Entertainment news site Gossip Girls goes mobile

By Giselle Abramovich

June 30, 2008

You heard it here first

Online entertainment news source Gossip Girls has launched a mobile site to meet consumer demand.

The publication tapped mobile site developer Quattro Wireless to launch the WAP site which is optimized with online readers’ favorite features. The site is ad-supported, with an audience comprised mostly of women age 18-34.

“This highlights a trend of companies with a strong online presence taking their content and assets and investing into mobile,” said Lars Albright, vice president of business development at Quattro, Waltham, MA. "Brands are finally realizing the importance of mobile."

Gossip Girls at http://www.gossipgirls.com features thousands of original celebrity news articles and latest celebrity photos and video clips. Brands such as Diet Coke, Abreva, American Apparel, Spirit Awakening Midori and Nutrisystem advertise.

Gossip Girls' mobile site features regularly updated entertainment news, relationship advice, polls, pictures and celebrity profiles.

Mr. Albright would not name any advertisers of the mobile site, but he did say that brands have agreed to run ads.

The mobile site has high-resolution slide shows, which have a history of a lot of clicks on mobile entertainment sites, Mr. Albright said.

Quattro’s technology formats the site according to a user’s mobile phone type, adapting to the capabilities of various handsets and improving user experience.

The Gossip Girls demographic is typically the young, tech-savvy female who is active online and accesses the mobile Web.

This news comes soon after Quattro added mobile sites to its Entertainment & Lifestyle channel that features gossip, entertainment news and celebrity images. The mobile new sites include TheInsider.com, Cracked.com, Savvy.com, Fandango.com, Hollywood.com, JoBlo.com and MovieWeb.com (see story).

Advertisers in the Quattro ad network include Axe, Gillette, Covergirl, CBS News, Lionsgate Films, NBA Choice Hotels, the University of Phoenix, Thumbplay, Neo Networks and BuzzWire.

“We are pleased to add a quality site like gossipgirls.com to our growing list of entertainment and news sites,” Mr. Albright said. “The category of content is really popular with mobile Web users and represents an attractive vertical for advertisers looking to connect with this audience.

"Gossip Girls readers wanted to access the site while on the go," he said.