The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has released the latest version of best practice guidelines for cross-carrier mobile content services in the United States.
The guidelines are the first to consolidate the individual mobile marketing guidelines and codes of conduct of the four largest carriers: Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA. Major aggregators and content owners including Yahoo! and Fox Mobile Entertainment also supported the effort.
"Verizon Wireless has a long history of trying to protect our customers against unscrupulous marketing practices," said Richard Williams, Verizon executive director of marketing, in a statement. "By sharing best practices with other companies in the mobile marketing ecosystem, we hope to drive these practices out of the wireless marketplace all together."
The MMA claims the industry-first agreement will spur the growth of mobile marketing and save the industry over $200 million on an annual basis by streamlining operations.
The agreement covers content such as text messaging, multimedia messaging and mobile Web and features a new reference ID system.
It also includes changes to key areas such as standardizing the language “Msg & Data Rates May Apply,” allowing for more flexibility with PIN location in message-terminated (MT) messages and modifying the STOP requirement in opt-in MT messages.
The guidelines ensure that advertisers have a standard set of practices to follow. Before they were put in place, advertisers had to adjust for each carrier’s particular guidelines.
“By providing a single, industry-standard reference, the new guidelines free carriers, technology companies, brands, media companies and consumer advocates to focus on protecting consumers, providing the optimal user experience and continuing the mobile channel’s growth,” said Mike Wehrs, president and CEO of the MMA, in a statement.