BURLINGAME, Calif., July 9, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Mobile entertainment company Limbo(tm) today announces a new service, the Limbo Loot(tm) Network, to help media companies and carriers continue lucrative premium SMS sweepstakes programs made popular by hit television programs from NBC, ABC, Fox and others. Limbo's patent-pending system awards loyalty points (called Loot(tm)) each time a premium SMS entry is made in a sweepstakes and provides an online store where Loot can be redeemed for a variety of products and services. The Loot provides value commensurate with the cost of the premium SMS and hence helps satisfy the legal requirements of a sweepstakes.
"Premium SMS sweepstakes represent an estimated $3 million per week (Telephia, June 2007) in revenue for major media companies. However, the future of these programs is under threat due to concerns that they may be legally classified as gambling, not sweepstakes," said Rob Lawson, president of Limbo. "The patent-pending Limbo Loot Network can allow media companies, SMS aggregators and carriers to offer premium SMS sweepstakes, and continue to grow this valuable source of revenue and consumer interaction."
Premium SMS sweepstakes, through which customers enter a contest through text messaging on their mobile phones and are charged a premium -- typically $0.99 -- above the standard text-messaging rate, have become an integral part of media programming in the United States in recent years. Reality and game show TV formats such as Deal or No Deal, American Idol and The Apprentice have made such promotions a substantial revenue generator for media companies and mobile operators. However, concerns that these promotions may be legally classified as gambling have resulted in class action suits in Georgia (February 2007) against The Apprentice, and in California and Massachusetts (May 2007) against Deal or No Deal, American Idol and 1 vs 100.
"The Limbo Loot program provides real value to the sweeps participants, which makes them more fun and rewarding, and has proven to increase retention, during previous television campaigns, on average up to 28%," said Lawson. "Limbo has been awarding consumers Loot for over a year, and has already issued over 150 million Loot."
The Limbo Loot Network can be integrated into any premium SMS program, does not require switching from any existing mobile aggregation service, and takes less than one week to implement. Limbo charges a set fee for each Loot awarded. For more information, email lootnetwork@limbo.com.
About Limbo
Limbo (www.limbo.com) is defining a new category of web and mobile entertainment with its patent-pending interactive services. The award-winning company headquartered in Burlingame, California, Limbo is a private corporation backed by three of the world's top venture capital funds: Azure Capital Partners (www.azurecap.com), Draper Fisher Jurvetson (www.dfj.com), and New Enterprises Associates (www.nea.com).
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