NEW YORK -- Responses from a panel of mobile social networking executives at the Mobile Marketing Forum indicated that they share a common problem with their online peers: how to make decent money from social networking.

A question from moderator and Buzzd CEO Nihal Mehta on the model to make money to make money highlighted the dilemma social networking faces in trying to run targeted advertising without violating consumer perception of privacy. One panelist whose ad-supported mobile social networking site is one of the biggest in the mobile space was candid about his company's attitude.

"We haven't spent a lot of corporate time on monetization," Justin Siegal, CEO of MocoSpace, told delegates yesterday at the forum organized by the Mobile Marketing Association.

Mr. Siegel envisaged a future where the be-all and end-all metric was not going to be click-through. For now, though, that's how advertisers just media buys, based on the ads that consumers click on to get to their landing page.

For Scott Hannan, vice president of business development at Pelago Inc., the hyper-local search market was eventually going to become a major source of revenue for mobile social networks.

Fellow panelist Matthew Snyder, founder/CEO of AdObjects Inc., mentioned that firms got $1 CPMs for online social networks. Which is to say that mobile social networks have an uphill battle to command higher CPMs.

Perhaps the answer lies in positioning mobile social networks as a cut above the rest, at least according to Andrew Osmak, senior vice president of business development at Lavalife Corp.

"Mobile communities are areas where premium can be demanded," Mr. Osmak said. "We don't have to be free â?¦ Our users tell us more about them than they tell their online banks."

Which brought forth another question from Mr. Mehta: "How do you not be a stalker?"

Mr. Mehta mentioned mentioned the Loopt service which lets users track where other users are. The new 3G iPhone from Loopt comes pre-loaded with Loopt.

The idea of such tracking didn't wash with MocoSpace's Mr. Siegal.

"Social networks have enough PR experiences," he said, referring to the bad press Facebook received for informing users about their friends' transactional activities.

Mr. Hannan recommended following the Mobile Marketing Association's guidelines on best practice in delivering targeted advertising without violating consumer privacy.

Lavalife's Mr. Osmak said his company believed in direct marketing. His firm relied on ZIP codes for its marketing.

"It's the automated part of the location and how to make it more useful," he said.

Mr. Snyder brought the consumer into the picture.

"I think the user's in control," he said.