Funambol to serve mobile ads in its portal

Open source mobile messaging software producer Funambol recently announced that it will serve mobile ads in its online portal myFUNAMBOL. For those of you that don’t know Funambol, here is a small intro.

Funambol is famous for its mobile 2.0 messaging software which is considered probably the best push email solution for mobile phones today. Mobile enthusiasts rate Funambol better than Apple MobileMe and the sync apps available for Blackberry. It supports over a billion devices including iPhone, Android, Blackberry, and Windows Mobile.

Now, back to the news. Funambol says the ads served will not be overtly prominent or intrusive in nature. Mobile users will find ads in their inbox and message viewing screens. Funambol believes that this is perhaps the best idea to monetize its service in the most effective manner. There are two reasons for this.

First, mobile users absolutely love Funambol. It is really easy to use and it is one of the best push email apps for mobile phone today. So, they won’t mind a few ads here and there as long as it doesn’t bring down the quality of user experience.

Second, finding ads in inbox is not at all uncommon. Gmail has been doing it ever since its inception and people have had no problem with that whatsoever. So, similarly, they won’t find the ads in myFUNAMBOL intrusive or disturbing.

In my opinion, this is a welcome move. As Funambol is an open source project, they need to monetize it one way or the other to stay in the competition. And as long as people find their service useful, I think they probably won’t mind these ads.

What do you think? Will you say okay to a few ads in your inbox if you get to use such open source mobile apps for free or at a very low cost? Share your thoughts.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.

Is Blyk the next big thing in mobile advertising?

Experts predict that mobile marketing will give conventional marketing methods a run for their money, Juniper Research and various other research firms predict that mobile advertising will be worth more than $13 billion in 2013, and Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo are trying hard to take over the mobile market by storm. However, in the midst of all this, one company has been making strides quietly. It’s Blyk.

Blyk’s offer of 217 free text messages and 43 minutes of talk time to mobile users has become very popular and it’s evident from its growing user base. The response from their target segment, 16-24 year olds, has been phenomenal so far. When it started out in the UK, Blyk announced that getting 100,000 customers in the first year will be its target. However, the actual number will be a lot bigger than that, thanks to its overwhelming popularity.

Blyk has also taken a leaf out of Gmail and has come up with the idea of invites. From now on, Blyk users will be able to invite a number of friends to join the network.

One of the most important things about Blyk is that it is able to target its customers with the right kind of ads. Its mobile advertising campaigns are targeted at the right segment of users and so it almost always gets a good response from them. This is also the reason why experts consider Blyk a media agency which also happens to be an operator, instead of a mobile operator that sells advertising.

If mobile advertising industry were to grow at the rate experts have predicted, Blyk would be in an enviable position a few years from now. As of now, Blyk has a loyal customer base of 16-24 year olds which keeps growing steadily. In 2013, when mobile advertising is expected to grow real big, Blyk will have a loyal user base of 24-30 year olds which is open to mobile advertising with larger disposable incomes. What more can you ask for?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Blyk.

2 comments.

A possible Google - Microsoft/Yahoo face off?

Now that everyone is talking about Microsoft’s proposed buyout of Yahoo!, I thought of going back in time and taking a peek at the rivalry between Google, Yahoo!, and Microsoft. Surprisingly, they go neck to neck in all areas and while Google is the dominant one as of now, you just cannot say who will win the war. Assuming the Microsoft –Yahoo! deal does go out well and give a huge competition to Google, let me point out the strengths and weaknesses of both sides.

Microsoft bought MessageCast Inc, which is an automated alerting and messaging services firm, while Google was talking about its much-hyped Android platform.

Google bought Marratech, a video conferencing software firm, to compete with Microsoft’s Unified Communications.

Microsoft bought ScreenTonic, a mobile advertising solutions firm, to compete with Google ad solutions.

Google bought YouTube for a whopping $1.65 billion and captured a huge share of the market. Later, Microsoft came up with Soapbox to compete with YouTube but failed miserably.

Google bought Picasa, a photo management software, to set its foot in the market. Later, Yahoo! acquired both Ludicorp and Flickr and has become the market leader in photo sharing.

Google bought Where2 Mapping software to compete with Yahoo Maps, but couldn’t succeed as Yahoo! still remains the market leader.

In the internet space, it’s even more interesting. While Google is the clear winner in the internet search market, leaving Yahoo Search and MSN Search in the lurch, Yahoo Mail is a little ahead of both Gmail and Hotmail. Also, GTalk is giving serious competition to both Yahoo Messenger and MSN Messenger.

Then, Google made history with its acquisition of DoubleClick for an astronomical $3.1 billion. Now, with its proposed buyout, Microsoft could make history if it does buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion.

If the acquisition were to happen, it would mean huge competition for Google, no doubt about that. Thanks to the intense competition, both sides will go out of their way to please their customers and retain/expand their market share. In other words, it’s going to be good times for us, customers.

Categories: Google, All things mobile phones, Yahoo, Microsoft.

3 comments.

Will you let someone listen to your calls? Pudding Media thinks so.

Trust me; I never thought this could happen. But then. As much as I like the concept of cellphone advertising (of course with the consent of consumers), I don’t think this is a good idea. Pudding Media has come up with a new form of cellphone advertising which will make other cellphone advertisers in the industry think “damn; how on earth did they come up with that??”

Listen up folks; the idea is this. You make a call to someone, either through Pudding Media website or through your cellphone, your call will be monitored by an automated machine, software, program, or whatever you call it, and you’ll be presented with “contextual” adverts (that’s how they call it).

Take for example – you call up your friend and talk about going for a movie. You get a display ad on your cellphone screen with the latest movies and their show times in movie halls. You send a text message to your friend regarding your hang-out plan for the weekend. An ad carrying some info on the favorite hang-out places in your area will be appended to your text message. You ring up your friend to discuss something about your classes – you might hear an ad on the latest crash courses in the university in your area instead of the dial back tone. Uhmm; how does it sound to you?

Whoever came up with this idea needs to be applauded for having come up with the most intrusive cellphone advertising plan ever. Already, we have an internet giant reading our mails and displaying “relevant” ads. Now, we have a cellphone advertising program, which listens to our phone calls and comes up with “contextual” ads. I mean, aren’t you guys pushing the customers too far?

Let me make my stand clear – I’m all for a decent, opt-in cellphone advertising program which lessens the burden of the users’ cellphone bills. But, if you want to do so by listening to their calls, even via an automated program, I’m sorry to say – I don’t think you’ll find too many takers.

It’s time for me to ask you people – what do you think of this advertising plan? Do you think it’s okay to have someone/something listen to your calls? Would you allow that? Or will this program find its takers just like Gmail has got all of us suck up to it? I’d love to listen to your opinions. Bring it on.

Categories: Rant.

1 comment.

What do you browse from your mobile phone?

I’ve been discussing a lot about mobile advertising and marketing with you guys for quite some time now. I was just wondering, how many of you guys actually check out mobile websites from your mobile phone on a regular basis? There are quite a few mobile sites out there and they provide good content/information for viewers. But do you regularly check out those sites? Talking about mobile sites, we don’t have to go too far. Let’s say for example; how many of you people check out Paypal (https://mobile.paypal.com) from your mobile phone?

There are a few sites which I regularly check out in my mobile. Gmail tops the list, as I check out my mail regularly through my mobile phone when I’m on the move. What about you guys? Do you have preferences when it comes to mobile sites as well? I’d like to hear from you. Please chip in with your info.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Mobile Web.

0 comments.

Older »