YouMail, a free voicemail service, launched a new advertising program this week that will connect brands with mobile users through text-based advertising. This new feature will add 
short, non-intrusive 40-character marketing messages to the text alerts users already receive when a caller leaves a new voicemail.
“Advertisers continue to struggle to find unobtrusive ways to reach consumers on their mobile devices,” said Alex Quilici, CEO of YouMail. “We’ve developed a way to connect brands with mobile users, providing a new revenue stream that will allow YouMail’s service to remain free.”
YouMail users currently receive text messages alerting them to new voicemails which include the name and phone number of the caller, and the length of the voice message. The new program allows brands to sponsor these texts by placing a marketing message, limited to 40 characters, at the end of the alert. It is hoped that the new advertising feature will keep YouMail’s service free and allow the company to develop new features.
YouMail partnered with 4INFO, a text messaging service, to bring the new program to fruition.
“YouMail’s entry into the mobile text advertising space is another great example of an organization utilizing 4INFO’s services to turn a cost center into a revenue opportunity,” said Zaw Thet, CEO of 4INFO. “We have proven success connecting marketers with the tech-savvy mobile user and are excited to be working with YouMail.”
Text based advertisements in voicemail SMS alerts seem like the next logical step in the growth of the mobile advertising market. A header in the text message doesn’t seem too intrusive, but the question here is YouMail’s approach towards making these ads relevant. Gmail already inserts ads based on the content of your email. So it wouldn’t be implausible for YouMail to serve ads based on the content of your voicemail. Despite what they’ve said, at this point YouMail’s ability to truly make these ads relevant and non-intrusive seem like mutually exclusive goals.
Comment by Amy — January 21, 2008 @ 12:55 pm