SMS - the ultimate goldmine

6.30 AM - Ahmedabad Airport
7.35 AM - Mumbai Airport
7.35AM - SMS from Hutch Customer Care - “Welcome to Mumbai”
7.36 AM - SMS from Hutch Customer Care - “Our Hutch Customer care number in Mumbai is 98201.98201. Please call us for any questions’
9.51 AM - Great deals from Big Bazaar. Save 60% on all footwear, clothes, etc.
10.14 AM - Download ringtones from ChakDe for only Rs 5/tune
11.01 AM - Call me asap. Dinner at our place at 7PM today
And so it goes…

I know a lot of the above SMSes are crap, but do you notice the gold here? The fact that mobile is a giganormous market in India and that Indians are SMS happy folks is well-known. But - the amount of data that is generated through SMS and the advertising opportunities it provides us is simply mind-boggling.
Consider this - a SMS enables an active communication between the sender and receipient. It knows precisely where the sender is located, where the recipient is located, where they both live, and it knows what we are talking about. I mean, WTF - if this together does not provide the ultimate advertising opportunity, I am not sure what does.

Imagine how much better the above set of messages could have been -
6.30 AM - Ahmedabad Airport
7.35 AM - Mumbai Airport

7.35AM - SMS from Hutch Customer Care - “Welcome to Mumbai”.
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Sponsored message:
We invite you to try our breakfast at Hotel XYZ. Breakfasts from Rs 75
Or
Message from Makemytrip: Booked your hotel yet? Hotels in Mumbai from 1900. Return flights to Ahmedabad from 1700

7.36 AM - SMS from Hutch Customer Care - “Our Hutch Customer care number in Mumbai is 98201.98201. Please call us for any questions’
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9.51 AM - Great deals from Big Bazaar. Save 60% on all footwear, clothes, etc.
10.14 AM - Down ringtones from ChakDe for only Rs 5/tune

11.01 AM - Call me asap. Dinner at our place at 7PM today
Sponsored message:
Florists in Bopal, Ahmedabad, Buy bouquets from Rs. 25 OR

Dinner gifts from Rs. 125 at Big Bazaar
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The last message here is probably one of the most common messages I receive - and is perhaps one of the most information rich messages - it tells you where I am going, when I am going and why I am going.

Granted, its not easy to mine the myriad of short hand words that people have started using for SMS, and interpreting context from less than 10 words of SMS is hard. But there is gazillions of data already, so its certainly doable. And when it does happen - SMS will be free, phones will be subsidized, no one will care about voice plans (who cares about voice anyway, its intrusive and its completely un-minable). And that - I think would be the googliest thing ever…

Anyone got a million dollars to bankroll this idea?