mobilePeople Enables Sponsored Links

Schibsted Sk AS, the company behind Norwegian mobile search engine Sesam, has teamed up with  mobile search company mobilePeople to offer sponsored links through its mobile content and search engine portal. The move will enable advertisers to have links to their sites placed next to relevant search results.
Launched in 2005, Sesam has quickly become a popular destination among mobile users. It currently enables 30,000 searches a day and helps 150,000 users a month. Sesam indexes and clusters content by type, such as images, video clips, newspaper articles and blogs, and can search for global and local websites, blogs, maps and TV programme overviews. This unique categorisation, the company says, makes it easier for media companies to reach an audience.
Schibsted Sk offers search functionality as a service to its own partners and affiliate sites. It has already forged partnerships with directory providers, as well as a growing number of local media companies, including TV and radio stations.
Under the terms of the agreement, Sesam will display two sponsored links per search result, increasing return on investment for advertisers seeking access to a relevant and captive audience. The sponsored links will be charged on a per-click basis as pre-determined during auctions.
Sponsored mobile search is the new silver bullet for media companies says Bjrn Tveiten, Head of Mobile Search at Schibsted Sk. Through sponsored links, our partners can now reach out to users on the go already searching for products and services related to their business.
mobilePeople CEO Jens Andersen adds:
With the mobile search market expected to grow exponentially in coming years, media companies cannot afford to ignore this market channel. Schibsted is a primary example of a market leader that harnessed digital content revolution and is reaping the benefits.