
BuzzCity reports surprise growth of mobile internet in Middle East
myGamma Global Mobile Advertising Index shows growth following changes to mobile operator tariffs
London, 22 April, 2008 : BuzzCity (www.buzzcity.com), a provider
of global wireless communities and consumer services, today reveals the
myGamma Global Mobile Advertising Index demonstrating the popularity of
its mobile social network. BuzzCity also reports surprise growth for demand
of its service in Egypt and Saudi Arabia which will surprise both the global
mobile community and digital advertising industries. It is likely the growth
is directly linked with changes in mobile operator business models offering
affordable and understandable mobile data packages.
myGamma Global Mobile Advertising Index
The following statistics shows advertising page views in the first quarter
of 2008.
- Indonesia: 654 million (up 13328% on Q1 2007)
- India: 577 million (up 1522%)
- South Africa: 426 million (up 418%)
- USA: 132 million (up 917%)
- Kenya: 79 million (up 424%)
- Romania: 57 million (up 446%)
- Bangladesh: 53 million (up 305%)
- China: 37 million (up 6053%)
- Brunei: 35 million (up 221%)
- Pakistan: 35 million (up 814%)
BuzzCity's myGamma social network service on mobiles operates
on an ad-supported model as a primary source of revenue. Advertisements
are
served on myGamma and on more than 2,000 publisher sites globally. BuzzCity
tracks the growth of the network and by extension, the growth of the mobile
internet in more than 70 countries around the world.
The company recently announced plans for a US office, a market where
traffic has grown more than 900%, putting the US in 4th place. BuzzCity
expects this to grow to more than 100 million page views per month in
the next quarter. In 21st place is Canada, with 5 million page views per
month, which has made a phenomenal growth of 11,800% over the last 15
months. This may mark the growth of a new market in North America.
In Q1 of 2007 the myGamma banner network served a little over 260 million
banners over its top 10 high traffic countries South Africa, India, Thailand,
Kenya, Bangladesh, Brunei, USA, Romania, Nigeria and Malaysia. Over the
first quarter of 2008, the Top 10 countries served more than 2 billion
ads, a growth of 800%. The Top 10 also saw some new entrants, with Indonesia,
China and Pakistan replacing Thailand, Nigeria & Malaysia which collectively
served about 60% of the 3 billion ads served across the network..
KF Lai, CEO of BuzzCity, commented on the news: "In Q1 of 2008,
we served more than 26 million banner advertisements to Egyptian users.
This is a growth of 5,400% against the first quarter of 2007 when we served
only 490,000 impressions. During this period, Saudi Arabian traffic grew
by nearly 900% to 22 million banners. In both cases, increased mobile
penetration and healthy competition among carriers invariably sees more
consumer activity on the mobile internet. We are only going to see more
of this, everywhere."
Advertisers, such as Mozat in Singapore, have been quick to take advantage
of the rise of the mobile internet in the Middle East and have targeted
campaigns to Egypt and Saudi Arabia. BuzzCity has expanded its network
to deploy new services in Croatia, Iran, Namibia, Nepal, the United Arab
Emirates and Yemen.
Download the myGamma Global Mobile Advertising Index
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For more information,
please contact:
Skywrite Communications
Catriona Biggart/Claudia Bate
Tel: +44 20 7608 4650
Email: buzzcity@skywritecomms.com
About
BuzzCity
BuzzCity is a developer of global wireless communities and consumer services.
Established in 1999 in Singapore, BuzzCity today operates the world’s
largest wireless community - mygamma.com - for two distinct audiences: the
newly connected emerging middle class in developing markets and the blue collar
sector in developed regions. These "unwired" consumers are accessing
the mobile Internet on their phones due to widespread and affordable wireless
access.
BuzzCity provides marketers with unprecedented opportunities to reach this
audience via its far-reaching advertising, merchant and publisher programs.
Additional information can be found at www.buzzcity.com.
Notes:
BuzzCity was recently awarded “Best Mobile Social Networking Service” at
the GSMA Global Mobile Awards 2008.
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