Focus wipes US$40m from mobile revenue

Shanghai - Focus Media's decision to stop sending unsolicited SMS messages has resulted in a US$40 million downgrade of its 2008 mobile advertising revenue.

Focus last month said it had established an internal policy prohibiting its subsidiaries sending spam messages to mobile customers without their explicit consent.

As a result of the rules change, Focus said it will lose US$40 million from its 2008 revenue.

Jason Jiang, Focus Media chairperson, said despite the downgrade revenue were still strong.

"We have already seen strong growth in our WAP advertising and interactive marketing businesses based on mobile devices.

"Going forward, we will focus on building a pull-based advertising model for our mobile business and will only send advertising information to consumers in China based on their explicit consent," he said.