LONDON, July 2, 2008 – Mobile operator 3 UK and Yahoo! have announced a deal which will see Yahoo! exclusively sell 3 UK banners and sponsored links inventory. Yahoo! will sell the inventory for the 3 UK portal – recently rated the second most popular mobile domain in the UK next to Facebook. Adverts sold by Yahoo! will go live later this month.
The Yahoo! sold adverts will be seen by visitors to Planet 3, which reaches a group of customers who have already demonstrated interest in mobile internet services. For example, 3 UK’s ad-funded music video service offers subscribers free music videos in return for watching a short, targeted video ad and already has more than 1.4 million registered users.
3 UK Head of on Portal Advertising, Neil Andrews said, “With the ever-increasing popularity of the mobile Internet, more and more people are coming to the 3 portal. We’re in a great position to help brands reach our subscribers with a targeted and relevant advertising message.”
“We believe Yahoo! has the experience to help us take full advantage of our advanced portal and unique all 3G subscriber-base. By combining Yahoo!’s expertise in mobile advertising with 3’s valuable inventory, we can help big brands target their advertising with maximum success.”
3 UK was one of the first entrants into the mobile advertising space and has the highest percentage of subscribers accessing mobile Internet services of any operator. In a recent survey by M:Metrics, 3 was ranked second only to Facebook for the amount of time users spent browsing. 3 was the only network ranked in the top five. The portal is prime advertising real-estate which has already been successfully used by leading brands to reach key audiences as part of integrated digital advertising campaigns.
Geraldine Wilson, VP of Connected Life, Yahoo! Europe said, “Yahoo! is very focused on building up the reach and quality network that advertisers are looking for on the mobile, along with targeting capabilities and creative formats necessary for mobile advertising to be really successful. 3 UK is a great new addition to our portfolio of mobile advertising partners. Their commitment to bring the best of the mobile Internet to their customers, coupled with the high volume of traffic the portal gets, presents our portfolio of advertisers with a very attractive opportunity.”
As an early leader in mobile advertising, Yahoo! currently offers mobile display advertising in 23 territories across Europe, Asia and the Americas. Yahoo! is focused on creating the monetization engine for the mobile Internet, enabling publishers to monetize their services and advertisers to reach their target audiences at large scale.
About 3 UK
3 is a mobile operator focused on bringing the benefits of the internet to mobile communications. We offer attractive pricing and give our customers the widest choice of ways to stay connected at home or abroad. To do this we’re building the UK’s best high-speed mobile broadband network. 3 UK is a member of the HWL group of 3G companies, which include 3G operations in Australia, Austria, Denmark, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy Macau and Sweden.
Three facts about 3:
* 3 launched the UK’s first 3G network offering national coverage for calls and texts, and has over 90% population coverage for 3G services. As we consolidate our radio access network with T-Mobile we expect to reach almost complete UK population coverage for 3G by the end of 2008.
* 3 has over 3 million active customers in the UK and over 16 million worldwide.
* 3 was the first to enable free voice over internet calling with Skype and the first to launch a dedicated Skype mobile phone, the 3 Skypephone.
For more information about 3 UK, please visit www.three.co.uk or call the 3 Media Office on 0845 6038333.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the busiest Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit www.yahoo.co.uk or the Company’s blog, Yodel Anecdotal.
For more information on Yahoo! Mobile please visit http://uk.mobile.yahoo.com/
