As one of the most popular forms of communication in the world, SMS has become a favorite channel for advertisers to reach out to their audience. Everywhere we go, billboards and TV shows try to convince us that we should “Text MAGIC to 9340″, with promises of goodies like free ringtones and coupon codes.
Now Tagga, a Canadian startup launching today, is looking to help you create your own SMS campaign. The service is currently live in Canada, but is still smoothing some things out with American carriers so it may not work quite yet on your phone (the company says any issues should be resolved over the next few weeks).
To create a campaign, users first designate what keyword they’d like to use. For example, we might choose to use the word “Tech”. From then on, any user to text “Tech” to 82442 (it spells TAGGA) would receive whatever content we’d decided to distribute. The company says that users won’t be allowed to namesquat the keywords, as it will delete any accounts that are inactive for too long.
For most people, Tagga offers two pricing plans. The first option allows users to create free campaigns, but 80 of the 160 characters on each text messages are reserved for ads from sponsors. The site also offers a paid premium account at 20 cents per message delivered which eliminates the ads.
Tagga also has a plan in place for “publishers”, who can use the service to offer their readers a sort of short form RSS. Publishers can choose to include ads as part of their message campaigns, but unlike the standard program, they receive a revenue share from each ad. To participate, members have to prove that they are actually generating unique content, as opposed to spamming someone else’s blog material.
Tagga has a huge market to try to capitalize on: there were an estimated 1.9 trillion text messages sent in 2007 alone. But the company will face steep competition from a number of more mature services that do nearly the same thing, like Mozes, which recently closed an $11.5 million round of funding. To help differentiate itself, Tagga is offering keywords for free (Mozes charges $5 per month), but this plan may backfire if Tagga is unable to handle the rush of name squatters.
Anyone use it yet? Tell us about your experience?
tried going to the site, but it’s not responding… servers must be overloaded?
http://blabtech.blogspot.com
I will be signing up shortly our new proximity network could use this.
I tried setting one up for TechCrunch, but I never got the confirmation text (they said AT&T should work now, but it doesn’t for me).
My favorite so far:
Text poop To 82442
POOOOOOOOOP!!!
This is the CEO of tagga. We’ve been happily getting crunched and as a result, our server is a bit on the slow side. Thing will improve shortly (sorry we don’t have a fail-whale on hand)
Thanks for your support.
Best,
Amielle
I can’t even get the website to open, stupid server.
I think the stateside equivalent to this is http://textmarks.com — seems nearly identical, yeah? Anyway, glad more people are stepping into this space, running your own SMS shortcode is not something most startups can afford.
Isn’t this almost the same as Snipp? (www.snipp.com) That’s been out for a while hasn’t it?
Congrats Tagga on your launch! We have had an overwhelming amount of interest in our website from Canadian users, so your website should fill a need in the market. Look forward to trying it out! If anyone is looking for a US equivalent, check out http://www.tatango.com We are free (advertising supported) just like tagga and offer a Pro account with allows you to remove the advertising in your text messages for only $29.95/month. If you would like a beta invitation feel free to email me at djohnson@tatango.com
Hello Jason,
After creating a tagg, we do not send confirmation texts. By texting ‘tech’ to 82442, your tagg should be returned to you, even on AT&T. One reason you might not be receiving a response at this point in time is because our servers have now crashed:( We are currently adding capacity and will be back up as soon as possible.
A note to TechCrunch readers, the short code 82442 is not yet active on Verizon, T-Mobile, and Alltel, but is available on all other providers in the USA and Canada.
Thanks,
Chris Richardson
tagga developer
“One reason you might not be receiving a response at this point in time is because our servers have now crashed:(”
“One reason?” You mean there might be others?
It could be the carrier delaying the SMS as well.
Very exciting idea. Smart bands should be all over this to promote new songs by offering free ringtone downloads.
Do free users get any control over what ads are promoted? If you can guarantee the ads are not going to be competitors that would be spectacular. I’m just thinking about risk-averse ad agency types who want to prove the concept by using it free. And proving the concept when you don’t really know how many downloads you’ll be paying 20 cents for might be a bit intimidating.
Hi SAG
Great question.
