The Guardian meets demand with launch of mobile site via Planet 3 portal
nma.co.uk | 26 February 2009 | By Alex Farber
The Guardian has finally launched its mobile site in an attempt to transfer its huge online success to mobile.
Guardian News & Media (GNM) has launched an initial version of the site on the Planet 3 portal via its News Agent service, which is managed by platform provider Momac. This will be followed by a similar on-portal deal with Vodafone ahead of the launch of its main off-portal site.
The mobile site, first revealed by new media age at the end of last year (nma.co.uk 17 November 2008), features a range of news, sport and business content.
When the off-portal site launches, ad sales will be handled by mobile sales house 4th Screen Advertising, with integration with Google Ad Words providing further revenue. BlackBerry and iPhone versions of the site are also being developed by GNM’s off-portal platform provider Bluestar Mobile using Mobile IQ’s Fabric platform.
Adam Freeman, commercial director for GNM, said the launch was a reaction to growing traffic to the newspaper’s website from handsets.
“The mobile site is designed to meet the needs of advertisers keen to capitalise on this growing market and the ever-increasing demands of our readers for Guardian and Observer content,” Freeman said.
The Guardian enlisted Andrew Bagguley, the former head of mobile strategy for News International, to help manage the launch with business development director Steve Wing.
