Reporting remotely on the All Things D conference has its advantages and disadvantages, with the primary drawback being the inability to feel the energy of the event firsthand. I’d guess that a gathering of that much power and influence would have a decidedly more energetic vibe than some of the shows that I’ve attended this spring.
If that’s true, and folks walk away from Ranch Palos Verdes, Calif., 
jazzed about the state of the digital world, then mobile ad firms should be coming away from Mary Meeker’s session with dollar signs in their eyes.
Looking at the slides from Meeker’s presentation, and reading Liz Gannes’ article, it is clear that at least Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers believes that one of the key bets to make in mobile over the next few years is on advertising.
Indeed, taking a closer look at Kleiner’s most recent mobile ad investment shows that some believe that the mobile ad market is expected to increase from $1.8 billion in 2011 to $13.5 billion by 2015. That’s a Zdeno Chara-sized hockey stick. If so, then it is a near certainty that 2012-13 will see material investments into companies of all stripes that can demonstrate the ability to add to the mobile ad space in interesting ways.
Ironically, this vote of confidence in mobile advertising came on the same day that Techcrunch reported that the start-up incubator started by AdMob’s founder would be shutting down. While certainly coincidence, it could point to the need for a new round of creativity in the early-stage tech start-up ecosystem.
Regardless, after being inundated with news of a “botched” IPO and a thoroughly downtrodden assessment of the prospects for investing in the telecom carrier market, it is refreshing to see some genuine excitement over the prospects of investing in the mobile ecosystem.
