4INFO to place ads in text-based search results

Text-based mobile search company 4INFO said it will begin to monetize its basic service by placing advertisements in its search results.
The San Francisco-based startup said it will sell space for relevant ad campaigns that can be independently managed by marketing companies, allowing them to bid on inventory, target specific demographic groups and track consumer responses. Like Google Inc. and others, 4INFO’s free service delivers results to users looking for local business information via text message.
4INFO’s service appears to be the first text-search offering that will deliver ads to mobile users, however.
“What we’re seeing today in the mobile advertising environment is probably the biggest land grab since search engines began battling it out in the 1990s,” said CEO Zaw Thet. Now, marketers can be the first to take advantage of our SMS/text advertising inventory to get their messages in front of a very receptive audience.”