Platform-A Announces the First Device-Agnostic Rich Media Mobile Ad Format

"Rich Media Everywhere" allows one rich media campaign to run across all mobile devices, browsers and applications.

NEW YORK, March 31 /PRNewswire/ -- AOL today announced the first device-agnostic rich media mobile ad format through Third Screen Media, Platform-A's mobile ad-serving platform and network. Platform-A's groundbreaking new solution enables advertisers to run rich media campaigns across all mobile device types, browsers and applications. Developed in partnership with Cielo Mobile, Platform-A's Rich Media Everywhere allows advertisers to serve a uniform advertising experience on mobile browsers and within applications on mobile devices that include iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm and Symbian handsets.

For the first time, advertisers can reach a full spectrum of mobile users with rich interactive content such as video, data collection, request a coupon, click to call, map locators, and other rich media experiences.

"Until now, advertisers who wanted rich ad content were forced to develop ads device-by-device," says Eric Bosco, Senior Vice President of Operations and Product Management, Platform-A. "Now, they can standardize dynamic ads across multiple publishers and devices with no programming at all -- reaching a much broader audience with a single set of creative elements. Rich Media Everywhere makes rich media far more streamlined and an effective proposition for advertisers, publishers and even developers."

Rich Media campaigns offer advertisers a more robust creative toolset with which to communicate and interact with consumers, and with Rich Media Everywhere they can easily extend those campaigns across multiple response channels and modes of user engagement.

Publishers, too, will benefit from the new technology's flexibility, which enables them to easily rotate high-value rich media campaigns with conventional campaigns in the same ad space, with no custom programming. With no special configuration required to set up or launch these multi-device campaigns, publishers can phase in the new campaigns smoothly, without disrupting current placements.

Top weather site AccuWeather.com is among the first publishers to leverage this new feature of Platform-A's mobile ad serving platform.

"As a leading wireless weather destination site, AccuWeather.com mobile is dedicated to providing the best possible experience for users and opportunities for advertisers," said Bob Shaffer, Director of Mobile Advertising Sales, AccuWeather.com. "Working with great solutions like Rich Media Everywhere allows us to offer something new and differentiated for advertisers. We can now reach a variety of devices and users with one potent mobile rich-media campaign."

Platform-A's TSM Network and all independent WAP sites with Platform-A ad tags are able to traffic these new Rich Media ads. Fully customizable ad widgets are available to application developers for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Palm and Symbian devices.

"Our advertisers now benefit from a great combination of rich creative implementation, universal device reach, and simple execution," Shaffer said. "Rich Media Everywhere is an important differentiator for us as a publisher."

About Platform-A

Platform-A, AOL's advertising business, is the industry's largest digital advertising platform, offering the most comprehensive suite of marketing solutions, powered by the Web's best advertising technologies. Platform-A includes AOL's leading media properties - AOL.com, AIM, MapQuest, and more - and Advertising.com's third-party networks. Platform-A also includes TACODA's audience insights and behavioral targeting; Quigo, a site- and content-targeting solution; ADTECH, an international digital ad serving business; Third Screen Media, a mobile ad serving network; and buy.at, an affiliate marketing solution. Platform-A currently has operations in the United States, nine countries across Europe, including Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK, and in Japan through a joint venture with Mitsui. Learn more at http://www.platform-a.com.

About AccuWeather, Inc. and AccuWeather.com Mobile

AccuWeather, The World's Weather Authority(R), presents accurate, localized, branded forecasts and severe weather bulletins to over 110 million Americans each day via the Internet, mobile devices and IPTV, through the airwaves, in print and on digital signage. The 113 meteorologists at AccuWeather deliver a portfolio of customized products and services to media, business, government, and institutions, and inform millions of visitors worldwide through the free AccuWeather.com website. AccuWeather also provides content onto more than 20,000 third-party Internet sites, including CNN Interactive and ABC's owned and operated stations, The Washington Post and The New York Times. Visit www.AccuWeather.com for more information.

About Cielo Mobile

Cielo Mobile provides a unified mobile-marketing platform that delivers: downloadable applications, mobile websites, text messaging, in-application ad serving, and made-for-mobile analytics. Cielo Analytics allow clients to track behavior of unique mobile consumers -- difficult to accomplish on wireless networks. Cielo uses mobile as the ultimate direct-response mechanism, uniting traditional advertising and digital marketing. For mass-market reach, Cielo utilizes a company's traditional media to drive mobile traffic, making these otherwise-static ads both interactive and measurable. (www.cielomobile.com)