Predictions: they're unavoidable PR products this time of year, a ritual that is almost compulsory now. Mobile Marketer has rounded up a number of predictions in a new article. Some of those are from Millennial Media, which released its set independently.

Here's the Millennial Media list:

1. The US mobile web will reach nearly 100 million unique per month in 2010
2. Advertisers invest significantly in site and application mobile destinations
3. New entrants to the mobile market emerge
4. Location x relevancy x immediacy = mobile triple play in 2010
5. Advertisers will increasingly buy audiences over buying media properties
6. Mobile will be called to task on privacy
7. Mobile retail activity and commerce proliferates
8. Demand will exceed supply in some areas; supply will exceed demand in others
9. Competition (vs. Apple) in the application space increases (Android, RIM)
10. Agencies demand frequency capping & share of voice

Here's what we agree with among the above:

• 100 million uniques at some point in 2010 -- yes
• Advertisers spend more on mobile -- yes
• Buying audiences vs. properties -- yes (this is increasingly true online too)
• Retail is a big category for mobile marketing -- yes
• More apps for non-Apple platforms -- clearly yes; Android has now reached 20K apps.  

Privacy may become a significant issue for mobile in 2010 as it has online this year. One of the predictions in the Mobile Marketer piece is that the carriers open up location this coming year to third parties. That's likely to be the case; increasingly cast in the "dumb pipe" role they need to find ways to make themselves relevant to advertisers, ad networks and consumers.

Stepping back, two broad things are important to point out:

• 2009 was the long-awaited "year of mobile" for consumers. The mobile Internet became credible and visible this year; advertisers always lag consumer adoption. 
• Mobile is going to be much more important than people now realize; it will become the primary Internet access vehicle for increasing numbers of people over time. But mobile and the PC Internet are joined and must be considered together. 

Along the lines of the latter point, as has been repeated many times before, mobile is not a stand-alone marketing strategy. It must be considered in the larger context of an overall campaign. And all publishers (and increasingly brands) must have a mobile strategy in 2010 -- but be thoughtful about it.

I would also argue that online and mobile media buying will become much more integrated in the coming year to reduce barriers to mobile advertising and provide combined reach to marketers. Mobclix's deal with Advertising.com is a leading indicator of what's to come.

The mobile handset is a "bridge" between the digital and physical worlds and location matters -- a lot. But "local" is not the alpha and omega of the mobile experience. People do all sorts of things on their handsets that have nothing to do with where they are right now. However to realize the "location x relevancy x immediacy" opportunity argued above, dynamic ad creative will need to become more widely used (see Google-Teracent). 

Social media and communication between people is also a central part of the mobile experience that wasn't really discussed in the predictions above. Local + mobile + social will be widespread in 2010. Voice search and voice control of handset functions will become more central to the user experience. 

Finally augmented reality; here's what the Mobile Marketer piece says:

Augmented reality will likely gain traction in 2010, but will remain a bell and whistle compared to list and map view.

1020 Placecast believes that 2010 will be the year that this exciting technology begins to be adopted on mobile phones . . .

Expect to see retailers and entertainment companies trying out ways of showcasing their brands with this niche, but exciting new technology. Although augmented reality will appear in more applications, consumers will still prefer the list and map versions to search results on a usage basis.

I would say something slightly different. It's not going to be the list or map vs. the floating Twitter posts. Augmented Reality's use cases have already started to emerge and the "more information about what's in front of me" scenario is what will stick for AR in the near term.

AR "browsers" won't replace conventional search or be widely adopted, but the ability to gain more information through the camera or by taking a picture of an object (e.g., Amazon-SnapTell, Google Goggles) will become more commonplace as part of a larger application or experience. I won't scan the street with my camera to get reviews about the restaurants in Times Square. But I will get more information about a painting, a building or a product using the camera. I might stand in front of a restaurant to see if there's a deal or discount via AR. (Related to this is QR codes, which may become more widespread in the US in 2010.)

Augmented reality in the form of "visual search" is right now the most provocative area for mobile development in my opinion. Voice is perhaps more mundane but very important for the advancement of the mobile user experience. 

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Update: Neglected to mention tablets will continue to proliferate but may not have an impact until 2011.