- October 16th, 2007
- 12:10 pm
Mobile content services provider Motricity has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the mobile services business division of InfoSpace, developer of mobile technology and infrastructure services, for around USD 135 million in cash. The deal is subject to regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions and is expected to close within 90 days. Upon closing, Steve Elfman, currently executive vice president of the InfoSpace mobile services business unit, will become President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Motricity. The InfoSpace business being sold provides managed services infrastructure for mobile carriers. The deal will make Motricity the leading provider of mobile content infrastructure services in North America.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Mobile search solutions developer InfoSpace announced an agreement with Virgin Mobile to supply the MVNO with its complete suite of mobile platform services, including a customized, integrated search service. According to InfoSpace, the solution will capitalize on its recent partnerships with search technologies developer FAST Search & Transfer and web-to-mobile content adaptation service provider InfoGin, bolstering InfoSpace’s own metasearch technology with relevancy algorithms, crawling and indexing technologies and content adaptation services and enabling consumer searches regardless of data origin or format.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
US BASED Infospace will be supplying the technology behind a comprehensive search facility which subscribers to the Virgin Mobile network will use to find content and services.
Mobile Virgins will have the ability to search the web, WAP sites and Virgin Mobile’s own portal and storefront to gain access to ringtones, games and other desirable content.
Virgin Mobile is almost certainly the world’s most successful Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) and in the UK has more customers than fifth operator, 3.
Infospace is claiming that power behind its offering is its ‘Fast’ search software, relevancy algorithms, crawling and indexing. It is also working in conjunction with Infogin’s web-to-mobile conversion technology.
The crucial point is that instead of putting the Google, Yahoo. Ask or MSN brand on the subscriber’s screen, Virgin Mobile subscribers will merely see the results of multiple searches.
Typically Nick White from Virgin Mobile has declared that mobile search is the next killer application. The INQ itself would moderate this and say that location based search is probably the real killer app.
And guess what? Infospace has supplied Sprint with what it claims was the world’s first location based search service. Now there’s a surprise.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
InfoSpace, Inc.(Nasdaq:INSP), a leading developer of mobile technologies, will today
announce that it is supplying Virgin Mobile with its complete suite of
mobile platform services, including the addition of a customized,
integrated mobile search solution. As a result, Virgin Mobile will be
able to offer its subscribers the ability to search the web, WAP sites
and Virgin Mobile’s own portal and storefront providing access to
ringtones, games and other premium content.
InfoSpace’s next generation mobile search solution for Virgin
Mobile will reflect the company’s recent partnerships with FAST Search
& Transfer, a leading developer of search technologies, and InfoGin, a
leader in the field of Web-to-mobile content adaptation. Virgin Mobile
will benefit from FAST’s superior search software, relevancy
algorithms, crawling and indexing technologies and InfoGin’s
Web-to-mobile content adaptation technology to deliver the most
comprehensive and commercially deployed mobile search solution.
InfoSpace’s industry-leading metasearch technology seamlessly blends
results from several sources including Storefronts, WAP and Web
indexing, as well as Portal Search. With the InfoSpace’s mobile search
solution, operators can maintain visibility while providing users the
advantages of a comprehensive mobile search experience that enables
searching for any content or information, regardless of its origin or
format, using a single search box.
Nick White, Head of Digital Services and NPD at Virgin Mobile,
said: “If the impact of the internet on our daily lives, as well as
the global economy, has taught the mobile world anything, it is that
it’s no longer about searching for the next killer application –
search itself is the killer application. Virgin mobile is a firm
believer that the there should be no limit to the content available
for our users — from the latest celeb gossip to searches for
entertainment in the local area or even the most cryptic piece of
trivia — it must be available to everyone, everywhere. We are very
pleased to extend our relationship with InfoSpace into this exciting
new area.”
George Fraser, Managing Director - Europe, InfoSpace Mobile, said:
“The mobile phone has revolutionized communication when on the move.
Mobile search is the next stage of this revolution and brings all of
the world’s knowledge to mobile users’ fingertips. We have been
working with Virgin Mobile on mobile content since 2001, so we know
what their subscribers expect and demand. Our intimate understanding
of the mobile portal, combined with our heritage in online search and
directories, means we are uniquely placed to enable operators to
really exploit the potential of mobile search.”
InfoSpace already provides mobile search services for numerous
operators worldwide including Sprint in North America, which included
the world’s first cellular location-based search service.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Still very speculative, and InfoSpace has been on the block for a long time now: shares of the online and mobile company were up 20 percent today, after a Spanish newspaper reported that Spanish mobile content giant LaNetro Zed is working out a deal to buy the company for 800 million euros, or about $1.08 billion. LaNetro earlier this year bought controlling stake in UK mobile content firm Monstermonb, and also raised equity funding from Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS), the U.S.-based private equity firm.
