AnchorFree Blog

Sunnyvale, Calif. - May 13, 2008 - AnchorFree, the largest Hotspot media network, today announced a partnership with WebAds UK, a leading independent, interactive advertising network serving the EMEA region, through which the AnchorFree network will connect UK advertisers with thousands of mobile Internet users across Europe. The partnership expands AnchorFree’s established footprint of millions of active users in this region to date.

Launched in the Fall of 2007, AnchorFree’s innovative media network has been rapidly adopted as a strategic tool for advertisers to increase user engagement and brand interaction via unobtrusive, banner-like advertisements. These messages are precisely targeted to users’ particular interests, behavior and location. AnchorFree’s broadband network guarantees 100% accurate location-based targeting, enabling marketers to reach and interact with out-of-home mobile consumers over the course of their entire online experience.

“We are very pleased to support AnchorFree’s expanded presence in Europe and believe that this unique service will prove to be the future of the mobile Internet,” said Jonas Jaanimagi, managing partner, WebAds UK. “Mobile professionals need to constantly access the Internet on the move, so in response to this demand we want to be able to offer advertisers access to this high-net-worth audience across Europe via a service that will quickly become an industry-standard model.”

This ability to geo-target plays a particularly significant role in serving the diversity of the EMEA region, where advertisers benefit from reaching pertinent consumers based on the country in which they are located. With more and more venues such as coffee shops, hotels, train stations and airports offering Internet access to cater to the millions of travelling working professionals, advertisers are now presented with an ideal environment to reach an attentive, relevant audience.

AnchorFree’s broadband media network currently serves hundreds of millions of page views per month, making it a highly strategic channel for advertisers to reach a broad set of in-transit mobile laptop professionals. The platform is already being used internationally by more than one hundred brand advertisers, including AirTran, Circuit City, Clorox, Ford, Harrah’s, Kaiser Permanente, Major League Baseball, McDonald’s, Princess Cruises, Prudential, Qwest and Toyota.

“Advertisers are looking for new and more impactful ways to reach targeted online consumers, and our broadband media network has been built explicitly to meet this need,” said Mark Smith, COO of AnchorFree. “We already have millions of users in the EMEA region, and are committed to scaling this continued growth and creating compelling opportunities for advertisers. WebAds has established itself with a solid presence in the UK and surrounding countries, and tapping into this network footprint aligns with the three-fold AnchorFree value proposition: providing consumers with a free way to go online, encouraging distribution partners to generate revenue, and providing advertisers with a means to speak to the right audience at the right time.”

About AnchorFree
AnchorFree, the largest Hotspot media network, is a new marketing channel for brand and direct response marketers to deliver interactive, timely and targeted advertisements to laptop and mobile device users when they are away from the home or office. The AnchorFree network connects advertisers with millions of consumers in a captive, persistent manner that is highly measurable and geo-targeted to these user’s exact locations. AnchorFree is also the first advertising network to offer consumers full control over their privacy and security through the company’s Hotspot Shield, a free advertising supported VPN client available for download at www.anchorfree.com. AnchorFree is a privately held company based in Sunnyvale, California

About WebAds
WebAds runs an independent advertising network of more then 120 websites across Europe and now has offices in Amsterdam, Milan and London - employing over 75 experienced staff. WebAds UK (www.webads.co.uk) was successfully launched in London in March 2007 and now has a total of ten websites within its ad sales network – with a particular focus on business and finance. The WebAds sales network is 100% transparent in everything that they do with both publishers and advertisers and always seeks to fully understand, partner and represent each website within the network on an individual basis.

Contacts
AnchorFree
Melissa Biles or Kasey Fleisher
415-625-8555
E: anchorfree(at)launchsquad(dot)com

WebAds
Jonas Jaanimagi
E: jonas(at)webads(dot)co(dot)uk

AnchorFree’s Free Hotspot Shield Also Enables Wi-Fi Locations to Protect Online Patrons from Sidejackers

Sunnyvale, Calif. - April 23, 2008 - AnchorFree today formally announced the launch of Hotspot Shield, a breakthrough software application that keeps Internet connections 100% secure by shielding Internet users’ personal information from potential hackers at shared Wi-Fi locations. The software is free and can be easily downloaded at http://www.anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield.

