Push email provider Funambol has added mobile
ads to the myFUNAMBOL portal.
"By combining mobile open source with mobile advertising, we will
unleash a major revenue opportunity for service providers, portals and
mobile operators," said Fabrizio Capobianco, Funambol CEO. "Ad-enabling
our popular myFUNAMBOL portal allows us to share real data with our
partners and customers that reveal the advantages of the ad-funded
model and the requirements for making it hum."
The Funambol open source ad-funded solution displays micro-banner
ads in several areas of its mobile email client, such as the inbox,
message view and message send screens. It strikes a balance between
maximizing ad impressions with usability such that ads are prominent
yet non-intrusive. The "push" aspect of mobile email makes it a natural
vehicle for mobile advertising as it provides a major impetus for
people to check their email often, thus seeing more ads. Ad calls to
action include launching a browser to visit a mobile website, calling a
phone number or sending an SMS for more info. Targeting options include
age, gender, time-of-day and location.
Funambol's mobile advertising partnerships include elationships with Amobee and Smaato, among other mobile ad providers
and networks. Together, the companies are able to combine open source
software and mobile advertising to put mobile email into the hands of
billions of mobile users. Open source enables mobile email to work on
billions of handsets, while an ad-funded model enables mobile email to
be provided for free or very low cost, while generating significant
revenue for those throughout the value chain.
Ads for myFUNAMBOL are provided by Smaato. They are initially on
some Nokia Series 60 devices, with support for more phones to be added
over time. People are invited to sign up for the free myFUNAMBOL portal
at http://my.funambol.com where they can experience the free open source ad-funded mobile email and sync service.
Funambol provides mobile email and PIM sync for everyone, not just
the small percentage of iPhone or smartphone users worldwide. It has
been harnessing the power of the mobile open source community for more
than five years and today is home to the world's largest cross-platform
mobile open source project.