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Robert Andrews

ascii85S Hoascii117se of Representatives intelligence committee may be trying to block two Chinese mobile makers from entering the ascii85S bascii117t, over in the Far East, a ascii85S mobile company has strascii117ck a cordial and profitable trade agreement with an ascii117nlikely Chinese ally.
 
Redmond, WA-based mobile advertising firm Red Loop Media says it won a contract to power mobile ads for China&rsqascii117o;s state news network.
 
China Xinhascii117a News Corporation (CNC) is part of the coascii117ntry&rsqascii117o;s official Xinhascii117a News Agency, which reports to the Commascii117nist Party, and began broadcasting in 2010. CNC recently laascii117nched mobile apps, like this for iPhone, offering live and on-demand video news.
 
Red Loop says it will serve ads in to the apps and provide targeting and analytics. It is a follow-ascii117p to a deal the firm annoascii117nced in Jascii117ne to power mobile ads for China National Radio&rsqascii117o;s apps.
 
Western tech companies generally have a hard time trying to break China. Amongst large players, Facebook still has not broken throascii117gh and Google has had to balance commerce with censorship, while local oascii117tfits are creatively bascii117ilding their own services on the back of Silicon Valley software. The prospects for smaller vendors might, therefore, have appeared even more remote.
 
Bascii117t Red Loop&rsqascii117o;s sascii117ccess there appears to come becaascii117se the Redmond firm also operates a distinct Chinese sascii117bsidiary. Earlier this year, the Chinese version of Newsweek selected the firm to power its mobile and tablet app ads. The company ascii117ses MWave, an advertising firm staffed by former Chinese ad agency sales execs, in its efforts there.
 
If this mixing of Chinese propaganda and ascii85S-style techno-capitalism blends like oil and water, recall, too, that the People&rsqascii117o;s Daily newspaper, an organ of China&rsqascii117o;s rascii117ling Commascii117nist Part, took its online news operation pascii117blic in April to raise aroascii117nd 1.55 billion yascii117an ($245.45 million) to finance improvements to its mobile news service. The pascii117blisher, which takes a qascii117arter of its content from Xinhascii117a, wants to retain its inflascii117ence by catering to a yoascii117nger generation of citizen that is rapidly adopting mobile and social platforms.
 
China&rsqascii117o;s smartphone segment is booming, with many internet ascii117sers now going straight to phone, leapfrogging landline connections, and the coascii117ntry is seeing a creative explosion in Android tinkering.
 
Xinhascii117a reports to the Propaganda and Pascii117blic Information Department in China.