Wi-Fi users who download Hotspot Shield protect themselves from online identity theft, including a new wave of sophisticated Internet hacking called sidejacking. Sidejackers obtain authorized site access to computers that are on shared wireless connections at hotels, coffee shops and other public Wi-Fi locations. The offenders then infiltrate emails, view confidential information, change passwords, and in general have full control over all aspects of a user’s screen without their consent or knowledge that this malicious activity is occurring. Additionally, Hotspot Shield encrypts all activity to protect users’ entire online shopping experience – not just the check-out process which is usually secured by e-commerce sites directly.

Hotspot Shield prevents sidejacking and other forms of online ID theft by establishing a virtual private network (VPN) connection between laptops and wireless networks. The VPN acts as a virtual shield, making the Wi-Fi user completely anonymous to others and free from threat from potential hackers looking to view personal emails, credit card information or any other behavioral activities conducted online.

“AnchorFree’s Hotspot Shield was created to provide mobile laptop professionals a safe and private environment from which to connect to broadband Internet, while ensuring wireless connections are safeguarded and that network level data isn’t being eavesdropped upon,” said David Gorodyansky, co-founder and CEO of AnchorFree. “Hotspot Shield creates the ultimate defense for Internet users in public places as well as those seeking a secure shopping experience beyond what e-commerce sites offer. We are proud to be able to offer the software at no cost to anyone looking for a secure connection.”

In addition to helping individual Wi-Fi users, AnchorFree allows small businesses to keep their networks secure. Responsible businesses can offer free wireless access through AnchorFree and then direct their patrons to Hotspot Shield, a value-added tool for maximum protection and security while online at a place of business.

To download the application, go to the AnchorFree Hotspot Shield homepage: http://www.anchorfree.com/downloads/hotspot-shield. The program is free and will install automatically. Hotspot Shield currently runs on Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Mac OS X (10.5 Leopard) and Mac OS X (10.4 Tiger).

About AnchorFree
AnchorFree, the largest broadband media network, is a new marketing channel for brand advertisers to deliver interactive, timely and targeted advertisements to laptop and mobile device users when they are away from the home or office. The AnchorFree network connects advertisers with millions of consumers in a captive, persistent manner that is highly measurable and geo-targeted. AnchorFree is also the first advertising network to offer consumers full control over their privacy and security through the company’s Hotspot Shield, a free advertising supported VPN client available for download at www.anchorfree.com. AnchorFree is a privately held company based in Sunnyvale, California.

Locate Free Wireless with Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder
By Adam Pash, LifeHacker.com 04/09/08

The Wi-Fi Hotspot Finder webapp displays free wireless internet hotspots in your area on a Google Maps mashup. To use it, just give it your address, city, or zip and it’ll display many of the nearby hotspots. This sort of tool isn’t new by any means, but it is returning better results in my area than previously mentioned webapps like Hotspotr. If you give it a try, let’s hear how the hotspot finder measures up in your area in the comments. While you’re there, you may want to download wiPod, which stores all that hotspot information in note form for easy browsing on your iPod.

AnchorFree Hires Two Ad Sales Gurus
By Kathleen, ADOTAS

ADOTAS – Broadband media network AnchorFree today announced the hiring of independent consultant Steven Van Blarcom to run its sales team, expand its broadband advertising network and establish new Hotspot locations around the world.

Van Blarcom, the freshly minted senior vice president, will lead the sales and advertising solutions team. Previously, he ran his own consulting firm, Van Blarcom Consulting, LLC.

“Steven’s addition to the AnchorFree sales team is an important milestone for our company and a step towards expanding our position in what is proving to be a rapidly growing space for new online advertising opportunities,” said David Gorodyansky, co-founder and CEO of AnchorFree, in a release. “We anticipate that his past successes driving strategic partnerships and uncovering untapped opportunities will lead to new and exciting ventures for AnchorFree.”

Anand Sindgi also joined the sales team as vice president of international sales. He will be responsible for establishing sales efforts in the company’s U.K. offices.

AnchorFree provides a media channel for interactive advertisers who want to increase user engagement and brand interaction; the channel delivers banner ads targeted to users’ interests, behavior and geographic location. Customers include AirTran, Circuit City, McDonald’s, Qwest and Ford.

