U.S. Consumer Best Practices for Mobile Marketing Services.

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) released version 3.4 of its Consumer Best Practices (CBP) Guidelines for Cross-Carrier Mobile Content Services in the U.S. Updated twice annually, the guidelines have become the de facto standard for cross-carrier mobile content services, including text messaging, multi-media messaging, shortcode programs, mobile web and more.

The Consumer Best Practices document received updates to several topics, including the following:

* Clarification of Terms & Conditions specifically for Web Print/Video
* Clarification of each carrier’s “Standard Rates May Apply” language
* Removing triple opt-in from premium IVR program
* Clarification on Alcohol & Tobacco marketing guidelines
* Adding new section providing update on MMS interoperability

“As a cornerstone of the MMA’s activity in the United States, the Consumers Best Practices Guidelines help simplify mobile marketing,” said Laura Marriott, president of the MMA. “All players in the ecosystem support the CBP, and as such, they have become the US standard to help ensure industry profitability and consumer protection.”

“The Mobile Marketing Association strives to align its members and industry stakeholders with consumers needs and wants, making the Consumer Best Practices the most important document for the mobile marketing industry,” said Dave Oberholzer, co-Chair MMA Consumer Best Practices Committee and VP, Corporate Development at Limbo. “As this industry continues its evolution, the MMA will continue to ensure that the Consumer Best Practices document remains focused on both consumer protection and growing the industry.”

The MMA Consumer Best Practices Guidelines Committee’s mission is to develop guidelines which provide measures of acceptable practices for all players in the United States ecosystem. The committee is comprised of the following member companies: Alltel Wireless, AT&T Mobility, Bango, Buongiorno, Cellfish Media LLC, Chapell & Associates, denuo Group (a Publicis Company), Jamster, Lavalife Mobile, Limbo Inc., mBlox, Inc., MTV Networks, MX Telecom, Neustar, Inc., Nokia Corporation, OpenMarket, Qmobile Inc., SinglePoint, Single Touch Interactive, Inc., Sprint-Nextel, Sybase 365, T-Mobile USA, Telescope, Inc., The Walt Disney Company, Thumbplay, Twistbox, Inc., VeriSign, Inc. and Verizon Wireless.

The CBP sub-committees also help facilitate the rapid development of the guidelines to ensure the MMA stays at the forefront of industry development and self-regulation. These sub-committees include: Participation TV, Interactive Voice Response, Marketing to Children and Mobile Web.

The guidelines available for download at http://www.mmaglobal.com/bestpractices.pdf>