Israeli cellular operator Partner Communications began a trial for ad-financed content services today. The service is based on technology developed by Israeli firm Upsteed and combines ads with content services. Customers will be able to purchase services at a partial or full discount. In the first stage, Partner will combine advertisements with Celltrix games. Customers can either download games for a fee or for free after agreeing to hear ads. The ads will play while the download is in progress and before the game playing begins, as well as between stages in the game. U.S. operators have been treading carefully in this arena, afraid they are going to annoy customers, but at the same time they know they need to expand their content offerings. There is only so much consumers will pay for content. We are likely to see similar trials commence shortly in the U.S.
To read more about Partner Communications' ad-supported content trial:
- take a look at this article from Red Herring