On the money side - you set up a daily budget in order to manage your spend. Each delivery is valuable to a marketer/advertiser because it means you are communicating to a very targeted audience (i.e. they have requested information). As for the keyword advertising side, it is contextually matched, just like Google Adwords.
If you want to control the entire content then you should go for the paid route. We report back results - so for risk-adverse advertisers there is a very clear cost/benefit analysis.
You really do pay for what you get… you have the ability to talk to your audience instantly when they want to know something about.
Isn’t that exactly what 4INFO has been doing for publishers for a while?
http://www.4info.net/
4info is a cool service, but tagga does differ from them in that it is about user created content while 4info is getting published info to your phone like what Britany Spears is up to
Jenn, have a deeper look at 4INFO’s Open Platform:
http://open.4info.net where you can create your own keywords for your content.
4info has no room for the little guy. They won’t even talk to you unless you’re Yahoo. I suppose they figure only big business can generate revenue.
If you have a domain name, you can use a new service called DOTGO in the US to create your own free text messaging service using your domain name as the SMS keyword at the short codes DOTCOM (368266), DOTEDU (368228), DOTGOV (368468), DOTNET (368638), or DOTORG (368674).
So for example, techcrunch.com can offer a response when people text “techcrunch” to DOTCOM (368266), and slashdot.org can respond when people text “slashdot” to DOTORG (368674).
And the really neat thing is that all 160 characters are completely customizable in minutes only by the owner of the domain name–anyone with a web site need only create a file called “index.cmrl” on their webserver, and the content in the file is immediately available by texting the domain name to DOTCOM (368266). This gives everyone with a web site to immediate way to offer any kind of interactive or subscription-based text messaging service branded to their domain name.
Finally, DOTGO has a beta ad network in place. If you have a domain name and choose to have DOTGO insert ads, you get a cut of the ad-revenue. If you choose to keep your service ad-free, then you can use all 160 characters of your messages through DOTGO for free, ad-free.
Check us out at http://dotgo.com/publishers
Cool offerings. Check out how the big internet companies are including mobile into their strategy… http://www.gothamtechminute.blogspot.com
Great post, thanks for the updated!!!! Keep up the great work!
@SAG
Thanks for the kind words. Users cannot control what ads are appended to their taggs. Ad matching is based on tagg content and keywords. To ensure that competitor ads do not show up, tagg creators will have to spring for the white label message at $0.20 per. Also, users can set budgets on how much they want to spend per day.
@Adrian Pike
There could be other reasons, but the reason is most definitely that our server crashed. Thanks for contributing.
Can’t get to the site
The site is back up now
Tagga: Thrive or Fail[VOTE]? http://snurl.com/37vzk [www_thriveorfail_com]
This kind of service exists here in New Zealand for years. Check http://www.842.co.nz for example (which is one of two I know of).
They offer a free service with a single code and additional plans with more than one word.
Interesting stuff. http://fortumo.com is doing similar thing in Europe and you can even make money with each message (not pay extra to avoid ads). Now someone should put together a worldwide offer like that.
Short Message Service (SMS) Was that so hard to write! I read blogs to learn new things. Please always explain acronyms the first time you use them in EACH article.
… You didn’t know what a SMS is?
No accounting for the community college kids. No wonder google is so particular.
Great article! http://sendible.com is also doing some cool stuff with SMS and Social Network messaging.
@Jenn, et al.
Tagga has a very cool service. I’m excited to see what comes of this service. It’s very similar to 4INFO’s Open Platform service http://open.4info.net, that allows bloggers, and 3rd party developers to create SMS applications based on keywords. 4INFO is not just for Britney Spears content. We have a very rich SMS content and advertising platform.
For example: try texting to 4INFO (44636):
“gasprices 94301″
… you’ll get results for the lowest gas prices in a 10 mile radius of 94301. The gas prices are refreshed daily. This is an example of a mobile search application built by a 3rd party (not 4INFO), which is monetized by our ad network in the SMS response. It’s a bit different than Tagga, in that it’s not a “personal campaign”.
Other examples for 4INFO (44636):
Weather 94301
Gives you the 5-day forecast for Palo Alto.
