M:Metrics Launches First Mobile Advertising Tracking Services in The UK

Mobile media measurement firm continues to expand its product offering by launching M:Ad in the most active mobile media market in Europe.

SEATTLE, Wash March 6, 2008 — M: Metrics, the mobile media authority, today unveiled M:Ad, its competitive tracking service for mobile advertising, in the United Kingdom, revealing the first definitive metrics for measuring mobile advertising inventory. The measurement firm reports that online retail companies such as Electronic Arts, Glu and Ebay are placing the bulk of mobile ads, with the category comprising of 39 percent of all mobile ads tracked by M:Metrics.

“Early findings are encouraging, as they indicate that mobile is increasingly being incorporated into mainstream media buys,” said Paul Goode, senior analyst, M:Metrics. “In January, M:Ad has tracked major brands across a range of industries, including Avis, BMW, Cadbury’s, Citroen, EMAP and IBM, using mobile advertising.”

This expansion to the M: Metrics product portfolio comes after the success of M:Ad in the United States, launched in November 2007. In January, M:Ad tracked 403 unique creative advertisements in the United Kingdom, in 91 campaigns representing 48 different companies. These ads were from a variety of different industries such as; advertising, automobile manufacturers, broadcasting and cable TV, Internet retail, movies and entertainment, casinos and gaming, food retail, home furnishings and computer hardware.

“Advertisers, media agency and media owners in the UK are calling out for greater clarity on who is advertising what, where and when. Today, M:Metrics can deliver this critical data to the market,” said Goode. “In the United States, M:Ad has been warmly welcomed, and we are excited to bring our tracking expertise into the UK market to help grow mobile advertising expenditure.”

With 16 percent of U.K. mobile subscribers accessing news and information via the mobile browser in December, advertisers’ attention is turning towards banner advertising. M:Ad classifies mobile ads by company, division and product/service as well as by industry/sector. It also reveals when ads are being served to help identify seasonality and campaign rotation. There is no other menhod of monitoring the breadth of current inventory of mobile ads to inform advertising campaign strategies.

Using M:Metrics’ proprietary data collection technologies and measurement science expertise, M:Ad provides a much-anticipated glimpse into the mobile advertising landscape. M:Ad continuously monitors clickable display advertising from a broad representative set of mobile Web destinations and classifies the data by industry, company and by product/service to reveal leading advertisers in and across market segments. Below are some of January’s findings:

M:Ad is available today in the United Kingdom and will be rolled out to the major European markets throughout the year.

About M:Metrics
M:Metrics is the mobile media authority. As the only research firm to measure the audience for mobile media, M:Metrics provides the most accurate metrics on actual mobile content consumption by applying trusted media measurement methodologies to the mobile market. M:Metrics’ monthly syndicated data service gives clients the critical insights and intelligence required to inform smart business strategies and the competitive benchmarks needed to evaluate the performance of competitors and partners. M:Metrics is a private, venture-funded corporation headquartered in Seattle, with offices in San Francisco and London.

About M:Metrics Data
Based on continually refreshed samples of nationally representative mobile phone consumers, M:Metrics reports summarise market size, device reach, and key demographic and mobile phone usage characteristics. The data presented here is drawn from an extensive survey questionnaire that collects specific device model and carrier subscription information from each month’s sample of mobile phone subscribers, and also drills down into specific details related to current and past usage of various mobile phone applications and content. Data collected from each sample are statistically balanced and projected to the total national population of mobile phone subscribers.

Authorized Uses
Members of the press may cite research data or a portion of text provided that each is sourced to M:Metrics, for example, "Source: M:Metrics, Inc." or “According to M:Metrics, . . .”. Copies of graphs, data tables or slides must include the following copyright notice affixed to all material: "Copyright © 2008, M:Metrics, Inc.”