Nokia Ad Business today announced an agreement with Handmark to provide a mobile advertising solution for its Pocket Express mobile data application. Nokia Ad Business is a marketplace for mobile advertising, it was formed out of the fusion of Nokia's recent Enpocket acquisition together with the existing Nokia Ad Service and Nokia Advertising Connector. We expect to see further such announcements in the future as more services move to an advertising funded model.

Pocket Express is an information aggregator delivering news, weather, stock, travel information and other information. Pocket Express offers a free version and a premium version. It seems likely that the free version will be advertising supported in the future.

Pocket Express will shortly be launching a native Symbian version (currently on a Java version is available).

Created in the UK, this all-new release of Pocket Express for Symbian OS offers free mobile access to a powerful handset client, featuring essential BBC news, global weather and minute-by-minute score reports for UK and European footballer fans from STATS.

A suite of premium services is also provided in this new release of Pocket Express for Symbian OS, including updates from global financial markets, flight status for more than 75,000 international destinations from over 3,500 airports, cinema show times throughout the UK, and fast access to the authoritative New Oxford Dictionary of English and companion Oxford Thesaurus. Pocket Express combines these services with the world’s first mobile live personal assistant, MobileCierge. With one tap, customers can speak to a live assistant who can help solve almost any personal, travel, medical, or emergency-related request anywhere in the world.

Press release extract:

Nokia Ad Business was formed when Nokia acquired mobile advertising leader Enpocket on Oct. 5, 2007. This acquisition enables advertisers to reach more than 100 million mobile consumers.  By collaborating with Nokia Ad Business, Handmark will leverage the Nokia Ad Platform to serve ads in its Pocket Express mobile service, reaching millions of mobile professionals.

 

"Pocket Express is largely comprised of high income business professionals -a very desirable audience for advertisers," said Douglas Edwards, Handmark co-founder and CMO. "With the help of Nokia Ad Business, we are able to offer advertisers a unique opportunity to reach this attractive demographic on their most personal device."

 

The program will launch early next year, and will serve as a new revenue stream for Handmark.

 

"We are pleased to work with high quality mobile content publishers like Handmark," said Vice President and Head of Nokia Ad Business Mike Baker. "Nokia's vision for mobile advertising is to build an open advertising marketplace that is brand safe.  Handmark is a great addition to our media offering."