Buzzwire launches community-driven mobile site

By Giselle Tsirulnik

February 24, 2009

The Buzzwire community-driven site

Buzzwire launched a new mobile destination site that optimizes the advertising experience on mobile devices.

The site at http://m.buzzwire.com is an editorially directed, community-driven mobile site featuring the best of the mobile Web. It lets users discover experience and share the most popular content on the mobile Web and offers advertisers, publishers and carriers a new way to build brands and increase site traffic.

"The Web is quickly moving to the mobile arena as consumers turn to mobile phones as a primary source for accessing the Internet," said Greg Osberg, CEO of Buzzwire, Denver, CO.

In fact, ReportLinker just issued a report in January projecting that many of the more than 4 billion wireless subscribers globally will be using their mobile phones as the main Internet access point.

"We recognize that the mobile Web is booming, but there are key pain-points that are holding back its success -- including ease of use, adapting the content, editorial and presentation," Mr. Osberg said.

Several publishers, including TV Guide, will incorporate the Buzzwire "Buzzie" button on their mobile sites enabling users to easily post and share their favorite mobile content to http://m.buzzwire.com , resulting in mobile traffic increases for Buzzwire's publishing partners.

On the advertising front, an exclusive sponsorship of the m.buzzwire.com launch has been completed with Interpublic Group ad agency Deutsch Inc.

A range of Deutsch clients including DirecTV, Kodak, Under Armour and the Michael J. Fox Foundation will have exclusive advertising rights to http://m.buzzwire.com during the beta period of the launch.

By all measures, mobile is booming. Mobile subscriptions will exceed 5 billion by 2011, and mobile Web users are expected to reach 530 million by 2013.

In the last 18 months, the mobile industry has undergone a dramatic and rapid transformation, removing many of the obstacles to a great mobile Internet experience -- including exciting new handsets, faster networks speeds, and more accommodating pricing plans.

Anyone with a mobile phone and Web access can go to the mobile site.

The Buzzwire home page features the latest, most popular stories, sites, video, music, photos and people as determined by the mobile community, and makes them easily accessible to any user.

Users can contribute content by sending a link to that content to Buzzwire by email, text or by clicking the "Buzzie" button on Web sites.

Buzzwire also lets users follow their friends, so they can stay up to date on what's popular within their own mobile communities.

"Mobile is quickly becoming the first screen for today's youth," Mr. Osberg said. "To meet these needs Buzzwire created a hybrid content model where user-generated content is merged with editorially-driven content.

"We see this as a symbiotic relationship," he said. "Neither is thriving alone -- newspapers are laying off editorial staff and user-generated news sites remain on the periphery.

"Merging the two brings a new, more compelling approach that links everyday readers with opinion-makers, ultimately providing a more engaging user experience and fluent flow of ideas. This strategy is designed to increase site traffic and revenues."