Korean Operators Turning To Online And Mobile Web Advertising
By Dianne See Morrison - Mon 17 Dec 2007 04:12 AM PST
South Korean operators are turning to online and mobile advertising as an alternative revenue source—thanks to pressure both from politicians and consumers to lower the price of mobile phone bills, reports the Korea Times. KT, the country’s largest telephone and fixed-line internet company recently announced it was buying the online advertisement agency Nasmedia for 26 billion won ($27.84 million). The agency will sell ads for KT’s Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) and wireless mobile Internet platforms from next year. SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM), South Korea’s largest carrier, upped its stake in ad agency Aircross to 100 perecent earlier this year. It too plans to sells ads on its internet TV and mobile web properties. But the two firms will concentrate on their IPTV businesses first, where they’ve already put the technology in place to deliver the ads. As Lee Ok-ki, chief of KT’s business planning office, told the Korea Times, the plan is to transform itself from “a telecom operator into a media and entertainment company” with the mobile web as just one its outlets.
Meanwhile, revenues for mobile advertising and marketing are expected to hit $1.2 billion in Japan and $684 million in South Korea by 2012, according to a new report from research firm ABI Research. The mobile advertising market in the two countries is “entering a new, advanced phase”, driven by the especially close relationship that mobile operators have with mobile ads firms. The report found that Japanese and South Korean operators usually establish their own mobile ad agencies to try to get better value out of mobile advertising--as shown by the recent deals in South Korea with KT and SK Telecom buying ad agencies. One of key drivers for mobile advertising’s growth is the well-established range of 3G and HSDPA-based handsets available in both countries. In fact, the report found that consumers have begun to view SMS-based ads as spam, and that has pushed advertisers to other forms of mobile advertising such as MMS-based ads. ABI Research senior analyst Andy Bae pegs the mobile search sector as the next hot area, and says mobile search with location-based advertising messages could generate large revenue streams for operators.
Posted in: Companies, Operators, SK Telecom, Countries, Asia, Japan, Korea, Mobile Adv & Mktg, Mobile Search
