— or, worse, the tool of some giant marketing machine?

> CAA spokesman Michael Mand said he "could neither confirm nor deny" that > the agency is representing whoever is behind the 27 video posts. (Other > talent agencies and production companies contacted by The Times denied any > connection.) > > As to horror film rumors, calls made to several studios found no such > plans — but plenty of fascination for the way in which a Hollywood-ready > cultural phenomenon has been built from a grass-roots Web platform. > Lonelygirl15, many say, is the next-generation "Blair Witch Project," > using interactive forms of storytelling that, like the 1999 hit, tries to > trick an audience into thinking it's true.

I'm serious....a little mystery with a GoDaddy model for draw and we are freakin worldwide!!

THE SEARCH IS ON One stopgap solution is content-related mobile searches. Companies like JumpTap and Medio offer carriers technology that enables users to search for any content available for their phone based on a specific term. So a search on "Lil Jon," for example, would list any ringtone, wallpaper, game or video featuring the artist accessible via the carrier's system. A number of third-party providers are rushing into the gap as well with their own direct-to-consumer strategies. With a strong enough brand, these providers can launch a Web site that aggregates a variety of mobile content around certain niche audiences.

Mobile tracking firm M:Metrics has determined from data collected in the three-month period that ended in July that ringtones -- by far the most popular form of mobile content -- are bought by only about 10 percent of the total user base. In addition, 2 percent have bought games, 3.5 percent subscribed to a ringtone service or downloaded a wallpaper image, 0.4 percent watched paid video and 0.2 percent downloaded a full song. Overall, about 28 million, or 15 percent, of the 190 million U.S. wireless subscribers, have downloaded some type of multimedia content. By any definition, that is a niche market. Granted, it is still early in the evolution of the industry. M:Metrics is quick to point out that these figures triple when narrowed to consumers who use more advanced phones and networks better optimized for multimedia content.

"The content is there, and there's plenty to choose from," says Richard Siber, an industry consultant who formerly led Accenture's mobile media division. "It's just not intuitive to discover or actually purchase (the content). It's about making the discovery easier and making the transaction seamless."