Hot Trend for 2010: Geotagging

Geotagging is the term for adding geographical information to any kind of media, from websites to photographs. In the mobile world, this process is manifested in services such as Yelp and Foursquare, among many others. Utilizing the GPS system built in to your mobile device, these services can pinpoint your location and help direct you to other points of interest in the same area. Conversely, if you want to find out about what kinds of businesses or activities are found in a distant location, these services will let you find out that information as well.

The same convenience factor that this brings to the mobile use makes this big business in the mobile ad world. Digital consulting firm BIA/Kelsey predicts <http://www.clickz.com/3635798> that geo-targeted display ads will grow from an $897 million business in 2008 to over $1.9 billion in 2013. Another way to look at it is that geo-targeted ads will grow from being just 10.2% of display ad units in '08 to over 15% by 2013.