Taurus
Gives you today’s horoscope for Taurus (like a Tagga keyword campaign).
GOOG
Gives you current stock quotes for Google.
We also have SMS subscription services (Alerts), a web widget platform for SMS, and an ad network…. but that’s off topic.
Cheers,
Jason
Disclaimer: I’m the Director of Software Engineering at 4INFO.
Jason - Not sure if you’ll see this, but if you do, drop me a line, adrian.pike at gmail dot com.
SMS technologies never really picked up… with smart phones, will these services compete?
trying to see the site but there server load very slow
Hey guys…
Congrats on the launch of Tagga….
I have to be honest, when I saw this site I had a case of deja vous as I thought I was looking back at 2005.
Why?
In 2004/ 2005 I had started a service in Winnipeg, Canada (Exact same product and service) as Tagga and but it was called Taggg.ca and our shortcode was 82444.
Unfortunately we didn’t make it. People simply didn’t get it. Since then I have gone on to build a successful content moderation business (icucmoderation.com). (It sure beats having to deal with the carriers, aggregators and people that “didn’t get SMS”
With Tagga launching NOW it shows me that maybe I was to early to the party and maybe people are “getting it.”
I would be happy to talk to the team at Tagga to discuss our key learning’s if you are interested. Drop me a note at keith - at - icucmoderation.com. I would love to chat.
Good Luck guys
Keith
Keith - thank you for the very kind words. Let’s definitely chat. I will ping you over the next day or so.
Best,
Amielle
I don’t understand how this could generate mass appeal, not many people would want to start their own campaigns manly because it’s more geared towards business rather than personal use.
You can send free SMS on http://sms.exploreneedy.com/
Enjoy this free service.. no need to login/register…
http://sms.exploreneedy.com/
It is same as SMS Gupshup in India .
http://www.smsgupshup.com
See my group iTECHNOHOLIC (search this goup in the search bar.)
This has also been around for a while:
http://www.textmarks.com/
kookoo beat me to the punch. 4INFO’s been running their publishing platform for a couple of years now. If you don’t mind their ads, you can publish your content via text for free.
Sorry guys, but I have to say that I don’t think we will be seeing you in a few years time with that business model. It just doesn’t work.
I suspect that the reason for this company is as follows:
1. lets do something in a hot sector
2. lets try to build up lots of people
3. lets pretend that advertisers will be interested in it so that we can do show financial models with lots of zeros
4. lets convince some naive company to buy us
5. lets pocket the money and leave the company to inevitably fold
Forgive me if Tagga aren’t like this, but many many companies are, which is a shame.
Hi Luke,
Thanks for your comments.
1. You are absolutely right, mobile market is hot. People want to be mobile and are heading more and more that way. We are a platform that will help with that. Our platform is free, less fancy, but available to everyone.
2. We launched yesterday and were a bit of a victim of the results of our marketing success. We generated some incredible results and people are using tagga.com for all kinds of different reasons. Publishers are rushing to sign up as well.
3. Tagga.com is the result of focused engineering and useability. We have an exciting pipeline of features and tools that we will be unleashing over our Beta status.
4. We have paying customers too.
Why not sign up for our company newsletter to see if your theory really hold true? Also, make sure to grab your tagg title and use it before someone else does. Best of luck to your business – and to all mobile ad/app companies. It’s a big market out there and may the best one succeed.
Thanks.
Amielle
Techcrunch.com brought me here with a perfect article. But the web it mentioned is not responding fast.May be the web site owners should have prepared to have a situation like this when they open as beta and informed to Tech crunch about it. Anyway we will check it after one week.
http://tagga.com/t/server-problems-fixed/
TextMarks http://www.textmarks.com/ has a similar service that has been around longer and I really like using it.
I have tried both. Really like the simplicity of Tagga.
Send FREE International MMS and Text Messages to mobile phones from a computer. Use:
http://smsfree4all.com/
I tried set up one Tagga Account , but I never got the confirmation text yet. What to do?
Hey Ajay,
I think we solved this problem via tagga support, right? Our provider in India wasn’t routing to your number correctly, but they swiftly solved the problem.