Microsoft targets advertisers with new mobile rich media offerings

June 1, 2011

Microsoft rich media floater ad unit

Microsoft Advertising has expanded its mobile rich media offerings nationwide with the addition of two additional partners, EyeWonder and Phluant.

The alliances support Microsoft Advertising�s current rich media service offered by PointRoll. It is designed to deliver more interactive ad experiences across Microsoft�s premium mobile Web properties including Fox Sports, Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Messenger and MSN.

�Mobile rich media continues to gain significant traction among advertisers who are creating dedicated budgets for mobile advertising to reach their target audience,� said Jonathan Tom, San Francisco-based group manager of global trade marketing for Microsoft Advertising � mobile, local and commerce.

�We are seeing increased interest from brand advertisers in new rich media ad formats such as floating ads that allow users to interact with a brand without leaving the original content,� he said.�

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Four score

With this new rich media support, Microsoft will help advertisers in four ways.

First is increased reach. The supported rich media formats will be available across mobile devices running operating systems such as Apple iOS, Google�s Android, Microsoft�s Windows Phone 7 and Research In Motion�s BlackBerry.

Second, expanded ad capabilities will let advertisers engage consumers with mobile ad formats such as floating ads, in-banner polling, mobile data collection, mobile couponing, social media extensions, expandable to video and floating ads.

Third, the partnerships help Microsoft soon expand its mobile rich media services to select markets in Europe, as well as Australia and Canada. �

Finally, the new mobile rich media ad formats will let advertisers target by device, carrier, demographic, geography and behavior.

Vendor bender�

The rapid growth of HTML5 and popularity of in-application mobile advertising is another spur for Microsoft to offer more effective mobile advertising services.

�By partnering with multiple rich media vendors, Microsoft Advertising helps advertisers take advantage of greater scale, more immersive consumer engagement and innovation,� Mr. Tom said. �

�Microsoft Advertising is well-positioned to provide advertisers with a greater choice in new mobile rich media ad formats, while at the same time maximizing audience reach across multiple devices and geographies,� he said.�

�This is especially true for brand advertisers who are showing greater interest in executing integrated campaigns across PC and mobile with higher fidelity and targeted reach.�

Another Microsoft rich media floater ad unit

Editor in Chief Mickey Alam Khan covers advertising agencies, associations, research and mobile marketing issues, as well as column submissions. Reach him at mickey@napean.com.

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