Fluc: Put Your Mobile Phone to Work For You
Australian startup Fluc is an innovative new mobile advertising network that not only lets publishers monetize their content, but also lets mobile users opt-in to be paid to recieve targeted SMS-based advertisements.
Users provide Fluc with a profile of their tastes and interests when they sign up for the service, and Fluc uses that information as well as geopositioning data to deliver extremely well targeted ads. As the site's FAQ puts it, "You set Fast Food as a preference for content you want to receive. You are walking down the local shop or mall to get lunch and you get an SMS on your phone - 'Uncle Barneys Burger House is offering 20% off all burgers this week. Show this message to receive your discount.' - Score! -- a cheap burger. Well not only did you just get a cheaper burger, you also just received $0.30 credit for getting that message!"
The site doesn't say what the average payout is, and mentions both $0.20 and $0.30 in examples, nor does the site say how many ads someone is likely to receive each day, though there is a maximum of 5 per 24 hour period. If Fluc could average 20 cents per ad delivered and fill the maximum each day, we're talking $30 per month just to receive a few extra text messages -- assuming you have a free text messaging plan, that's a serious dent in your monthly wireless bill. That's assuming a lot from a fledgling ad network that works with geopositioning data (i.e., some users are likely to receive less ads than others simply because of where they live), but there exists a potential for the Fluc scheme to seriously subsidize the cost of your mobile phone.
Fluc also offers a 4-level referral program, so if users recruit their friends to look at cellular ads, they get a slice of that action. But would advertisers pay to advertise on your phone knowing that you're being paid to receive the text message? 5 extra SMS messages per day isn't very taxing, and deleting the messages without looking just to pocket the cash is a pretty small time investment.
The answer probably lies in the ability for Fluc to accurately figure out where on the grid you are. If their geopositioning system is accurate (some can pinpoint your location within 50 meters), then I could see advertisers ponying up. I.e., if the GAP knows you're near a mall where they have an anchor store, and they know from your Fluc account that you fit their consumer profile, then they might pay to send you an ad even if your motives for receiving it may be hazy.
That's a lot of "ifs," though. For the user, Fluc is only worthwhile if they can fill their inventory with high-paying, relevant advertising for their area. For advertisers, Fluc is only useful if their geoposition-based targeting works well enough to really get their ads in front of the right local consumers. If Fluc can form partnerships with local wireless service dealers or with carriers, then the potential for them to succeed would be much better, otherwise, I'm not sure they can gain the critical mass necessary.
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Hey this is really interesting and a model I have never seen before. I think this has a lot of potential to work.
I think the website side is the most interesting, as they let you build and target users that join from your site. The latest post on the blog hints a social networking coming as well ?
Looking forward to seeing where this goes.
I agree with the above post that this has the potential to be big. It seems that its not just SMS that they send but also MMS and other related mobile technologies.
I signed up from the States and it worked no problems. I think the beauty of this service is that any advertiser from a local fish and chip shop through to a global company can use the service.
To me its like a globalised "Blyk.co.uk". Mobile Google Adsense anyone ?
Interesting concept. It seems currently they don't use GPS and rather use Google maps to get an approximate location of where you live.
I think because they are a global solution this makes sense - i.e. why try and develop GPS technologies when most of the world cant use them yet. These guys seem switched on to the fact that its not all about westernized countries - and I think a lot of people forget that when building mobile technologies.
I think its got big potential, if they can convert with the phone plans. The ability to integrate with websites is a good distribution point, and if they can leverage some high quality partnerships in this regard - they will go far.
I would agree with the other posters. From the site, it appears that their ad system is auction based - so I am assuming that the amount you receive per message changes depending on whether its an SMS, MMS etc and is not static.
It costs nothing to sign up, you get free SMS and their blog states they are adding social features in the coming months.
Who wouldn't give it go ?
This concept was actually introduced by a company called mginger in India www.mginger.com.
I think right now they are facing some problems with signing up advertisers.
I think the article nails it at the end:
"If Fluc can form partnerships with local wireless service dealers or with carriers, then the potential for them to succeed would be much better, otherwise, I'm not sure they can gain the critical mass necessary"
That really sums it up. Its an interesting model and has potential but they need to take care of the advertisers. The system is open to abuse and if ROI is not enough for an advertiser, they will simply drop out.
Geo-positioning I believe is also known as Location Based Services? (LBS)is the next big value-added-service for mobile operators and companies. Navteq's acquisition by Nokia underscores the opoortunity in this space.
There is a company in Singapore that deployed a similar program last year. Not sure if they pay for referrals, but they do let you know about a coupon offer from stores in your area. I heard the CEO of the company talk about their offering and I spoke to him offline at the GSM Conference in Macau last month.
Here in India there are companies who are working on similar services. One of your readers mentioned mGinger. There is another company called mKhoj (khoj means search and "m" I suspect stands for mobile.)
How do you get critical mass for these services? The American model might not work since customers there are totally upto their eyeballs with all kinds of discounts from their local merchants (valupak, newspaper, Macy's pullout, mail catalogs etc.) to national chains. However, if you think of customers in other countries like India etc. there is a high degree of customer delight combined with a lack of cutomer loyalty etc. So, I suspect in these markets that do not have a retail legacy of coupoing such mobile LBS services will work.
Kamla Bhatt
I think this company is predominately different to any other companies in this field and what sets them apart is there website distribution model.
Allowing websites to produce networks of users for Fluc and provide allow advertisers to target these websites is something I personally have never seen or even encountered in relation to mobile. Its like a mashup of adsense and mobile phones. No other company is doing it and I dont think any other company can simply for the "patents-pending" on their site unless they want one big legal headache.
The concept of paid mobile advertisements is not new, but the biggest problem for advertisers is distribution. I think Fluc will succeed where others have not - simply because of the traction they could get through websites.
It really is a unique system in my mind.
Its unique to them, and I think its a point-of-difference that will seperate them decisively from the competition.
I agree with Dave - the other sites mentioned in this blog look and feel extremely rushed. According to Flucs site, they developed from 2006 - so Id question who "came up with the idea" although as mentioned in this post the concept of targeted mobile advertising is not new.
I think Fluc has the potential to work this out if it can channel its distribution model correctly. The website system seems like an extremely clever idea on the surface, but they need some big partners to really make things happen and Fluc is more aligned to Google than any other because of this fact.
I have to say it also "GO FLUC YOURSELF" :D
Seems the service offers an auction based model for rewarding users so the earnings depend on the auction algorithm. Free SMS is always good for users and the content will no doubt range once they start getting more traction.
A commenter above suggests that their website distribution model is the most innovative and I would have to agree. Using websites and providing them with additional earnings is definitively a way to get traction.
Maybe read/write web would consider integrate a small icon ? :)