You’ll have to put that content into a different mark-up language and you’ll need to make it easy to read on all of the different types of mobile screens in use. You’ll also have to create the sort of content people don’t want to wait until they get home to read. Until now that’s mostly been sports news but that’s likely to change as the surfing gets easier. You’ll also have to optimize your ad unit and that’s where things are going to get really interesting. Because mobile screens are so small, some of the usual strategies might not work. An ad above the fold, for example, could disappear pretty quickly when someone scrolls down the screen. And clicking interesting links might be less popular when you’re paying by the kilobyte. I’ve got a feeling that this could be a very big market, but one which is going to need a whole lot of new strategies to get the most out of. I think we’re all going to have to watch this space...