Former AOL and Entertainment Media Works Executive Steven Van Blarcom Joins Sales and Advertising Solutions Team to Generate New Leads and Business Development Opportunities

SUNNYVALE, Calif. - April 7, 2008 - AnchorFree, the largest broadband media network, today announced the addition of Steven Van Blarcom to its Sales and Advertising Solutions Team. In his role as senior vice president of sales, Van Blarcom will lead AnchorFree’s sales team in expanding its growing broadband advertising network and establishing new Hotspot locations worldwide.

AnchorFree provides an innovative media channel that allows advertisers to increase user engagement and brand interaction by delivering unobtrusive, banner-like advertisements precisely targeted to users’ particular interests, behavior and location. AnchorFree’s broadband network guarantees 100% accurate location-based targeting, allowing marketers to reach and interact with out-of-home mobile consumers over the course of their entire online experience.

AnchorFree’s network is already being used by more than 100 brand advertisers, including AirTran, Circuit City, Clorox, Ford, Harrah’s, Kaiser Permanente, Major League Baseball, McDonald’s, Princess Cruises, Prudential, Qwest and Toyota.

In his position, Van Blarcom will be responsible for securing broader adoption of Hotspot advertising among brand-name advertisers and marketers. Additionally, he will be focused on growing AnchorFree’s expanding advertising network by negotiating strategic partnerships with distributors of the company’s Hotspot accessory solutions and branded tools.

Prior to joining AnchorFree, Van Blarcom successfully ran his own consulting venture, Van Blarcom Consulting, LLC. Van Blarcom’s career spans over 15 years, during which time he held top sales and business development positions with companies including Source Media, AOL, Clear Channel and Entertainment Media Works.

“I was immediately attracted to AnchorFree’s business proposition—a simple yet unique way for advertisers to accurately target their audiences at any sponsored Hotspot location,” said Van Blarcom. “I look forward to spreading AnchorFree’s message by expanding awareness around its advertising network and up and coming venues around the world.”

“Steven’s addition to the AnchorFree sales team is an important milestone for our company and a step towards expanding our position in what is proving to be a rapidly growing space for new online advertising opportunities,” said David Gorodyansky, co-founder and CEO of AnchorFree. “We anticipate that his past successes driving strategic partnerships and uncovering untapped opportunities will lead to new and exciting ventures for AnchorFree.”

AnchorFree also added Anand Sindgi as VP International Sales. Sindgi is charged with establishing AnchorFree’s UK based sales efforts. His prior experience includes media sales leadership roles at Digital Look, CPI Financial and Mondial-UAE.

About AnchorFree
AnchorFree, the largest Hotspot media network, is a new marketing channel for brand and direct response marketers to deliver interactive, timely and targeted advertisements to laptop and mobile device users when they are away from the home or office. The AnchorFree network connects advertisers with millions of consumers in a captive, persistent manner that is highly measurable and geo-targeted to these users’ exact locations. AnchorFree is also the first advertising network to offer consumers full control over their privacy and security through the company’s Hotspot Shield, a free advertising supported VPN client available for download at www.anchorfree.com. AnchorFree is a privately held company based in Sunnyvale, California.

WiFi Hotspot Surfers Beware: Sharks Patrol These Waters
By Jack M. Germain, TechNewsWorld

The growing popularity of WiFi connections to the Internet from virtually anywhere — bus and train stations, airports and coffee shops for instance — drastically increases the chances of wireless users finding their data stolen. It’s a combination of more people connecting and hacking techniques getting better, Fiberlink Communications’ Dan Hoffman explained.

WiFi features are as standard on today’s portable computers as built-in modems used to be. Laptop users have become accustomed to the ability to connect to the Internet from practically anywhere to reach e-mail, Web sites and music download portals. Consumers even use wireless routers to connect to the Internet from anywhere in their homes.

The problem, however, is that many portable computer users are completely clueless about the dangers of unprotected WiFi connections. They think that they can surf the Net with the same impunity as having a wired connection.

“WiFi use poses problems to both enterprise Rackspace now offers green hosting solutions at the same cost without sacrificing performance. Make the eco-friendly choice. users and private consumers for two reasons. One is the lack of security with public hotspots. There is no encryption by default. The second is accountability. WiFi presents many different ways to connect and needs to be simplified,” Dan Hoffman, senior systems engineer of Fiberlink Communications, told TechNewsWorld.

