Medio Systems to Launch Mobile Performance Ad Network

Search and Recommendation Technologies Propel Advancements in Mobile Advertising

Medio Systems, Inc., the leading provider of mobile search and advertising solutions, today announced the launch of its performance-based Medio MobileNow(TM) Ad Network. Enabling advertisers to target potentially millions of mobile consumers with pay-per-click ads, the MobileNow Ad Network, a part of Medio's complete mobile search ecosystem, will also generate new revenues for participating wireless operators and off-deck mobile properties.

The precision ad targeting that powers the Medio MobileNow Ad Network is based on the same technological advances that drive the search experience for Medio's current partners -- top wireless operators like T-Mobile, TELUS Mobility and Amp'd Mobile -- through hosted white-label search and recommendation technologies that deliver highly relevant answers rather than lists of links.

The MobileNow Ad Network will initially drive ad placement on the search results pages of Amp'd Mobile, as well as Medio's off-deck mobile network. Several advertising partnerships with other wireless operators are expected to become public in the next 90 days, increasing Medio's search advertising reach to a leading position in the North American mobile market.

The MobileNow Ad Network uses proprietary technologies that intelligently determine ad relevance through search behavior, click-through history, user demographics, geography and in-depth behavioral trending analysis to deliver the most useful ad messages to each mobile consumer. To ensure precise ad targeting and the consistent delivery of mobile ad campaigns, Medio has deeply integrated the RelevanceServer contextual ad platform that it received as part of last year's acquisition of WebRelevance, Inc. Ads will be priced and served by auction and advertisers will pay only when consumers click on their messages.

"Mobile search is a unique advertising platform where advertisers can reach consumers who are actively looking for their services and ready to transact at that moment," says Omar Tawakol, chief advertising officer for Medio Systems.

"By providing consumers a click-saving experience that returns actionable answers matched with highly relevant ad messages, the Medio MobileNow Ad Network can drive a much higher ROI for advertisers."

The Medio MobileNow Ad Network includes features to meet the marketing objectives of a wide variety of mobile advertisers:

--  Classic direct-response ads with "respond now" objectives, such as
    buying flowers with a phone call.

--  Targeted sales for mobile content providers, including downloadable
    content such as ringtones, games and wallpaper.

--  Relevant traffic for independent mobile sites.

--  Branding within a search context, such as advertising a new movie when
    someone searches for a film star's wallpaper.

--  Driving Pay Per Call for local advertisers.  Together with Ingenio,
    Inc., Medio also announced today a partnership to feature Ingenio Pay Per
    Call® listings within the Medio MobileNow Ad Network, which will enable
    both national and local marketers to run effective mobile campaigns and
    only pay when a consumer initiates a call to the advertised business from
    their mobile phone.
    

To support the MobileNow Ad Network, Medio also announced today Gary Bembridge, former National Sales Director at MSN, to be Head of US Advertising Sales. "By offering a full range of options for nearly every marketing contingency, we are confident that the Medio MobileNow Ad Network will help grow the mobile ad market," said Bembridge.

Leading market researchers agree that mobile search and advertising are ready for substantial growth. Piper Jaffray projects that global mobile search revenues will generate $11 billion by 2008. Research firm Informa Telecoms & Media forecasts worldwide spending on cell phone advertising could reach more than $11 billion annually by 2011.

"By applying its deep expertise in data mining and analytics, Medio can intelligently serve the most targeted ads to help us drive higher sales of much sought-after downloadable content, such as ringtones and wallpaper," says McPhail Hunt, EVP at MobileStreams. "This 'just-in-time' targeted advertising gets our products in front of the right audience at a time when they are most ready to take action. We are excited at the potential of our campaigns with Medio."

Advertisers can streamline their mobile buy with the Medio MobileNow Ad Network, with their ads reaching qualified audiences on participating operators' decks -- utilizing the synergy of Medio's proven mobile search solution to enter the "walled gardens" of mobile -- as well as across Medio's network of independent off-deck mobile sites.

"The key to effective pay-per-click mobile advertising will be the speed with which users find relevant results and associated advertising. The Medio MobileNow Ad Network meets both criteria, at significant scale," said Mike McSherry, Senior Vice President of Emerging Technologies for Amp'd Mobile. "On the mobile phone, relevant advertising is considered content and we are excited to be the first operator to launch this partnership with Medio."

In addition to bringing enhanced revenue to operators, Medio will share ad revenues with participating independent mobile site owners, creating new incremental revenue streams from serving targeted ads. At no risk or cost, and with minimal setup, Medio will handle ad sales, process targeted ad delivery and offer online reports. Mobile site owners can also participate as MobileNow advertisers, driving additional content revenue through traffic growth.

Advertisers and mobile site owners can participate in the Medio MobileNow Ad Network via an intuitive online interface, making it easy to start an ad campaign, submit creative, configure ad serving, track campaign performance and generate revenue reports at www.mediomobilenow.com.

Medio Systems, Inc. (www.medio.com) is the leading provider of mobile search and advertising solutions that help mobile operators implement the best customer experience and allow advertisers to reach their intended target audiences. Created specifically for mobile, Medio Mobile Search combines an intuitive, effortless user interface with powerful recommendation and personalization technologies.

Pay Per Call® is a registered trademark of Ingenio, Inc.