Open Source Ads Added to myFunambol

By Contributor Wireless and Mobile News on October 7, 2008 12:55 PM

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.