I went to the Sydney Mobile Monday today — I’m sorry to say the first one I’ve been to, but a worthwhile event. It was the launch of My247.mobi, the mobile version of Australian online entertainment guide My247.com.au (funny about the date, 2/4/07). From the demo it looks like a good service, and the presenter said a couple of interesting things that apply to many mobile efforts. He said that My247 was going mobile now because conditions were changing that make it feasible — the walled gardens of the carriers are coming down, data is getting cheaper and 3G handset penetration is increasing.
The company is also taking a dual approach to the whole paid vs ad-supported debate. The basic service is ad-supported — Smirnoff is the launch sponsor, but as the site gets more users it will change to a pay-per-click model hosted by Telstra MediaSmart — with the presenter arguing that “for every 50 people who go to a free site, one will pay for it”. There is also a premium version of the service that is ad-free. The access-all-areas service costs $6.60 via mobile or $4.95 online with a credit card…which emphasizes that while mobile payments are convenient, they’re not very cost effective. I think this will become a more common business model, offering both ad-supported and paid services. As long as companies realize that they need to provide a valuable service for the ad-supported version rather than just a lame drawcard for the paid services, it should do well.
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