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Emap clients will be able to tap into the potential of WAP

advertising following a deal between Emap Online and Ericsson.

The publisher and the mobile phone manufacturer have forged an alliance

allowing Emap Online to bring some of its most successful websites -

including BargainHolidays.com - to WAP mobile phones.

The deal will give Emap advertisers access to a range of potential WAP

deals, including sponsorship, text messages and competitions. Emap

Online’s existing team will handle sales.

BargainHolidays will be the first service offered to mobile phone users,

providing access to flight and holiday information. Aloud.com, which

enables users to purchase tickets for live music events and festivals,

and 1Ski.com, which provides ski reports, will quickly follow.

Emap Online marketing manager Andrew Turner said: ’Our vision has always

been to maximise the potential of digital media. Our experience with

mobile technology means we are able to take full advantage of what WAP

has to offer.’

Turner admitted that, as an advertising medium, WAP was still relatively

unsophisticated, but stressed that clients could look at creative

options.

’Advertisers could look at options such as sponsoring icons or even the

ringing tone - for instance, it could play the ’Always Coca-Cola’

theme.’

Justin Chamberlain, head of corporate ventures at Ericsson, said WAP

provided ’an extremely powerful information service’.