Enterprise WiFi and private users are at increased risk of having sensitive data stolen when they do not connect through VPNs (virtual private networks) and when the laptops they use lack up-to-date security patches. Computing in public area, even when not connected to a WiFi hotspot, makes users vulnerable to security breaches as low-tech as the prying eyes of people looking over their shoulders, Hoffman added.

For example, one method hackers use to steal information from WiFi-connected computers is sidejacking. Sidejackers gain site access to computers that are on shared wireless connections at hotels, coffee shops and other public WiFi locations. Once connected, the sidejacking hacker Latest News about hacker can infiltrate e-mails, view confidential information and change passwords without the consent or knowledge of the computer owner.

Easy Pickings

The growing popularity of WiFi connections to the Internet from virtually anywhere — bus and train stations, airports and coffee shops, for instance — drastically increases the chances of wireless users finding their data stolen. It’s a combination of more people connecting and hacking techniques getting better, Hoffman explained.

With so many people connecting to the same wireless connection, a robust software firewall is essential to protect the computer. Like its hardware counterpart, a software firewall blocks unauthorized access to a laptop from the Internet.

Perhaps the most often missed security measure is to turn off file-sharing applications when accessing the Internet from a public WiFi network New HP LaserJet P4014n Printer Starting at $699 after $100 instant savings.. This is an easy security hole to fix. Windows users can go to “My Computer” and “Windows Shared Documents.” Then, right click and go to “Security and Sharing” to turn this option off.

“A shared directory that isn’t inside a firewall is an open invitation to a hacker,” David Kent Jones, author of the e-book “Online Teen Dangers,” noted in discussing WiFi risks with TechNewsWorld.
Basic Security Tips

Fiberlink’s Hoffman offered WiFi users a set of guidelines to follow to ensure safe wireless connections to public hotspots. These security tips provide even more experienced wireless users a way to better secure data on laptops that are exposed to public WiFi connections.

1. Honor the Magic Number: Smart password combinations make the difference between secure and hacked wireless connections. For instance, there are 6,634,204,312,890,625 possible password combinations when using eight characters with the 95 keyboard character combinations. Change the user log-on often for wireless router access to make it difficult to guess. Use a combination of alphanumeric characters and other keyboard symbols. Keep the strong password safe by disabling or declining any password-saving features.

2. Know The Power of Three: Hackers use sophisticated blended threats based on a variety of tactics to defeat security. Know your equipment’s security blind spots. For example, make sure your laptop is equipped with a blend of security tools. These include antispam, antispyware and a personal firewall. Miss any one of these means forfeiting your security.

3. Block Prying Eyes: Recognize that prying eyes are everywhere. Stop thieves from snooping by making sure your IT department helps you encrypt your e-mail. Prevent unauthorized access to your e-mail with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption of both login file transfer functions. Otherwise, hackers can read your e-mail as the data moves through cyberspace. To further secure connections to corporate servers and applications, use a VPN.

4. Recognize That Wired and Wireless Are Not Created Equal: A wired connection (digital subscriber line or even dial-up) is inherently more secure than wireless. With wireless connections, data typically is sent unencrypted through the air between the mobile device and an access point near your room, making it very easy for hackers to sniff the data passively from as far away as the parking lot. Defeat remote snooping by disabling the laptop’s capability to automatically connect to signals.

5. Don’t Trust Your Internet Service Provider: Using a wireless router at home does not make you any safer than connecting on the go. Use the same level of security at home as you do when connected to a public WiFi network. Especially important is password-protecting your home WiFi network.

6. Prepare for the Worst: Assume that sooner or later your laptop will be lost or stolen. Implement a password-protected screen lock. Do not store sensitive information such as usernames, passwords, Social Security numbers, bank account numbers or credit card numbers on the device. Companies should activate administrative device-wiping so that an IT administrator can remotely destroy data and applications on the mobile device in the instance that it is lost or stolen. Lastly, keep data backed up on a PC or server in case your mobile device is gone forever.

