Nokia Signs Premium European Publishers to Mobile Ad Network

Nokia announced this week it has added a number of European publisher sites to its Media Network, part of its Nokia Interactive Advertising offering. The firm has high hopes for location-based mobile advertising in relation to its expanding network.

U.K. sites included those of Telegraph Media Group, Trinity Mirror and CNET, alongside the likes of Agence France-Presse, and RTL Mobile of Germany.

“For the Media Network, we don’t look for volume of inventory, we look for quality,” said David Barker, director and head of publishers and partnerships, EMEA at Nokia, stressing the importance of working with premium publishers. We have cherry-picked the best mobile sites out there, with a focus on business orientated publishers. Mobile advertising can be very tacky, but we look for well trusted publishers and brands.”

Going forward, Barker stressed the importance of localized mobile advertising for Nokia, incorporating location and mapping technology, some of which the company gained through its acquisition of Navteq earlier this year.

“Location-based mobile advertising will be huge, and will throw up huge opportunities for advertisers,” he said, adding, “This is an area we are looking at very closely.”

Other sites in the network include those of Reuters, Cosmopolitan and AccuWeather, and properties of network operators such as Sprint and Airtel. According to Barker, click-through rates across the network have been averaging around 10 percent. Nokia’s own services in the network, such as nokia.mobi and WidSets, have been performing “significantly better than this,” he said, adding the network currently reaches in excess of 100 million mobile consumers a month.

Although Europe has typically been at the forefront of mobile advertising in terms of technologies adoption, Barker suggests that the tide is beginning to turn as more U.S. brands embrace the medium.

“At the moment the European market is still more mature, but the U.S. has really caught up quickly,” he said. “In Europe the major buyers are still content advertisers, but the charge is really being led by the U.S. in terms of brand advertising and consumer goods, with advertisers coming on board fast.”

The Nokia Media Network currently serves markets across the globe, including South America, Asia, Europe, and the U.S.