Google firmly staked out its intention to replicate its lead in web advertising in the mobile industry this month with its $750 million acquisition of AdMob. Advertising is deemed a crucial mechanism for monetising mobile content.

Mobile advertising is red hot, characterised by more than a dozen mobile ad networks. AOL, Microsoft, and Yahoo have all made acquisitions in the last 24 months in a bid to stake a claim on the sector.

AdMob has been a Speed client since it launched in Europe in September 2006. Team leader Lucy Wimmer explains in the story below how we’ve helped build its profile, initially in the technology sector, then amongst advertising agencies, and latterly in the national and business media.

Although Google offers many forms of mobile advertising, its focus to date has been on mobile search ads, while AdMob’s focus has been mobile display ads and in-application ads.

When Speed signed AdMob up as a client in 2006 mobile advertising was the new kid on the block. As well as establishing its brand in the UK, AdMob was faced with the challenge of driving mainstream awareness of mobile advertising and moving the perception beyond SMS.

To achieve this, the launch PR programme focused on introducing AdMob to the mobile, telecoms and technology press, with briefings supported by technology demonstrations.

Once AdMob was firmly positioned as a mobile advertising leader in its key trade media, our attention turned to building AdMob’s profile in the marketing and advertising media and educating the national press about mobile advertising. Using customer stories, statistics-driven news based on AdMob’s Mobile Metrics report, opinion pieces and proactive comment on relevant news stories, the company’s media footprint extended to the likes of Media Week, New Media Age, Marketing and Revolution.

Then came the iPhone. With its user-friendly interface and fixed rate mobile web pricing, suddenly everyone could see the potential of the mobile and the device proved to be a real catalyst for mobile advertising both in-application and in-browser.

The topic was placed firmly on the agenda of many national papers. As one of the world’s largest mobile advertising networks, a source of invaluable statistics and an innovator in iPhone ad formats, the company has gained national coverage in The Times, The Sunday Times and The Guardian.

Technology is a sector where things move quickly, and many a fortune has been made. And many an entrepreneur is all-too aware of how valuable PR can be in creating positive perception and excitement about a company ahead of a listing or sale.

There are few better indicators of this value than turning up to meet a client post-acquisition or float to see them stepping out of a new Ferrari. True, at the moment these incidents are few and far between, but an agency’s track record in working with fast-developing businesses and helping them to generate the right publicity in the build-up to the big monetary event speaks volumes about its commercial savvy. And it’s ability to make the key people rich.

This month saw Speed client AdMob, a company that the consultancy started working with when it had just one employee in Europe, sell to Google for $750 million. It’s the latest in a long line of clients that we’ve worked with through the rough and the smooth as they’ve rocketed to become acquisition targets or stock exchange darlings. Acquisitions in particular are an important accolade, and over the years we’ve worked with businesses that have achieved substantial valuations.

The top 10 consumer mobile apps in 2012 will include:

1. Money Transfer – e.g. iMobile
2. Location-Based Services – e.g. Loopt
3. Mobile Search – e.g. Taptu
4. Mobile Browsing – e.g. Firefox Mobile
5. Mobile Health Monitoring – e.g. Main Street Medica
6. Mobile Payment- i.e. Charge Anywhere
7. Near Field Communication Services – e.g.  iCarte
8. Mobile Advertising – e.g. AdMob
9. Mobile Instant Messaging – e.g. Fring
10. Mobile Music – e.g. Spotify

While it is fantastic that brands are now flocking to the iPhone, perhaps they should consider developing applications for other mobile handsets too or they could risk alienating large parts of their target audiences. For many brands I imagine that the cost of developing and maintaining an application for several different platforms at once could be restrictive, especially if it is their first foray into the world of mobile apps and their marketing budgets are already looking tight.

But this need not be the case. I recently went along to the launch of Airplay SDK 4.0, a mobile application development and deployment solution. Airplay allows mobile developers to deploy applications with a single click across platforms including iPhone, Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile, and many more. This seems like a much more effective route to targeting your customers, than sticking to one particular mobile handset. No matter how cool it is!

The Apple App Store celebrates its first anniversary tomorrow (11 July). In the last twelve months more than 50,000 applications have been added to the site, some of which have bordered on the ridiculous. Apps like iFart, Baby Shaker and the ludicrously expensive I Am Rich app, which cost $999, have made the headlines as developers let their imagination run wild.

This got me thinking – what ridiculous apps don’t exist? Here’s a list of 10 that don’t and probably never should. Let me know if you can think of any more!

1. iDon’t believe it! – Lets ‘One Foot in the Grave’ fans hear the dulcet tones of Victor Meldrew at the touch of a button
2. Phone a friend – Fancy a rant, but none of your friends are picking up their phones? This app will murmur in agreement as you get things off your chest
3. Why iMan – Translates Cheryl Cole’s Geordie accent so that American fans of the X Factor can understand what she’s saying – according to the Mirror they’re baffled!
4. Tweets ahead – Alerts you to people twittering nearby so you can tweet-up and awkwardly talk about twitter before blocking each other’s account
5. Whatever the weather – Brings up a list of locations where the weather is worse than it is where you are, so you don’t feel so glum when it’s raining
6. Isn’t he cute? – Oohs and ahs at people’s baby pictures – so you don’t have to!
7. Bookface – Helps you connect and share with the book characters in your life
8. Rock-paper-scissors – The ultimate labour saver! Randomly displays a picture of  rock, a piece of paper or a pair of scissors  so you don’t have to go to the effort of using your hands
9. Hammer time – The world’s most untouchable app. Reads out the time in MC Hammer’s voice whether you want it to or not
10. Cloud call – Records your phone calls and presents them to you as a handy word cloud

Citizen journalism has really taken off in the last few years, with the ubiquity of camera phones and the growing use of the mobile internet making it possible for anyone to report the news.

Just a couple of months ago, a passenger on the plane that crashed into the Hudson river jumped straight into citizen journalist mode and posted a picture of the crash on Twitter, alerting some of the world’s top news providers to the story.

Right, I’m off to stand outside the Priory with my iPhone to see if I can snap Susan Boyle doing something strange.

Update: Econsultancy have published a review of this app here.