News
U.K. MVNO partners with ad platform Unlockd to send targeted offers from likes of McDonald’s, British Airways.
Tesco Mobile announced on Thursday it is giving customers the option to lower their monthly bills in return for watching adverts.
The scheme is called Tesco Mobile Xtras, and has been brought about by a partnership between the U.K. MVNO and mobile advertising platform Unlockd.
Unlockd has created an Android app that serves targeted offers and content at various times when the end user unlocks their smartphone. By viewing the ads or marketing offers, customers can lower their monthly bill by up to £3 (€3.83).
"Tesco Mobile Xtras, powered by Unlockd’s unique platform, provides our customers with even more choice and value," said Anthony Vollmer, CEO of Tesco Mobile, in a statement.
Publisher News UK will provide ad inventory from the likes of British Airways, McDonald’s and Doritos, among others, for Unlockd in the U.K. Unlockd has also partnered with Facebook to deliver targeted Facebook ads to customers who sign up to Tesco Mobile Xtras.
Many others have attempted to woo customers with the promise of free or cut-price mobile service in return for consuming adverts, with limited success.
First came Blyk, which offered free service to 16-24 year-olds provided they clicked on ads. 200,000 signed up in the first year, but momentum stalled, and the MVNO shut down its mobile service in July 2009.
Samba Mobile, another ad-funded free MVNO, gave mobile data to customers who interacted with adverts. It closed down after it failed to negotiate a lower wholesale data price with its network provider.
There was also Ovivo Mobile, an MVNO hosted by Vodafone that offered free access in return for serving adverts. It shut down without warning in March 2014.
Doubtless Tesco Mobile is confident that it can avoid calamity by giving customers the option of lowering their bill slightly, rather than cutting it down to zero.
However, it remains to be seen whether customers are prepared to tolerate adverts in return for a £3 discount.
The launch of Tesco Mobile Xtras comes as online publishers and advertisers seek ways to push against the rise of ad-blocking.
3UK plans to field trial network-level ad-blocking next week. It argues that mobile advertising frustrates customers because it eats up their data allowance and can degrade their experience.
Some companies have fought back, updating their Websites to detect ad-blocking software, and then prompting visitors to disable it. Some have taken to withholding content until the visitor complies.
Unsurprisingly, Unlockd is confident that its model offers a way forward for both sides.
"[It] will address existing challenges faced by our partners’ businesses and positively transform both the mobile advertising landscape and telco industry," said Matt Berriman, CEO and co-founder of Unlockd.
"To be the driver for collaboration and benefit for some of the world’s biggest media companies, a market leading mobile carrier, as well as the end consumer, is a huge coup," he added.
Meanwhile, further help for advertisers materialised this week in the form of BEREC’s consultation on net neutrality.
The European telco regulator group’s guidelines for upholding the new legislation state that ISPs must not "block, slow down, alter, restrict, interfere with, degrade or discriminate advertising" when providing Internet access services.
The consultation closes on 18 July.