VPN for Anyone

Aware that more protection might make their services more attractive to users, some service providers have taken steps to strengthen the security of users on their networks. For instance, WiFi service provider AnchorFree started out giving away free WiFi connections to hotspots. Users watched brief advertisements to access a connection. That led to the release of a free download of the company’s HotSpot Shield.

“We created it to protect our WiFi connections. It creates a VPN or private tunnel between the laptop and the end point,” James Chavez, director of new business development for AnchorFree, told TechNewsWorld.

When the client application runs from the laptop’s browser, it creates a tunnel that has never been cracked, Chavez said.

The company released the free product 18 months ago. In a recent week it was downloaded 316,000 times, he added.
How It Works

Once enabled, HotSpot Shield conceals the user’s existence on the Internet, according to Chavez. Originally, AnchorFree permitted unlimited use; however, the company now restricts usage to 10 GB of data per month to curtail excessive use that clogs bandwidth.

Users can bypass monthly usage restrictions by participating in various incentive programs.

In addition to allowing individuals to stay secure, AnchorFree gives small businesses a solution that allows them to keep WiFi users on their networks secure. Businesses can offer free wireless access through AnchorFree and then direct their patrons to Hotspot Shield, a value-added tool for greater protection and security while online at a place of business, according to David Gorodyansky, cofounder and CEO of AnchorFree.

Monetizing Free Wi-Fi
By Adam Kirby, Associate Editor — Hotels

Hoteliers torn between the allure of extra revenue from Wi-Fi and the desire to satisfy guests expecting free Internet access should consider exploring an emerging vendor niche—monetized complimentary access.

The concept allows hoteliers to generate revenue from guest Internet usage by contracting with a vendor that displays advertising throughout the duration of a Web-browsing session. In exchange, the user gets free Internet access, much the way a television viewer accepts commercial breaks in exchange for free programming.

California-based AnchorFree is one of the larger vendors offering such a product to the hospitality sector. The company pays hoteliers a percentage of its ad revenue generated from guest views—for example, a hotel with 150 rooms could expect to generate approximately US$25,000 per year in revenue. AnchorFree also provides hotels with software-equipped Wi-Fi routers at no charge.

The company even allows hotels to insert their own marketing materials into the Web browser ads. For example, a hotel could require guests to login with their loyalty club numbers, and then by accessing guests’ CRM profiles, the software can be configured to give guests relevant marketing pitches over the course of the Internet session.

“To generate premium revenues from these users, we enable hoteliers the ability to execute a sequential personalized experience with a user for the entire time they are on the Internet,” says Mark Smith, AnchorFree’s executive vice president for strategy. “This is much more than simply a pop-up ad that they may or may not click on.”

The ads come in the form of a “persistent desktop presence”—a banner ad atop the browser that rotates every 15 seconds. To avoid annoying guests, the program allows guests to close the ad, but the opt-out rate is extremely low—around 1%, Smith says.

AnchorFree executives say the company has about 3,500 franchised hotel properties in North America and 1,000 properties in the UK under two- and three-year contracts, including local deals with IHG-, Hilton- and Marriott-branded properties.

Making Cents of Ad-Supported Wi-Fi
By Jeff Goldman, Wi-Fi Planet 2/14/2008

It’s still early days for ad-supported Wi-Fi, and companies in the space are trying many different ways to make the concept work.

There’s been a flood of news lately about advertising-supported Wi-Fi deployments, from JiWire allowing iPhone users to connect for free at its Ads for Access locations to FreeFi Networks’ addition of video-on-demand rentals to its free, ad-supported Wi-Fi network at Denver International Airport.

Still, the business model has yet to be proven.

Stan Schatt, vice president and research director at ABI Research, says companies in this space have their work cut out for them—particularly when providers like FON are offering low-priced access as an alternative.

“If you can get Wi-Fi for three dollars without any ads, does it make sense to put up with the irritation of advertising?” he asks.

In a white paper entitled Pay TV and the American Consumer, Schatt reports that a very low percentage of consumers expressed interest in receiving access to pay TV at a discount—or even for free—in return for watching ads. Pay TV may not be Wi-Fi, but Schatt says the principle is the same: most people have limited tolerance for advertising.

While there may well be a perfect business model under which ad-supported Wi-Fi will yet prove viable, Schatt says, the number of companies currently battling in the space serves as an indicator of how unproven the market is.

