When Steve Jobs first announced the iAd platform back in April, the clever analysts at Juniper Research put up a blog post asking “Will iAd Generate iAdspend?”

Following yesterday’s somewhat glitch-ridden introduction of the iPhone 4, the answer appears to be yes. Steve Jobs told an enthralled audience that Apple had over $60 million in commitments for 2H 2010 from the likes of Nissan, Sears, JCPenney, GEICO, Target, Best Buy, GE and Unilever, as well as longtime partners Disney and AT&T. Those commitments represent 48% of mobile display ad spending the second half of the year, according to Apple (which clearly based its calculations on more optimistic projections than eMarketer’s, below).

Of course, we have to factor in the Apple effect. Combine a new, slicker and seemingly more capable iPhone with a revised OS and a new ad platform and you have the potential for a rising tide. Apple’s entrance into the mobile advertising market in such a high-profile fashion undeniably serves as a validation of the medium. But whether it will lift all mobile advertising—or just mobile display—remains to be seen.

The iAd examples Apple demonstrated yesterday certainly looked impressive, as they should given how high Steve Jobs has set the bar. The bar for performance has likewise been set high, commensurate with the cost of participating in the iAd program. The awareness Apple has generated about iAd, which transcends the marketing community at this point, should work in favor of iAd advertisers, who will also get to bask in Apple’s glow.

The novelty factor associated with the first round of iAd likely could contribute to high levels of consumer engagement. Wired magazine saw a huge boost in sales when its iPad app was released, thanks to the considerable hype associated with the app’s engaging, touch-friendly content. The same hype could be applied to engaging, touch-friendly iAds, which launch July 1.

The question, however, is whether Apple’s halo effect will last with the iAd platform. The proof ultimately lies in the effectiveness of the campaigns once they are in-market, not in the flashy demos.

(Image Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Facebook is making it easier for people to access its service from their mobile phones. Deals struck with more than 50 mobile carriers in 45 countries will give free access to many features, without any data charges.

This offering, dubbed 0.facebook.com, will likely help Facebook increase its usage in developing countries. Among the countries where people can access the free mobile service are Brazil and India. In Brazil, where Google’s orkut still dominates, Facebook is used by just 2.3% of the population, or 4.2 million monthly active users, according to InsideFacebook.com’s Facebook Global Monitor. In India, just over 9 million people use Facebook, InsideFacebook.com reported.

By contrast, eMarketer estimates that 92.5% of Brazil’s population, or 186 million people, will be mobile subscribers this year, In India, just over one-half of the population, or 604 million people, will subscribe to mobile service in 2010. In China, there will be more mobile Internet users in China in 2010 than the entire population of the US. My colleague Noah Elkin, in his recent “BRIC Mobile” report, writes that Brazil, Russia, India and China (the BRIC nations) have “a high percentage of price-sensitive prepaid users who spend little on mobile services beyond basic voice and text messaging.”

But 0.facebook.com is not solely aimed at developing nations. The free offering is also available from carriers in Austria, Belgium and Finland, among others. And mobile operators in Australia, New Zealand and France are slated to come on board soon.

Overall, eMarketer estimates that there will be 223.4 million mobile social network users worldwide in 2010, representing 4.6% of mobile subscribers and 34% of mobile Internet users.

Facebook has focused most of its attention on growing its computer-based audience. It has more than 100 million mobile users out of a total user base of 400 million-plus. Some believe Facebook will cross 500 million users by June. But with its new mobile service, it has the potential to make its mobile audience grow quickly, too.

While the buzz in 2009 was all about social networks as a function of the Web, in 2010, marketers’ attention will focus increasingly on the ways social networks are becoming the medium for communicating on mobile devices. Video is likely to play a key role as well, as mobile users are “socializing” video from their devices to a far greater extent than they are watching it.

I wrote about this phenomenon and other key trends in mobile marketing in my latest iMedia Connection column, which went live today. Following is a clip from the full article:

Consolidation among mobile ad networks is clearly lining up to be a major theme in the year ahead. Even so, achieving scale in display advertising on mobile devices is just one piece in a much larger puzzle — that of using mobile to showcase full-blown marketing and commerce experiences.

Marketers often talk glowingly about mobile’s flexibility and how effective it is at activating other media. However, mobile has traditionally been a less effective vehicle than other media for end-to-end consumer experiences. In order for mobile to reach mass adoption among marketers, the medium has to develop beyond its core strengths in communication and messaging.

Fortunately, startup activity is rife across many keys areas of the mobile sector, and the next 12 to 18 months should see many of the missing pieces fall into place. The continued fusion of mobile and social and the appetite for apps (among both consumers and brands) will facilitate more involved marketing experiences. In fact, location- and social-aware apps and utilities will be a key avenue for brands looking to engage consumers on the go.

Mobile advertising will likewise grow more sophisticated, with improved targeting capabilities and richer, more engaging options across multiple channels, from apps to browsers to SMS. Augmented reality (AR) seems destined to generate more ink than activity or revenue in 2010, given the limited number of mobile handsets that support it, but AR is worth keeping an eye on nonetheless because of what it portends for the future of mobile marketing. It represents an innovative way of creating a virtual overlay to the physical world by combining and maximizing on-board device features (e.g., camera, GPS, accelerometer, broadband connectivity).

With the rise in mobile broadband access and the proliferation of multimedia smartphones, video viewing (and consequently, video advertising) is set to become a more integral part of the mobile experience. Paid content models such as iTunes will continue to expand to mobile devices, but the growth in mobile web and application usage will also create opportunities for marketers to engage with viewers in both professional and user-generated video content.

The article takes a detailed look at different segments in the mobile marketing space and profiles a number of companies to watch, so be sure to read through to the end to get the complete picture.