GeoCentric’s service GyPSii is a mobile-only social network, with a location-based component that allows people to create and share content and tag it to a specific location. The service has been steadily gaining traction since its debut last year, though it won’t disclose the size of its user base. It has struck a number of important distribution deals with handset manufacturers, and comes preloaded on Samsung’s Omnia, Nokia’s Express. At MWC this week, it announced a similar pre-install deal with LG (SEO: 066570), though no specific handsets were mentioned, and for Garmin-Asus’s new phone.

—Mobile advertising: GyPSii’s main revenue stream is advertising. “Not SMS, not WAP, but if you want a segmented audience, that’s what we’re offering,” says Shane Lennon, the company’s marketing SVP. Advertisers can either reach users through banner ads in search results or in the screen, or sponsor a user community.

Lennon concedes that, “Yes, mobile advertising is a challenge right now,” but that the company was finding that it had some unique advantages as some brands were looking for “quick access to a very niche, very targeted audience.” GyPSii, of course, is experimenting with LBS, and mobile couponing—that is delivering coupons to users based on their location from specific retailers. It’s still in early stages, but one trend that’s emerging is that the couponing works better with “higher end” retailers rather than Starbucks-type businesses. The offer, it seems, has to be seen as an exceptional deal, rather than a cheapie one offering 50 cents off a cup of coffee, to not appear as a nuisance to the user.

—MySpace who? Lennon argues that the likes of MySpace and Facebook aren’t designed for mobile “from the bottom up,” and instead are taking web-based content and “squashing it down.” Input on mobile tends to be “fast and quick” and to have a recording aspect to it. For example, you’re out and about, have your camera with you, take a picture and can load it instantly. Lennon acknowledges they will most likely overlap in sponsorship ad deals, but believes there’s still room to compete.

— Other revenue streams: As the model evolves, there will be more mobile transaction-type deals, says Lennon. During the Olympics in Beijing last year, GyPSii had a deal with Chinese web-based travel company eLong in which the “hotels.com” for China provided GyPSii users with access to their reservations service. Members could directly book from their phones, and eLong paid Gypsii for each referral.