A company called TexTango thinks there’s untapped market for mobile advertising in SMS. Like we already don’t find it annoying to receive sponsored text messages, they decided to bring that [horrible experience] to a whole new level.
TexTango’s pitch is simple – allow users to make money by texting their friends and spread the word about certain products and services. To that end, they released BlackBerry and Android apps to provide an easy way to text your friends, while also being able to measure results of any given campaign.
As a mobile user, you’re not paid a dime until your send the first 3,000 text messages, after which you get some small amount for every sponsored message sent. Prior to reaching that level, the top 5% of texters earn cash prizes – up to $100 per month. However, at all levels of texting, TexTango will donate to various non-profits for each text sent.
I’m all for helping NGOs but I wonder whether this kind of marketing scheme will make their names less respectable in the eyes of the public. One could easily imagine folks starting to hate nature, animals and “everything green,” after receiving a 100th SMS on the subject. 🙂
TexTango (FREE) [Android Market link] [BlackBerry App World]