What is the future of location based services?

Everything today is in context. You can't read a news story, talk to a neighbor, watch a sporting event, or plan a vacation without understanding context. Who you are. Where you want to go. Your habits. Your friends and family. Finances. You name it.

So it is no surprise that advertisers for a long time have figured out that understanding the context of their target audience is worth more to them that just a static list of names and addresses. And in today's mobile world, they can't be content without giving MOVEMENT to that context. Not just your demographic profile, but your mobile-demographic profile mapped across time. We all know that who we are is different by context. At work, I am a marketing executive. At home I am a father (and often janitor). On poker night I am mysterious. At the family reunion I am funny. When working in the yard I am determined.

So THE NEXT BIG THING is a combination of all the major advances in technology over the past ten years. Mobility. Apps. Smart Phones. eCommerce. Search. Target advertising. Social networking. GPS/MAPS. All of these technologies give not only MOVEMENT but also ACCELERATION to our collective context as human beings. This is a gold mine not only to advertisers, but to any company looking to profit from the next great trend that will drive a combination of lifestyle, commerce, and producivity changes. Among other concepts, this mash-up of technologies is what is known as Location Based Services. I predict it will fundamentally change how we do business and interact with each other in the coming decade.

What do you think?