Yahoo deal brings display ads to T-Mobile in U.K.

Yahoo and T-Mobile have teamed up to bring display advertising to T-Mobile’s Internet service for the first time.

by Helen Leggatt

Launched in 2005, T-Mobile’s Web’n’Walk mobile Internet service has already attracted around 3 million users across Britain. From July, 2008, Web’n’Walk users will see targeted banner ads on their mobile devices after a deal announced this week between T-Mobile and Yahoo.

This, Yahoo’s latest deal, follows similar agreements late last year with Telefonica and America Movil. It is seen by some industry analysts as being a healthy sign for the mobile market in Europe.

According to a blog post by JupiterResearch’s Thomas Husson, in a survey of marketers using or intending to use mobile marketing, “64 percent planned to use banner advertising on mobile portals, and 68 percent planned to use banner ads on off-portal mobile Internet pages during the next 12 months. These marketers also consider the mobile Internet to be the most service enabling future growth of mobile advertising revenue (58 percent).”

All display advertising will be provided by Yahoo, however both Vodafone and T-Mobile continue to use Google for mobile search.