“People just aren’t sure what direction it’s going to take, and everybody’s trying to find traction with a slightly different business model,” he says.

Municipal support

One of those companies, of course, is MetroFi, which runs ad-supported Wi-Fi networks in cities from Concord, California to Portland, Oregon. Lou Pelosi, the company’s vice president of marketing, says MetroFi primarily uses Microsoft’s MSN SideGuide to deliver ads. Despite the need to download an application onto the user’s PC, Pelosi says the company likes SideGuide because it takes up a minimal amount of space in a vertical bar to the left or right of the browser, and because it contains a search box and a news feed in addition to advertisements.

Pelosi says it’s become clear to MetroFi that the only viable business model for municipal Wi-Fi deployments is a mixed-use arrangement under which the city serves as an anchor tenant, using the network for anything from city services to public safety alongside the free, ad-supported offering. Getting the city involved, Pelosi says, is key not only in providing crucial financial backing, but also in promoting the network to end users.

Video on demand

FreeFi Networks, with its deployment at Denver International Airport (DIA), is also looking for additional sources of revenue beyond advertising. The company recently announced a partnership with Disney-ABC Television to provide locally served video-on-demand rentals that can be downloaded via Wi-Fi in minutes by a traveler waiting to board a plane.

Company managing director Richard Bogen says it’s a perfect solution both for users and for the City of Denver, which runs the airport.

“For the City of Denver, it gives them a way of generating revenue not only from ad sales but also from the sale of video content—and from the user’s perspective, it gives them a nice little amenity in the airport,” he says.

FreeFi’s ads are served not only in the browser, but also in the form of a 30-second video that’s played prior to enabling access.

“The time that takes is far less than what it would take for the typical paid user to punch in a credit card number, get approved, and type in all their information,” notes Lawrence J. Laffer, the company’s executive director of sales and marketing.

Laffer says the result is a user experience that’s both streamlined and user-friendly—when DIA switched from $7.95-a-day paid access to FreeFi’s ad-supported offering, the airport saw an increase from about 600 daily connections to as many as 5,000.

“User acceptance is just extraordinarily high,” he says.

And airports, Laffer says, are perfect locations for his company’s business model.

“We know there’s high demand, and we know there’s low tolerance for paying,” he says.

Beyond laptops

JiWire CEO Kevin McKenzie also counts on high demand to make his company’s Ads for Access offering viable. JiWire now reaches about 8 million Wi-Fi users a month on 32 different networks including Boingo, Wayport, and others.

“It’s all about volume,” he says. “If we had 100,000 users, we’d have problems. You don’t get the attention of large advertisers like Charles Schwab and Sony and Microsoft and others without having millions of users that are potentially going to look at these ads.”

And the company’s recent announcement of support for the iPhone and similar devices, McKenzie says, will only increase that number.

“What’s going to happen when everyone has an iPod touch, when all digital cameras are Wi-Fi-enabled so people can upload photos through Wi-Fi as opposed to doing it at their PC?” he asks. “It’s these non-PC Wi-Fi devices, in my mind, that are really going to light this up and make it so it’s economical to offer an ad-based Wi-Fi model.”

Ad targeting

For HypeWifi [sic], though, it’s about quality rather than quantity. The Houston-based company uses an ad model in which the user is simply asked to respond to one question about an advertiser’s product upon authentication—and that’s it. The information from that response, along with anonymous demographic information that’s captured during their session, is then used to improve ad targeting on return visits.

And according to company CEO Tim Heckler, that’s what makes it work—it allows advertisers both to get valuable demographic information about their audience and to target their ads with unique precision. Tracking a user by MAC address, Heckler says, allows HypeWifi to offer that user increasingly targeted advertising on each visit.

“If they’re not answering the questions the way [the advertiser] would like, we can just cut off the advertisement and put another advertiser up instead,” he says. “That really allows you to get more bang for your buck.”

Heckler says it’s that kind of targeting that will ultimately make ad-supported Wi-Fi viable.

“It has to be done intelligently,” he says.

The value proposition

For Anchorfree COO Mark Smith, on the other hand, the way to make ad-supported Wi-Fi work is simply to give users a choice between paying for access and viewing ads.

