MSN Mobile Launches Advertising and Premium Content

Mobile display advertising is now available on MSN Mobile for the first time, Microsoft Corp. announced today. Starting today, MSN Mobile customers in the U.S. will begin to see banner and text ad placements that conform to the U.S. mobile advertising guidelines provided by the Mobile Marketing Association to deliver a more consistent and engaging experience for consumers. Paramount Pictures and Jaguar Cars North America are among the first companies to launch an MSN Mobile campaign in the U.S.

"Microsoft is continuing to make significant investments in the MSN Mobile portal, adding new services and content that enhance the mobile experience and make it one of the best in the industry," said Joanne Bradford, corporate vice president and chief media officer of MSN. "By incorporating advertising on MSN Mobile, we are allowing advertisers to extend their existing campaigns from PCs to games and now to mobile phones, further delivering on our vision to extend advertising across multiple platforms and devices."

Through technology created by Microsoft's Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group and by the acquisition of ScreenTonic SA, a leader in mobile advertising in Europe, MSN Mobile is now able to provide ad placements that optimize the customer experience and provide advertisers with a new way to reach out to the ever-growing number of mobile consumers. This announcement builds on Microsoft's initial mobile display advertising offerings that are currently available in Belgium, France, Japan, Spain and the U.K.

"Paramount Pictures and Bad Robot are both innovation leaders in their own right, so when we partnered on the upcoming film 'Cloverfield,' we wanted to find cutting-edge ways to market the film," said Amy Powell, senior vice president of Interactive Marketing at Paramount Pictures. "We released an exclusive film clip along with a contest whereby the person with the most clip views will be the first one to see the movie before its release on Jan. 18. We're very excited to partner with MSN Mobile on this promotion because it extends our reach and connects us with our audience on an additional digital touch point."

Microsoft continues to enhance its mobile platform in ways that reach beyond the availability of MSN Mobile display advertising. Building on the success of the FOX Sports channel on MSN Mobile, Microsoft now offers additional content to U.S. customers through the option of purchasing movie tickets, ring tones, wallpaper, games and video clips from mobile phone browsers:

• Movie tickets through MSN Mobile. Through a continued alliance with MovieTickets.com, Microsoft has extended the movie experience to MSN Mobile. U.S. customers not only can view movie reviews, theaters and show times, they can also purchase tickets directly from the phone via MovieTickets.com.
• Ring tones, wallpaper, games and video clips on MSN Mobile. In an exclusive collaboration with Thumbplay Inc., customers in the U.S. will now be able to purchase ring tones, wallpaper, games, video clips and more within the MSN Mobile offering.
• New astrology channel. MSN Mobile also now offers an astrology channel providing daily horoscopes to customers in the U.S. for free.*

With the additions of advertising and premium content to MSN Mobile, Microsoft is able to enhance the experience for its audience while continuing to provide a free mobile site. The premium content adds to the already rich MSN Mobile experience, providing customers with one-stop access to e-mail, news, sports, entertainment, local movie listings, maps and directions, as well as Windows Live services such as Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Spaces and Live Search. MSN Mobile is available for almost all mobile phones with Internet browsing capabilities.

MSN attracts more than 465 million unique users worldwide per month. With localized versions available globally in 42 markets and 21 languages, MSN is a world leader in delivering compelling programmed content experiences to consumers and online advertising opportunities to businesses worldwide.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* Mobile providers may charge a fee for placing calls.

SOURCE: Microsoft Corp.