Posts Tagged ‘4info’

4INFO to offer Olympic fans free text alerts

Tuesday, June 10th, 2008

We’re sure to see numerous Olympic related text initiatives coming forward in the next couple months, but here’s one that’s just been announced by 4INFO.

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SAN MATEO, CA. – (June 10, 2008) — 4INFO, Inc., the leader in SMS publishing and advertising services, announced today that it has developed a comprehensive mobile alerts program to help fans stay abreast of the 2008 Olympic Games in China this summer. Beginning today, anyone with a cell phone can sign up over the phone or online at www.4info.net/olympics to receive alerts on their favorite countries, sports or medal counts. With Beijing 12 hours ahead of the east coast, fans can still stay up to speed on their favorite athletes and events without staying up late or relying on video recordings. 4INFO’s mobile alerts are free and work on any cell phone, offering consumers the flexibility and convenience of getting the key updates they’re eager to hear while they are on the move.

Olympic sports alerts kick off on August 6th, with several soccer matches. The Olympic Games mobile alerts service lasts 18 days, ending with closing ceremonies on August 24th. At any time during the games, users can also conduct a mobile search to get the latest medal updates by sport by texting any SPORT NAME or COUNTRY NAME to 44636 (4info on a phone keypad). This service is free, although text messaging fees from carriers may apply.

2008 Olympic Mobile Alert Service Options Include:

Medal alerts by country

• User receives a daily medal summary for the country of their choice; One message per day, for 18 days

Medal alerts by event

• All 33 sports supported; user receives a daily medal summary by sport/event

Daily medal table

• Daily top 10 summary of countries with the most medals

Olympic news alerts

• User will receive up to three headline daily offering top Olympic news

Search Services Include:

Medal table

• User can text the word: MEDAL to get a daily top 10 summary

4INFO in text advertising deal with Yahoo

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

Just a note following Julia’s post earlier.

What a coup for the 4INFO team! I’ve been following them for years and met the two founders in San Francisco a while back. The Alley Insider has announced that they’ve struck a partnership with Yahoo. 4INFO have already swept up most of the mainstream media in the States and count them as partners so it already has a sizable mobile ad network of its own. Makes sense for Yahoo to outsource that part. I wonder, if Yahoo can get it’s act together (with this Microsoft business) whether they might try making a play for 4INFO at a later date.

Yahoo is about to try the only type of mobile advertising that has even close to caught on–text messages. The WSJ reports the company is set to announce a partnership with Silicon Valley startup 4INFO, which will provide technology for Yahoo (YHOO) to send content to mobile phones via text, advertising included.

Yahoo will be able to sell advertising on its text messages–such as news, horoscopes, sports scores and weather forecasts–or 4INFO will sell them via its own mobile ad network. The revenue is split 60-40 with the majority going to whoever made the sale.

Yahoo teams with 4INFO for SMS ads

Wednesday, May 28th, 2008

After all the Microsoft farrago, Yahoo is now getting back to the business of trying to take on Google in advertising. Its latest move is signing a trial partnership with SMS advertising company 4INFO, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Under the trial, the WSJ says, 4INFO will give Yahoo the tech it needs to publish content like news and horoscopes over SMS with a small ad included, with either Yahoo or 4INFO selling the ad space.

With operators now looking at embedding ads into games and trading them in return for mobile TV clips, it’s interesting to see search companies turning to the old school likes of SMS. While it’s not as flash as newer advertising types, it does have one major advantage – being opt-in – not to mention better click rates.


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