some of the millions of IM users. Still, none of the big consumer marketers that target teens have jumped on the IM bandwagon yet.
Activebuddy, a New York company that developed a successful IM bot, or online robot, for the rock group Radiohead, recently persuaded Sprint's long-distance telephone division to sponsor a forthcoming baseball promotion that would enable IM users to quickly inquire about game scores and player stats. Of course, the responses would come with a link to a Sprint long-distance offer. The campaign, called "Agent Baseball," is already in beta testing and should launch in a few weeks, just in time for the pennant race.
"Advertisers are starting to come to us now," says Activebuddy CEO Peter Levitan. "This medium is getting close." One reason: While many Internet users still use dial-up connections - a difficult way to transmit big ads with rich media - IM works instantly, regardless of the connection speed.
