Every technology trend has a mixed-metaphor cliché that applies to it. To describe what's happening in the mobile content display advertising arena, you might call it “a chicken-and-egg perfect storm.”

Try to put aside that visual for a moment and think about this: Advertising agencies want to work with mobile content publishers and mobile carriers but have been concerned about the ability to target the right segments of customers and manage mobile ads. Content publishers want to work with ad agencies and carriers but aren't sure these companies know how to work with them. And carriers want to work with both of the other groups but are also concerned about third parties providing and managing content targeted to their customers.

Still, all three groups and the rest of the mobile industry remain pretty stoked about the potential for mobile display advertising revenue and capabilities; they just need a little assistance sorting out a model in which they can work together.

Third Screen Media, a developer of mobile advertising and marketing software and services, is trying to help. The Los Angeles company created its Mobile Advertising Exchange (MADX) platform last year and launched it with the availability of its MADX/Publisher module. Earlier this month, the company announced MADX/Agency, directed specifically at the advertising agencies in the three-pronged scenario.

“MADX is intended to be a common dashboard, a Web-based platform where all of these parties can connect,” said Jeff Janer, chief operating officer of Third Screen Media. He added that MADX/Agency helps ad agencies scale and control ad inventory by giving them expert planning and research tools to buy, create, test, deliver, measure and report on mobile advertising campaigns.

At the core of the platform is the vendor's mobile ad inventory database, TSM. Agencies pay a subscription fee per office to use the centralized platform. The module also formats ads for specific mobile device types and screen sizes.

“This is a time of significant growth for the mobile advertising industry,” said Linda Barrabee, wireless/mobile U.S. program manager at Yankee Group. “One key factor is a product that is not only easy to use, but one that addresses the unique needs of all three players — carriers, content providers and advertisers — yet brings them all together in one place.”

The consumption of data and content services has reached a critical point where all three players believe that display advertising on mobile devices could be successful. According to M:Metrics, more than 35% of U.S. mobile customers actively access premium content such as news, weather, sports and entertainment from their mobile devices.

Third Screen Media is currently working on its MADX/Carrier platform module, and Janer said it will borrow heavily from the MADX/Agency module, as carriers will be particularly interested in the delivery and reporting aspects to ensure the quality of any display ads going out of their networks. Still, to date, mobile carriers have been more reticent than ad agencies or content publishers to make big commitments to mobile advertising.

“Carriers are still the big barrier,” Janer said. “There's been a question of how willing they are to open their decks to third parties. They also have questions about how they can share in the revenue and what kinds of quality standards will be imposed on mobile advertising. We think they're starting to come around.”