Advertisers can now opt to place sponsorship as well as custom publishing-type advertising buys on the web based HowardForums. Previously, they could just buy text links & limited IAB standard units. HowardForums.com claims to have about 800,000 members. Roughly 6,000 active users are online at almost all times of the day.

When purchasing a Smartphone, cell phone or a PDA, customers (and businesses) rely on advice from professionals on HowardForums.com’s discussion forums to select the right mobile device. HowardForums.com is said to deliver around 50 million ad impressions and over 2 million unique visitors on a monthly basis. It’s fast closing in on the 1 million registered members mark. A large, influential community is said to be involved in the HowardForums.com discussion board. Specific forums comprise mobile phone manufacturers, carriers, PDA/ Smartphone convergence as well as industry and technological advances.

The community is largely made up of folks who not only are purchasers of mobile devices and high-end PDAs but also tend to make or influence buying decisions for their organisations and families. They are categorised as hardcore mobile professionals. The community decides, if for e.g., Windows Mobile-enabled PDAs will ultimately take over BlackBerry devices. This is the reason why leading marketers as well as carriers want to be there.