Microsoft teams up with JiWire to deliver Wi-Fi ads

As part of its plan to earn more revenue from online advertising, Microsoft is teaming with a San Francisco-based provider of mobile broadband advertising to deliver advertising to users of municipal Wi-Fi networks.

Microsoft and JiWire have struck a deal to deliver advertising combined with location-based content from Microsoft’s MSN portal on one metropolitan area Wi-Fi network that is currently deployed and another in the late stages of development, and the companies have plans to expand to more networks in the works for the future, said David Blumenfeld, vice president of marketing at JiWire.

The advertising will come in several ways, but the most evident will be an MSN-based page users in Portland, Oregon, and areas outside of Detroit will see after logging in to Wi-Fi networks delivered by MetroFi and MichTel Communications respectively, Blumenfeld said. The MetroFi network in Portland currently has 13,000 monthly users, and the MichTel network in Oakland County, Michigan, once deployed, will be the largest in the U.S., covering 910 square miles and serving 1.2 million people, according to JiWire.

In addition to MetroFi and MichTel, JiWire partners with about 18 other network operators that provide wireless broadband to hotels, airports, cafes, and the like, he said.

Microsoft and JiWire also will explore other ways to deliver advertising, such as delivering what are called “ultramercials,” or ads that users watch before logging in to a Wi-Fi network so they can use the network for free, Blumenfeld said. JiWire also has an advertising appliance that runs on the network and allows network operators to deliver ads throughout a Wi-Fi user’s session, and Microsoft has the opportunity to sell and deliver ads to networks in this way as well, he added.

Though the exact terms of the Microsoft-JiWire deal are not being disclosed, Blumenfeld said it is a nonexclusive, ad-revenue sharing deal and is a multimillion-dollar opportunity for both companies.