Virgin Mobile USA said today it will give customers the option to earn free calls if they view and respond to ads on their phones.
Photo: Virgin Mobile Gives Free Calls for Watching Ads Photo 1
The new SugarMama service lets Virgin Mobile customers earn airtime, while letting advertisers to engage, connect and interact with the youth market. Offering more features to expand revenue options beyond voice, wireless providers are integrating web browsers and video players hoping to profit from advertising on advanced phones.
Interested customers can opt-in to SugarMama via http://www.virginmobileusa.com by filling out a short demographic profile and certifying the fact that they are age 13 or older.
Customers will then be invited to watch a streaming video advertisement, after which they'll spend a few seconds answering questions to show they watched the segment and understood key takeaways. Correct answers earn the customer free minutes of airtime.
Customers can also earn airtime by opting-in to SMS messages that contain advertisements or discounts. Virgin Mobile expects to continue to expand the scope of this program, offering advertisers the opportunity to showcase long-form or other unique types of content.
Partnering with Virgin Mobile on the launch of the new service are Xbox (Microsoft), Pepsi-Cola, and truth.
Sounds like a good deal. Most people I know who use Virgin Mobile are students. Watching ads to pay for phone calls sounds like a good trade.
2. Posted by booboy
Tue May 30, 2006 6:46 pm
I'm wondering how many minutes they'll give and the amount of work needed to watch ads and answer questions. I think it sounds too good to be true.
3. Posted by GSMDude
Tue May 30, 2006 9:26 pm
sounds like deja vu... except instead of free airtime it was free internet access. net zero failed and this will too.
4. Posted by Allen
Tue May 30, 2006 9:27 pm
I'm wondering how many minutes they'll give and the amount of work needed to watch ads and answer questions. I think it sounds too good to be true.
One free minute per ad watched.
5. Posted by booboy
Wed May 31, 2006 12:37 pm
found the answer to my own question:
It takes one 30-second video, two SMS messages or one minute anwering a questionnaire to get one minute of airtime. There's a maximum of 75 free minutes.
6. Posted by GSMDude
Wed May 31, 2006 5:42 pm
too much work. bound to fail.
7. Posted by Jadall
Wed May 31, 2006 11:33 pm
Let me guess you probably pay for the txt msg or video clip to watch it?? LOL. so you use up the airtime they give you?? hahahahahahaha.
8. Posted by ash2352
Mon Jul 10, 2006 1:00 pm
It is a good way to earn minutes although ive tried it, you only earn 25 cents if u have minute to minute, and on some other phone service plans for virgin mobile you only earn 15 to 10 cents. instead of this minute you earn you only earn 25 cents. also after you do five adds, alot of times it says your out of ads??? and it say you can earn 75 minutes not really when you only get 25 cents per add
9. Posted by Pogo
Tue Jul 11, 2006 11:03 pm
MNVOs are falling left and right. The fact that Virgin manages to stay afloat is a mystery. I doubt these free ads will do anything though.
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