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What SMS Marketers Can Learn From the Ringtone Space This content requires a paid GigaOM Pro subscription

Source: Flickr user brandon shigeta

A group of 14 mobile-content companies agreed last week to pay as much as $63 million to settle an Illinois class-action lawsuit after a group of consumers claimed they were billed for ringtones and games they thought were free. Meanwhile, halfway around the world in Australia, Vodafone was fined $110,000 after an SMS marketing campaign may have breached anti-spam laws. While the two events are unrelated, both are developments that players in the SMS advertising space should take to heart. […]

Question of the Week

Will SMS advertisers respect consumers as the space takes off?

Featured Responses

  1. Michael Scharf
    2009/11/19 at 13:49
    SMS will become the realm of communications between companies and their customers, not their prospects.
  2. Michael Wolf
    2009/11/16 at 11:07
    SMS marketing will likely always be seen as perhaps the sketchiest neighborhood in the mobile marketing universe given SMS messages are seen as fairly personal (and marketing on such can be seen as invasive) and most people often believe they are being charged (even if it's, say, against a total bucket of 500 or 1000 messages) for the message.

Mobile Links for this Week

  1. Palm Shares Rise as Takeover Rumors Surface

    Palm's webOS makes it an attractive potential acquisition, but its likely $2 billion-plus price tag leaves a very small list of potential suitors. The latest rumors center on a Nokia takeover, but I think Microsoft is the best fit.

    Submitted by Colin Gibbs

  2. Muzicall Raises $13.4M to Expand Ringback Tones

    Ringback tones have failed to catch fire the way ringtones did, but I think we'll continue to see steady growth in the segment for a long time to come.

    Submitted by Colin Gibbs

  3. Dell Wisely Chooses Emerging Markets for Smartphone Play

    With an established partner in China Mobile, Dell may be able to dodge some of the pitfalls that Apple is experiencing in the market with its iPhone.

    Submitted by Colin Gibbs

  4. Samsung Behold II Hits T-Mobile USA Next Week

    T-Mo is establishing a pretty impressive portfolio of smartphones, including some attractive Android gadgets. With the network upgrades it has planned for next year, the carrier could win back a lot of those postpaid subscribers it's been losing.

    Submitted by Colin Gibbs

  5. Windows Marketplace for Mobile Enables Purchases from PCs

    Not huge news, but another critical step in the evolution of Microsoft's mobile app store.

    Submitted by Colin Gibbs

See Previous Curated Links

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