Advertising to the world’s largest mobile phone user-base should be a marketer’s dream. Yet China’s mobile advertising market was valued at just US$17 million last year, well below the US$40 billion spent on ads in total.

"Barcode-based services cannot see fast growth before 3G launches in China," said Liu Bin, principal analyst at Beijing-based research company BDA. "For now, SMS and WAP-based advertising can grow much faster."