Today's headlines

With mobile ad rates consistently lower than on desktop - even as mobile customer bases grow - the industry is increasingly concerned about when and even if CPCs will ever start to increase.

Registration is open for the second annual Mobile FirstLook: Strategy 2013 conference Thursday, Jan. 17 featuring speakers from Coca-Cola, Sephora, Nissan, Museum of Modern Art, Citi, MillerCoors, NHL and JetBlue. Must-attend event for brands, retailers, agencies and publishers.

There is little doubt that brands and publishers are constantly looking to connect with mobile users through television. Although applications have traditionally been used to bridge both channels, marketers need to also eye second-screen mobile Web sites to reach a wide group of users.

NEW YORK - An ESPN executive at the ad:tech 2012 conference said that marketers are facing several challenges in the mobile space, one of which is creative.

NEW YORK - A Nielsen executive at the ad:tech 2012 conference said that the mobile landscape is growing daily and marketers can effectively use channels such as mobile advertising to influence shopping and conversion.

Mobile Commerce Daily today - Adidas, Kohl's mobile commerce campaign racks up 13,000 sweepstakes entries; MasterCard, ING bridge desktop, mobile commerce via new payment service.

More than half of iOS 5 users are using Google Maps either exclusively or some of the time over Apple Maps, according to new data from RealityMine.

Luxury Daily today - InterContinental Hotels ups culinary experience via mobile program; Neiman Marcus taps global desire for luxury via ecommerce expansion.

By Shuli Lowy

While neither the Romney or Obama campaigns discussed how much of the roughly $159 million spent in online advertising was allocated to mobile, they both disclosed their involvement in advertising on mobile phones and tablets.