“We typically like to demand complete transparency with the user,” he says. “If they don’t want to have an ad-supported online experience, I don’t think they should. They should have a choice: they should be able to pay their nine dollars to check their e-mail.”

And that’s a perfect solution, Smith says, for Anchorfree’s hotel clients: bandwidth hogs can pay the nine dollars, while those who just want to check e-mail can do so for free—and in either case, the value proposition is clear to both user and advertiser. And it’s not just about serving ads: with Anchorfree’s solution in place, he notes, those same hotels now have a new customer touch point for loyalty marketing that they didn’t have before.

Building on that idea, Smith says the next step is to offer targeted content with the ads.

“If alongside that advertising I’m getting free access to Wall Street Journal subscription content that would otherwise be paid, but since I’m staying at the Ritz Carlton it’s free, I find value in that as a guest,” he says. “If I’m at a hotel and alongside a little bit of advertising I find that I can try Netflix for free in my room only because I’m staying at that hotel, then I might find some utility in that.”

The point, Smith says, is that the perfect balance between advertisers’ and consumers’ needs has yet to be found—and there may well be many different ways to find that balance.

“This is much more than science,” Smith says. “It’s going to be a creative art to make this actually work and be universally accepted.”

Jeff Goldman is a frequent contributor to Wi-FiPlanet. He is based in California.

Connecting To NeW Sales
By Audrey Gray, Dealerscope

If you or someone you know has walked the world with an iPhone, you’ve no doubt encountered the thrill when the phone’s sensors detect an unlocked WiFi connection. The iPhone can browse the Internet without WiFi, via AT&T’s slow-but-adequate EDGE network. But when the iPhone hits a WiFi hotspot, it becomes a mobile broadband machine, allowing users to quickly Safari their way to any Web site.

So imagine if a customer’s iPhone tells them that there’s a free WiFi signal the moment they walk into your store. All of a sudden, that customer can comparison-shop live on the premises. They can check e-mail while they are waiting in a line at your register. If you provide them a comfy chair, they may even pull out their laptop and try to get some work done on the spot. Would these things be good or bad for business?

It’s all good, according to Bob Cole, president of the World Wide Stereo stores in the Philadelphia area. “Everybody should do it,” said Cole, who recently put up a sign advertising free public WiFi access in his showrooms. “That’s a no-brainer.”

Why the enthusiasm? Cole said it’s a way to not only please his mobile-savvy customers, especially the younger ones, but to capture their attention in a critical buy-zone, the store itself. “When you go online in my store, the first thing you see is my happy face,” said Cole, who made sure that the homepage of every browsing session features a bold World Wide Stereo advertisement. Cole and his sales team use the WiFi access to help customers expand their definition of an integrated home network.

“We can look at the guy who’s on his computer while he’s waiting for his car installation and say, ‘Hey, do you have any pictures on that?’ If he says yes, we say, ‘Would you like to see them on this Pioneer Elite TV?’” Cole said. “It demonstrates to a customer all the things he can do. Anything that fosters computer connectivity and literacy, I’m all about.”

Cole is not alone in exploring the retail possibilities of Internet access. A two-year-old Sunnyvale, Calif., company says it can make in-store WiFi connectivity a win-win for retailers and customers. AnchorFree is offering an advertising-supported WiFi service to retailers who have substantial foot-traffic in their stores. “There’s a whole new thread of value here to these retailers,” said AnchorFree VP Mark Smith. “More and more shoppers have wireless devices on them when they walk into a store. In-store WiFi will be an emerging platform for retailers to have a captive, persistent relationship with consumers on these devices.”

Advertising at the point of consumption has been shown to be an effective way to nudge shoppers into a buy decision, Smith said. But as consumers become increasingly savvy about their electronics purchases, he said, they’re more likely to do Internet-based research on mobile devices while they’re shopping. A banner ad suggesting a particular service or add-on can influence customers “while they are absolutely in the buying mode,” Smith said.

Numerous studies have shown that Internet users don’t mind a banner ad or two as long as it doesn’t take up too much of their screen real estate, especially if it means they are getting a free connection, Smith said. Though the number of commercial hotspots has increased (this, despite the failure of many city-wide WiFi projects) over the past couple years, many stores, restaurants and hotels charge consumers for the privilege, often at $10/day. Free WiFi has helped establish the reputation of establishments like the bakery-café chain Panera Bread as an alternative to Starbucks, which has traditionally charged about $6/hour.

