Sprint introduces Place Your Ad mobile app promotion service

Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) is partnering with mobile data solutions provider WMC Global to launch Place Your Ad, a new program enabling developers to submit bids to obtain feature application placement within the operator's free Sprint Zone app and the Sprint Tab in Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android Market.

Place Your Ad gives developers control over where and when their app is featured in Sprint Zone or the Sprint Tab and how much they wish to pay for the privilege. According to Sprint, developers can leverage prime placement to drive downloads and improve their app store rankings, bidding as much as they wish to spend and competing only for placement in Sprint media properties where they want featured status. "We're in the final stages of deploying Place Your Ad," states the Sprint website. "Register your interest to be notified of its launch. Selected developers that register interest might be invited to become beta testers or might even gain exclusive early admittance to Place Your Ad."

The Sprint Zone app is designed to make it easier for subscribers to pay their bills, manage their account and check voice and data usage directly from their mobile device. Sprint Zone also includes a section spotlighting recommended Android Market apps, with suggestions updated each week. Sprint Tab appears to subscribers in Android Market's app section; apps featured in the tab also are updated on a weekly basis. According to Sprint, developers report significant download increases when their efforts are featured in the Sprint Zone and Sprint Tab.

Sprint touts Place Your Ad as a solution to app discovery issues. There are now more than 250,000 applications in Android Market.

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