Mippin, the startup which converts RSS feeds for easier reading on mobiles, is launching a “new” feature it calls the Mippin Mobilizer. This allows bloggers to create a mobile version of their site which automatically optimised for any mobile phone with a web browser. This is useful – there are over 2000 different handsets out there and they all render web site differently (maybe except the iPhone). Mippin’s business model is to cut revenue share deals with publishers by inserting ads into the feeds it runs. Mippin has signed up a bunch of clients including Incisive Media (including Gizmodo, VNUNet), UK blog network Shiny Media (including TechDigest, Shiny Shiny), the BBC, The New York Times and T3 magazine. Here’s a video explaning how it works.
But – although the Mobilizer is a new new interface onto their application, wasn’t this what they were supposed to be doing anyway?
It’s slightly hard to see what is new here other than a broader ability for sites to add feeds. It recently brought on VC Judy Gibbons as CEO – a move which slightly bemused the market, and cast doubts on whether Mippin ‘had legs’ moving forward. So the jury is out on whether this feature will be enough to supercharge the service – but aiming at web sites that need to go mobile easily is a good move at least.
Bloody ripoff of moFuse.
London M. – moFuse was not a new idea – personally i prefer mippin (much slicker).
Mofuse is better. It works for a start and it’s much more flexible and tweakable. I just built a quick website to see how Mippin has progressed and it’s not great news. The logo upload doesn’t seem to work, and the stats are giving me page counts for Jan 08! Even though I just created the site 5 minutes ago! Plus with Mofuse I can get revenue from Google as well as AdMob.
marcus
@mike – you are right that this is based on what we were doing anyway. The Mippin Mobilizer is a progression out of beta of the Mippin Maker. We felt it worth the release as we had added a number of features (e.g video audio support) and some previous features (e.g. iPhone support) had really not been appreciated or picked up. We think the Mippin Mobilizer is a great solution which is an advance on both where we were and what is available in the market: take any RSS feed and reach a global mobile audience in minutes through a compelling UI.
@marcus – i’ll look into your issues. Re: Google vs AdMob. We’ll add Google too soon. AdMob returns better rates right now. And please appreciate that Mippin takes no revenue share from this relationship you have with the ad provider which is currently unique.
it look like very good feature on phone