The name “Bango”

There was an article in industry newsletter Unstrung.com poking fun at the name “Bango” – along with our friends Twango and Thumbplay.

Just to set the record straight, here is the derivation of the name Bango:

“Bango” means “number” in Japanese. At the heart of the “Bango system” which was invented in 1999 is the idea that any piece of content is given a unique “Bango Number”. It is then used as a key to collect money (Premium content), spread it virally (via WAP.com), provide quick and easy access (Direct entry) or to track traffic.

Also, the symbol for a “Bango Number” is ! number so !729 or !987654321 and ! is called “bang” in the USA.

So, there you have it. Bango was initially called Bango.net because the “bango.com” was owned by Treesa Bangs, the lead singer in Christian Rock band “Bango”. Bango.net Limited bought the domain name from her in 2003 and changed its name to Bango.
So, there you have it – totally logical…..

So, although it sounds rather like “Bang and Go”, the name is logical…