Ringbacks To Play Ads Instead of Music?

• Posted: Sunday, December 23, 2007
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• Author: pradhana
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• Filed under: Internet Advertising, Mobile Advertising, Online Advertising

Ringbacks, which play alternative audio instead of a traditional ring to callers while they are dialing a number, are starting to make noise with US mobile users.

The number of US ringback subscribers tripled last year, according to M:Metrics.

A recent J.D. Power and Associates study also found that 9% of US mobile consumers used ringbacks. IDC predicts that 40 million worldwide users will subscribe to ringback tones by 2010.

"In North America, 10.8 million people are using ringbacks today," said John Orlando, vice president of marketing at NMS Communications LiveWire Mobile. "Places like Spain are north of 10% penetration, India is near 40% and markets like Korea have stabilized around 60%."

In a potentially cringe-inducing move, ringbacks could include advertisements. Subscribers could force friends to listen to ads. The subscriber would get free minutes or discounts on mobile content, and the mobile operator could pocket the ad revenue.

Read more - eMarketer

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