Telefonica and Vodafone buy into mobile ads firm

There are more questions than answers to the future of mobile advertising--the viability of the business model being perhaps the least understood. Two of Europe's largest telecom operators believe there must be some market advantage given that they've both bought minority shareholdings in Amobee, a mobile phone advertising company.

Both Telefonica and Vodafone have already tested Amobee's technology in a number of European countries and now want a closer relationship to gain a more thorough understanding of how the advertising business works.

"Amobee is a cutting-edge technology start-up company and this is an industry we want to be part of from the ground up," a Telefonica spokesman said. Amobee, which is rolling out its mobile advertising platform for mobile search, mobile games and text messages, is already selling Vodafone's advertising in Spain, the Czech Republic and Greece.

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- MarketWatch and Gomonews