It's been a big week for us. We just announced a new $10M round of funding led by Gannett (includes existing investors DFJ and USVP). Also, Sand Hill Capital has joined us as a new investor. I'll link to the press release as soon as it goes up.
What does this mean for all our 4INFO users, partners, and advertisers?
- Our Mobile Search users - we will continue to provide the best mobile search and alerts service via SMS (44636 shortcode) and WAP (http://m.4info.net). We've got a lot of new content coming in the next couple of months. Look for stuff like NFL services that tells you not only the score, but also who scored! We strive to be the most trusted and useful mobile company in the market. We never share information on our users and we never send ads by themselves. Our philosophy is that consumers want free content on their cell phones (not premium). We have transitioned all of our major premium services to free ad-supported. Unlike most mobile companies we make it easier for users to opt-out than to opt-in. If you don't want alerts you don't get them.
- Our SMS Publishing Partners - as has been quoted in the press, there are now over 700+ publishing partners using 4INFO to send SMS alerts and set up search services. How have we managed to do all of that in the past year? First, we make it super easy for publishers like USA TODAY, Tribune, TV Guide, and others to use. No set-up fees, no per-message fees, and a revenue share on all ads we serve in their content. What's not to like about that? It's very low risk and helps with both user retention and monetization. Look for a lot more big partner announcements in the upcoming weeks.
- Our SMS Advertisers - Here's what we've learned: users don't hate advertising, they hate irrelevant advertising (and any ads that are sent to them like SPAM). What works on the web for folks like Google works better in SMS. We have all the tracking metrics advertisers have come to expect on the web plus we know unique users (tied back to the phone number). While that phone number information is never shared with advertisers we can use it to target ads much more effectively. Response rates to ads have been great and we've got a great line-up of big brand advertisers now in the network. Look for new stuff in the upcoming months like the ability to purchase directly through your phone and also mobile video ads with some great partners.
Where does that leave us? In addition to being the best mobile search company, we are also the largest SMS Ad Network in the US. The end goal here is to build 4INFO into a mobile media company: mobile search for consumers, SMS publishing for partners, and mobile advertising through our SMS Ad Network. We've got a big vision for future, so there is still lots to do.
A big thanks to all our users, partners, and advertisers. Without you, your feedback, and your support we wouldn't be able to keep making cell phones that much more useful.
I also want to extend a special thank you to the 4INFO team. I am humbled to come to work everyday and be around such smart, dynamic, and passionate people. Thanks team!
VentureBeat just broke the story here.
Be sure to Digg it here!