Telefónica Announces Global Mobile Advertising Alliance


MADRID, SPAIN--(Marketwire - June 27, 2008) - Telefónica today announced it is launching a single global platform to deploy advertising on mobile phones -- establishing itself as a clear frontrunner in a marketplace analysts believe will be worth $11.35 billion by 2011*1.

Through a world-wide deal with Amobee Media Systems for an Ad Server technical platform, Telefónica will provide a single point of contact for agencies and advertisers wishing to buy, deploy and monitor campaigns across all mobile channels.

Telefónica is now the world's only company to support all mobile channels with a single ad-server that supports WAP, games, video, messaging and other in-built applications providing the best user experience for its 170 million customers. Mobile users will also benefit from relevant targeted ads while having cheaper access to premium services when opting-in to receive advertisements.

Julio Linares, Chief Operating Officer, Telefónica, said: "The key to successful mobile advertising is doing it in a contextual and non intrusive way, which our global opt-in ad-serving solution enables us to do. The benefits of a common vendor across the Telefónica group are that we are able to truly look at a common architecture that will drive cost savings for design and testing as well as reduce deployment times."

Linares added: "We believe we are accelerating the uptake of mobile advertising in all Telefónica mobile businesses across Europe and Latin America and will generate revenue from mobile advertising well beyond WAP and Mobile Internet."

"Winning the global Telefónica business is a huge vote of confidence for Amobee," Zohar Lekovitz, CEO of Amobee Media Systems, said. "Mobile is the next mass medium, delivering reach and relevancy that blows away traditional media formats. With over 170 million mobile users globally, Telefónica is setting a new standard for how advertisers reach their target audiences."

The single centralised ad server enables precise contextual and behavioural targeting across all users on all handsets for all non-voice related applications and services including WAP banners, games, video and music players, applications, messaging (SMS & MMS), ring back tones as well as video & music streaming.

Telefónica retains complete control of the solution which means that each operating business will have access to customer data, localisation, behavioral profiles and the opt-in database. The business will then instruct the Ad-Server to deliver a relevant ad to customers with a certain profile and handset type.

The advertising impressions from the Amobee platform occur in a relevant, contextual and non-intrusive manner, thus giving the users control over the engagement. The alliance with Amobee will enable Telefónica to fund its growing number of mobile data services, while ensuring that customers get better value, as well as a richer mobile experience.

Deployment begins in the UK, Spain, Mexico and Colombia this year, and will roll out across the remainder of Telefónica's regional businesses in 2009.

*1 Informa forecasts worldwide mobile ad revenues will rise to $11.35 billion (GBP5.48 billion) by 2011.

About Telefónica

Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of number of clients and market capitalisation. Its activities are centred mainly on the fixed and mobile telephony businesses with broadband as the key tool for the development of both.

The company has a significant presence in 24 countries and a customer base that amounts more than 233 million accesses around the world. Telefónica has a strong presence in Spain, the rest of Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses its growth strategy.

Telefónica is a 100% listed company, with more than 1.5 million direct shareholders and its share capital currently comprises 4,773,496,485 ordinary shares traded on the Spanish Stock Market (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) and on those in London, Tokyo, New York, Lima, Buenos Aires and São Paulo.

About Amobee Media Systems

Headquartered in Redwood City California, Amobee Media Systems is the most deployed telco-grade ad-serving solution. Amobee is dedicated to mobile operators, allowing them to dynamically insert advertising impressions in all forms of mobile communication and content: WAP Browsing, Video & Music, SMS, MMS, applications and Games. Amobee's complete ad serving solution is designed to facilitate the launch of advertising campaigns for brand building, direct response and lead generation helping mobile operators and their subscribers "get more for less." The company enjoys financial backing from some of the biggest names in venture capital: Accel Partners, Sequoia Capital, and Globespan, as well as strategic investments from two leading operators: Vodafone and Telefónica.

Contact Information: For further information: Margaret Huang Atomic Public Relations 415-402-0230