Open Mobile boosts Bebo

Bebo has revealed that its recently launched Open Mobile initiative helped to increase mobile page views by 44 per cent in January.

Friday, 6 March 2009

Text messaging traffic also surged by 13 per cent following the launch of the platform, which lets mobile operators, handset manufacturers and mobile software developers create a customised mobile social networking service based on the Bebo service.

O2 was announced as the first UK company to take part in the initiative last month and experienced an increase in Bebo page views on its network of more than 60 per cent back in December.

The growth in traffic that has been prompted by Bebo Open Mobile is evidence that the website is offering a "compelling" mobile service, says Sean Kane, global head of mobile at Bebo.

He adds: "Mobile social networking is a fast moving market and empowering our partners to innovate in a flexible and mutually beneficial way helps us all win."

Research company comScore released figures earlier this year revealing that take up of mobile social networking is helping to boost the overall use of the mobile web in general across Europe.

In the UK, almost 30 per cent mobile phone owners exclusively use the mobile internet for social networking purposes, the report showed.

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