Virgin Mobile enters mobile advertising - will display banner ads to users

Looks like it’s the season of banner ads. After Google, Third Screen, AdMob, Yahoo, and most recently Microsoft, Virgin Mobile USA has announced that it will display banner ads to its mobile users who surf the web in their cell phone.

Virgin Mobile will use AOL’s mobile advertising system to display banner ads to users. This is the first time Virgin Mobile is entering the mobile advertising market. However, the CEO of Virgin Mobile has made it clear that they are being very cautious with these ads. These banner ads will be displayed on an experimental basis and depending on the response they get, they might think of expending their territory further.

The way I see it, this is a perfect partnership. Virgin Mobile’s growth has been not so impressive recently due to various reasons and AOL is the classic example of an erstwhile famous company trying to come to terms with the fact that it’s struggling. These two entities have joined hands. So, if things work out well, it might be good for both of them.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Microsoft says yes to banner ads in mobile phones

Microsoft has announced that it will allow advertisers to serve mobile users with banner ads from now on. Advertisers will now be able to display banner ads to mobile users using Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail. However, this is restricted only to the users in the U.S., France, Spain, and the U.K.

By doing this, Microsoft has joined the list of companies like Google, AdMob, Yahoo, and Third Screen which serve banner ads to mobile users.

Microsoft also hinted that it might soon introduce keyword advertising service in Windows Live Search Mobile. Though the beta version is available in the U.S. now, Microsoft believes that there is still room for improvement and it might hit the market only later this year. Microsoft is also working on expanding its presence in mobile market and has made Live Search Mobile available in 49 markets.

It’s good to see that Microsoft has put the Yahoo fiasco behind and working to improve its position in the mobile market. However, with Yahoo going great guns and Google looking to leave no stone unturned for Android, it better be watchful.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones, Microsoft, Mobile Web.

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