Reuters: “I think it’s a pretty aggressive valuation” said Stanford Group analyst Clayton Moran, who has a “sell” rating on InfoSpace and a $15 price target on its stock due to growth concerns. “It’s a slow- to no-growth story with significant competitive pressures,” Moran said.
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
Mobile media company InfoSpace announced it will team with search technology developer Fast Search & Transfer to develop white-label mobile search applications targeted to wireless operators. The applications will leverage Fast’s search software and InfoSpace’s mobile infrastructure experience to power content discovery and recommendation, off-deck access and mobile advertising solutions; the companies also plan to develop storefront and WAP index functionality.
“Search is the most used and most profitable tool on the Internet, and the Fast and InfoSpace partnership takes the search paradigm to mobile users to allow for controlling and monetizing each user interaction with a robust set of features, built on top of superior portal search and mobile web search,” Fast CEO John Markus Lervik said in a prepared statement. “Personalized results enhance user satisfaction, increase purchases, increase traffic, and drive advertising revenue or any other business model deemed important by the mobile carrier.”
For more on the InfoSpace/Fast deal:
- read this release
Wireless Mobile Telecom Wireless News
- January 24th, 2007
- 12:05 pm
InfoSpace has extended its contract with Virgin Mobile UK to continue the delivery and management of its mobile content portal and storefront. The deal comes at a time when Virgin Mobile is developing its converged portal offering as a key element of the quad-play offering resulting from the takeover by ntl: Telewest. As part of this new agreement, InfoSpace will enhance Virgin Mobile BITES with added search and advertising capabilities.
The deal seals a long-standing relationship with Virgin Mobile, with InfoSpace supplying Virgin Mobile with its wireless technology platform, aggregating and integrating entertainment content from Virgin and other sources and delivering that content in a form most appropriate for mobile users. The Virgin Mobile BITES portal and storefront managed by InfoSpace consists of bespoke content and services encompassing music, film, fashion, lifestyle, celebrity, sport and humour.
Nick White, Head of Digital Services & NPD at Virgin Mobile, said: “Virgin Mobile customers should expect to see a renewed dedication towards entertaining and informative content services as a result of this deal. Our subscriber base is among the most entertainment-savvy and so it is essential that we deliver fun and easily accessible mobile content. We are continuing to work with InfoSpace because they share our vision of a mobile phone service that is truly personalised and offers the most compelling multimedia content available.”
Wireless Mobile Telecom
- January 24th, 2007
- 9:16 am
Mobile-Ent writes…Good news at last for InfoSpace – its contract to manage the Virgin Mobile UK Bites storefront has been extended by four years.
As part of the renewal, InfoSpace will also bring new search and advertising capabilities to the service. The Bites portal consists of bespoke content and services comprising music, film, fashion, lifestyle, celebrity, sport and humour.
The deal comes at a time when Virgin Mobile is developing its converged portal offering as a key element of the quad-play offering resulting from the takeover by
ntl: Telewest.
Nick White, Head of digital services at Virgin Mobile, said: “Our subscriber base is among the most entertainment-savvy and so it is essential that we deliver fun and easily accessible mobile content. We are continuing to work with InfoSpace because they share our vision of a mobile phone service that is truly personalised and offers the most compelling multimedia content available.”
Victor Malachard, senior director of business development at InfoSpace, added: “Virgin is ready to lead the development of converged portal entertainment content across mobile, Internet and digital TV services. In such a fast moving market, to sign a contract for four years is a strong endorsement of the work we’ve done together so far.”
Wireless Mobile Telecom
- November 17th, 2006
- 4:19 pm
Global financial institution The London Stock Exchange (LSE) has appointed web search company InfoSpace to manage search across its websites
The two-year agreement sees The London Stock Exchange implement web search for the first time across its co.uk and com URLs. The web search will be powered by the InfoSpace private labelled service which combines the best results from all the major search engines through InfoSpace’s unique metasearch technology.
The London Stock Exchange can now enable its website users to search all the main engines simultaneously, including Ask.com, Google, MSN, Yahoo! and more from within their sites. This will ensure that more of their user requirements and expectations are met, thereby improving site loyalty and usage.
“The appointment by the London Stock Exchange demonstrates the commitment by well-established organisations to offer superior web search as part of their efforts to provide a comprehensive online experience for their audience,” said Dominic Trigg, vice president at InfoSpace Europe.
“This is the first heavy weight signing in the financial sector for InfoSpace and another highly reputable and well known brand. Their sites are the first port of call for financial information and services for professionals. We therefore welcome their decision to augment their offering with our powerful web search product,” adds John Thornhill, business development director at InfoSpace Europe.
InfoSpace sells mobile services business to Motricity (USA)
