Instead of paying up to $3 a month to get access to MySpace Mobile, members of that social networking portal can now get it for free - if they are willing to see ads on their phones.
Fox Interactive Media, which operates MySpace, announced today it will offer free mobile access to the mobile site from most phones and over most networks. The MySpace Mobile Web service, in beta now, will carry ads provided through Millennial Media's technology and ad network.
Fox Interactive says it plans to launch similar ad-support mobile sites for other of its properties, including IGN, FoxSports.com, AskMen and RottenTomatoes.com.
MySpace Mobile has been available to subscribers of AT&T and Helio on a subscription basis, and T-Mobile USA recently announced it will offer the portal for $1.99 a month. Fox Interactive's decision to use ads opens the portal to any mobile phone for free, although AT&T and T-Mobile USA subscribers presumably can continue to pay for access if they don't want the ads. Fox says premium services also will be offered to subscribers.
Paul Palmieri, president and CEO of Millennial Media, says he thinks the ad-supported model will be the way mobile services like MySpace will be offered in the future.
The ad-supported MySpace Mobile site, which is separate from the subscription site, launched today but won't start carrying ads until October. Palmieri says a limited number of special "sponsorship" ads will be carried through the end of the year, with more ads coming next year. Palmieri says there will be fewer than a dozen ads to start.
"Accessing the Internet from your mobile phone will soon be as common as text messaging and voice calling - it's our belief that this mobile Web experience should ad-supported and free to users," said John Smelzer, Senior Vice President and GM of Mobile for Fox Interactive Media. "With our well-established carrier partnerships and our 80 million U.S. visitors per month, Fox Interactive Media is uniquely positioned to bring the Internet to users on mobile phones."
"The MySpace Mobile Web significantly lowers the barrier of entry for all MySpace users to access their profiles on-the-go," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace. "An ad-supported MySpace offering is a major component of our mobile monetization strategy and we look forward to broadly offering this industry leading roll-out to advertisers."
The ad-supported MySpace Mobile site allows MySpace users to send and receive messages and friend requests, comment on photos and profiles, post bulletins, update blogs, find and search for friends and view and change mood status.