Mobile couponing represents the cutting edge of online coupons. You find a product at a store, search for a coupon on your smartphone, and have the barcode on your smartphone screen scanned at the cash register. Or you're on the address list of a local restauranteur or retailer, who sends out a text message coupon to your cellphone.
It's more hype than reality right now. Mobile marketing was only $2.7 billion last year, less than 10 percent of all online marketing, according to Borell Associates. But it's expected to grow 84 percent a year and hit $57 billion by 2014.
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