To complement its recently launched e-zine ad delivery service, ISP interQ has created a new firm that will enable advertisers to insert brief ads into personal e-mail messages sent by registered users.

In return for allowing an advertisement to be placed in their messages, service users will receive payment in the form of "points" that can be redeemed for a variety of prizes.

interQ established the e-mail ad distribution company -- ClickMail -- as a joint venture with the developer of ad insertion system ALAN Corp. (Accurate Linkages for Advanced Needs).

To participate, users register with ClickMail and then download and install specialized software on their PC, which automatically routes the messages through ClickMail's SMTP server, where an advertisement is inserted before each message is sent on to the addressee.

Options available to users of the service include selecting the type of ads and not having ads inserted in messages sent to specified addressees.

Each advertisement, placed in the header portion of a message, is typically two lines of text of up to 37 Japanese characters with a clickable URL. ClickMail also inserts its own brief spot as a message footer.

ClickMail said that users will earn points which can be redeemed for prizes, gift certificates, or deductions from their interQ monthly access charges.

ClickMail said that a maximum number of ad insertions per account can be set to prevent misuse of the service.

interQ has set a target of at least 1 million registered ClickMail users and 30 million messages sent within the first year.

According to interQ president Masatoshi Kumagai, ClickMail is just one of a number of new service offerings aimed at helping the company shed its image of being "only an ISP."

Recently, interQ joined with two Kyoto-based firms to establish e-mail magazine ad distribution company MagClick, and has acquired the domestic and foreign patents and patent applications pertaining to Hyper System, an advertising-based free Internet access system developed by a now-bankrupt Japanese ISP.