According to the Pew Internet Study, 34 percent of U.S. Internet users have logged on using a wireless connection, either at home or in public. About 25 percent of Internet users now own a cellphone that can connect them to the Internet. Of the wireless enthusiasts, 49 percent are between the ages of 30 and 49, a key spending demographic.

Why hotspot ads sizzle
byline by Mark Smith of AnchorFree, iMedia Connection

Advertising on hotspot networks enables marketers to target audiences out of home and office. Learn more about this from an AnchorFree VP.

As internet advertising spending continues to grow — according to the IAB and PxC, projected U.S. online advertising spending is currently expected to hit $36.5 billion by 2011 — advertisers are eager to find new ways to target their audiences and bring a more personalized experience to internet users. As such, traditional banner ads are being replaced with more engaging and interactive platforms that now include targeted content and even video.

Amidst all the projections of ad industry growth and expanding ad formats, an industry of companies is developing that seeks to unclutter the advertising space by targeting audiences in places they find themselves often — hotels, restaurants, airports, coffee shops and the like. As consumers become increasingly mobile, better educated and more protective of their privacy than ever before, advertisers must innovate in their methods to bring unobtrusive and relevant messages in unique and effective ways.

Drivers of change
While companies like Microsoft are bringing advertising directly to mobile devices, others have found a way to bring advertisers access to a captive audience of out-of-home users through a new form of Hotspot advertising that effectively geo-targets consumers with 100 percent precision, wherever they may be. Such Hotspot ad networks work by injecting a thin messaging frame at the top of a user’s browser, in turn offering consumers free or subsidized internet access and the third party venue with a share of the ad revenue. Additionally, advertisers get access to out-of-home broadband users for an average period of 60 minutes — much more exposure than other, traditional forms of out-of-home advertising.

So what can consumers expect to see when logging into this form of ad-sponsored internet session at hotels, malls, coffee shops, restaurants, airports and other consumer venues across the country? Users are served with an ongoing “digital billboard” that is displayed at the top of their browser, running relevant advertising from companies such as Toyota, McDonald’s, MLB, recent movies or concerts, and others.

Why, you might ask, is this offering appealing to both advertisers and consumers? Besides bringing relevant advertising to internet users that is targeted to their location and interests, a key thing to note is that Hotspot advertising does not interfere with a user’s session, nor does it blast him/her with annoying pop ups that have nothing to do with their interests.

Hotspot advertising vs. traditional models
As a point of comparison, Hotspot advertising (over the course of a 60-minute internet session) equates to the same exposure as walking by a mall panel ad 720 times, reading the same print ad 180 times in a row or watching a TV commercial 120 times in an hour. The bottom line is that Hotspot advertising is a huge, yet for the most part, untapped opportunity for advertisers to speak directly to their customers in a format that is much more persistent and consistent than today’s more traditional mediums.

The growing market for persistent hotspot advertising
As proof of consumer sentiment, in a survey my company conducted in September of more than 100 individuals at national coffee shop chains, hotels and book store chains throughout the Bay Area, 91 percent of respondents noted that they were aware of at least four free Hotspot venues near where they work and live. More than 90 percent responded they would view advertising in exchange for free Wi-Fi access. And, the majority of users picked the venue based on the offering of free access.

Further, it’s worth noting that the majority of respondents were not willing to be presented with any advertising that overlaid or otherwise interrupted their experience, making this new form of online advertising an even more appealing alternative worth adopting.

This is exactly the sort of consumer feedback that is driving advertising innovation. Customers are willing to accept a branded advertising experience in exchange for more freedom and increased internet access points. Hotspot advertising is uniquely suited for an endless variety of industries — from hotels looking to offer users free internet access while serving relevant ads that relate to their specific location, to malls and airports seeking to enhance the everyday individual’s experience, to locally-based businesses simply looking to reach new users. The selling point for advertisers is that this new form of advertising is an invaluable and much more permeating way to reach the right audience at the right place and at the right time.

Mark Smith is executive vice president, strategy & products, AnchorFree.