The Hindu Business Line : Cricinfo bets big on mobile advertising

To draw advertisers onto its WAP site (wap.cricinfo.com), Cricinfo has tied up with leading US-based mobile advertising network AdMob. (A WAP [wireless application protocol] site can be browsed on any mobile handset with GPRS connectivity.)

Advertisers’ network

AdMob, an agency which brings together publishers and advertisers, gives Cricinfo access to its huge network of advertisers globally.

It “delivers ads globally for Cricinfo, and also allows advertisers to reach users in local markets.”

Says Mr Anil Nair, Head, Wireless Media, Cricinfo: “Till now, all our mobile content was consumer paid – through SMS requests for scores or downloading of games onto handsets. “But with our WAP site doing very well (it has about 2 million page views a month across the world), we thought it was the right time to explore other models of revenue apart from SMS and mobile games. We hope our WAP site will generate revenues from advertisers and sponsors and contribute about 15 per cent to Cricinfo Mobile’s worldwide revenues this year.”

Huge potential seen

Mr Nair believes mobile advertising is the wave of the future with the mobile phone already overtaking the online medium in “click through rate” globally. (Click through rate is the ratio between number of ads served and the number of people actually clicking through it.)

Although in India advertisers have not really exploited the medium, he sees this changing in the days to come.

“The US will be a key market for us as it is mature in terms of WAP advertising. With phone companies and operators looking to push GPRS to more users in India, WAP sites will offer good advertising opportunities.

Also, currently there are 15 million GPRS-enabled handsets in India; even if it grows at 25 per cent every year, WAP advertising will grow.” Globally, the mobile advertising industry is estimated at $1.5 billion. It is set to reach $10 billion by 2010.

Cricinfo launched ads on its WAP site with AdMob in time for the inaugural Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa. AdMob works with over 2,000 mobile Web publishers and advertisers such as MTV, Coke, Ford and P&G. In August, AdMob served over 350 million ads in India alone.

Cricinfo’s WAP site is a “scaled down version” of its Web site and includes content such as news, statistics, scores, wallpaper and tones. (Just like in the Web site, content on the WAP site is free to view.)

The site is being revamped; the new version will be released in three weeks with more data and features. “We want to bring in an experience that is as close to the online experience with filtered search facilities, ball-by-ball commentary etc. Post-revamp, traffic to the WAP site could easily be 10 times than what it is now,” says Mr Nair.

More Stories on : M-Commerce | Advertising | Sports | Internet

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page