The WeatherBug general manager predicts that in the mobile world, internet applications will turn the tide on the browser.

A decade ago, website-embedded browsers became the de facto delivery engine for internet advertising. That will change with the next phase of the internet revolution. Internet applications, not a web browser, will drive the bulk of the advertising-supported mobile experience.

In my last column, I talked about the increasing popularity of widgets and gadgets. With the advent of the next generation of Windows scheduled for release in a matter of months, you'll soon see how such tiny desktop applications will become more common. In fact, if Microsoft and its OEM partners have their way you'll skip past your browser often and opt to use widgets and gadgets instead. From a size perspective, these mini-apps would fit quite conveniently on a mobile device. So you might say that they are the missing link between the full-size computer screen and the mobile interface.

These small but handy and powerful engines represent the convergence of desktop and the mobile screen.

As advertisers, we will covet the mobile space because too many of our target consumers will be there to ignore it. But we have some code to crack before we figure out how to do it. To start unraveling the puzzle we should ask two questions: Why would advertising be powered most commonly by widget-like internet applications instead of phone-sized web browsers, and why should we as marketers care?

To answer the first part, I recently caught some commentary by Ajit Jaokar, who runs futuretext. He concisely describes the inherent environment surrounding mobile devices, which leads us to conclude why internet apps will win on mobile. According to Ajit…

"To understand the differences between browsing on the web and on a mobile device, we have to consider factors such as:

1. Intermittent connections-- unlike on the web, the wireless network connection is relatively unstable and is affected by factors such as coverage (e.g. you lose your connection in a tunnel);
2. Bandwidth limitations-- for example even when 3G coverage is available, the actual bandwidth is far less;
3. The need for data storage on the client-- if the device has no (or little) local storage, all data has to be downloaded every time. This is not optimal given intermittent and expensive bandwidth;
4. Finally, and most importantly, a local application provides a richer user experience-- especially for applications such as games."

The bottom line: When advertisers crack the code with mobile devices, they will find their solution through the auspices of the desktop application. As a result, they will find they've quite a bit more power under the hood to help them engage people with advertising. Already, a massive amount of mobile internet access happens through the mobile world's Brew, Java and Smartphone applications. They handle the problems that are inherent in trying to work on a relatively tiny device with connectivity, storage and power limitations.

What does that mean to you? The same things that make internet applications a more powerful interface -- whether on PCs, Macs or mobile phones -- will make your ability to advertise greater. You'll have far more creativity than otherwise possible, with more onboard computing power to manage your campaigns and how they appear to phone users on their interface.

And we'll need the extra power and convenience. Few people agree on how to make advertising on mobile devices work without it irritating and inconveniencing people. No brand wants their image hurt by getting sloppy-- especially early in the game. The industry doesn't want to blow it and walk into a revolt from people who demand advertising-free phones. Mobile carriers would gladly oblige, for a fee, and we'll be cut off from our market.

Fortunately the same onboard power that makes apps the solution to the challenges of mobile internet connectivity will give us effective and powerful tools to engage people successfully, cleverly and acceptably with advertising on their phones. That's my prediction for the week. Let me know what you think.

Andy Jedynak is SVP & general manager, consumer division for WeatherBug. Read full bio.