Mobile ad network Millennial Media revealed during its Q1 earnings call Wednesday that although quarterly revenue is up, the company continues to bleed money and CFO Michael Avon is stepping down. As a result of its dismal report, the company’s shares tumbled 45% in after hours trading, hovering in the $3 range. While Millennial Media reported $72.6 […]
Marketing attribution and device fragmentation continue to prevent advertisers from further investing in mobile advertising, said MasterCard and Chrysler executives in a panel discussion at the Mobile Marketing Association’s New York Forum on Tuesday. Bob Arnold, digital strategy and media lead of North America at Google, moderated a discussion with Benjamin Jankowski, group head of […]
Video search engine Blinkx has acquired Lyfe Mobile, a 3-year-old startup that delivers targeted ads based on geographic data and other location-based analytics, in an all-cash transaction, the companies said Tuesday. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Lyfe Mobile offers audience-targeting features using GPS data combined with other data points such as weather, traffic and population […]
Audio advertisements have been largely one-sided: The advertiser speaks and consumers listen. Startup Xapp Media wants to change that with interactive audio ads. Through an SDK, Xapp Media enables brands to create voice-activated ads that mobile users can respond to with commands like “call now” or “send coupon.” NPR was the first publisher to try […]
Deep-linking technology, which routes users to a specific page rather than a main landing page, is quickly gaining traction in the mobile app landscape. But as this technology catches on – Facebook, Google, Twitter, Apple and a slew of startups are pushing the technology to publishers who are readily experimenting with it – it’s becoming […]
Mobile advertising platform Opera Mediaworks has acquired Apprupt, a German mobile advertising service provider. The move was billed as allowing Opera Mediaworks greater access to Germany’s mobile ad market, which the company said it expected to reach $1.8 billion by 2017. “If you look at global ad spend . . . Germany is a top […]
Facebook is widely expected to launch a mobile ad network at its f8 developer conference on Wednesday. The new product will be called Facebook Audience Network, as TechCrunch has noted. Facebook’s mobile ads have been very successful, and they now represent nearly 60% of the company’s ad revenue. Introducing a mobile ad network that allows […]
The best marketing and advertising campaigns offer consistent content, optimized across devices. This might sound simple but, according to a number of media executives Tuesday at Tapad Unify Tech in New York, it’s easier said than done. Nevertheless, customers have certain expectations around consistency and optimization. According to “Tapad’s Path To Purchase Consumer Study,” a […]
It seems everyone and their mothers are pushing native ad units and tools to support them. Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo and most recently AOL all have native, in-feed ad units. As these formats catch on, ad tech companies like Sharethrough, Nativo and DistroScale have developed tools designed to automate ad distribution across different publishers’ sites while matching […]
RockYou is clawing its way back. The 8-year-old company, which once produced social games, was one of the first MySpace and Facebook third-party app developers until it suffered a major data breach five years ago that exposed unencrypted user account data of more than 32 million users. That wasn’t RockYou’s only struggle. The company couldn’t […]
Mobile app monetization company Vungle on Friday rolled out an advertising exchange designed specifically for in-app video. Dubbed the “Vungle Exchange,” the technology solves a number of technical challenges associated with in-app video, namely support for HD, high-bitrate, 15-second video ads, improved latency to speed up load times and the connection to server-side technology for […]
AOL introduced its own native ad unit for the mobile Web and apps on Thursday. The ads include an image and text that is inserted in between content on the publisher’s site or app. “Before, if advertisers wanted to work with seven different publishers, they’d have to customize their creative and specs with each one, […]
Facebook’s unveiling last week of a mobile feature called Nearby Friends, through which it might enable location-targeted ads, places the company in a highly competitive segment of tech vendors offering similar products. The company that will develop the best location-targeted ad product, however, is the one that will couple it with the most relevant consumer […]
First Facebook, then Twitter and now Google. The search giant unveiled plans Tuesday to offer app install ads on mobile search and YouTube (where they’ll be presented like TrueView ads), similar to the units that have been a cash cow for Facebook. The company said it plans to launch this new product over the next […]
The native ad company Sharethrough expanded its services nearly three years ago from a purely video ad platform to multiple types of branded content. The move to include additional branded content has paid off. The company raised $17 million in a third round of funding in January. It also released a new SDK in early April […]
Rovio, the creator of the “Angry Birds” mobile game franchise, was one of the first companies to explode in the mobile gaming space. Mobile gamers are fickle, though, and the company has expanded into a multimedia enterprise in addition to growing its advertising business. AdExchanger spoke with Michele Tobin, VP of global brand partnerships and […]
Despite a surge in programmatic buying for mobile ads, a recent Forrester report cautions that challenges unique to mobile advertising make direct sales away from open marketplaces the preferred buying method for the foreseeable future. Based on interviews with 21 industry executives, mobile marketing analyst Jennifer Wise wrote in her report – “Mobile Advertising: It’s Time to […]
Mobclix, the mobile ad exchange that was acquired and subsequently sold by the troubled mobile marketing agency Velti, re-emerged Tuesday as Axonix. GSO Capital Partners, a division of Blackstone, bought Velti’s US, British and Indian mobile marketing divisions (including Mobclix) in November last year. Axonix will officially launch next month in a partnership with Telefonica, […]
Who will win the mobile race – native or Web apps? Mobile game publisher and distributor TreSensa is betting on the latter. The New York City-based startup, which is behind games like Mad Cab and Scooby-Doo and the Race to WrestleMania, raised $2 million last month, bringing its funding total to $3.5 million. Its clients include […]
Apple has given its tacit approval for the use of its Identifier for Advertising (IDFA) to attribute app installs and post-install actions. The development, welcomed by app marketers and their ad partners, comes two months after Apple spread fear in the app ecosystem by rejecting some apps that didn’t adhere to a narrow ad serving […]
Despite the growth of mobile real-time bidding (RTB) platforms, some publishers remain skeptical about the benefits of this technology, as they are fearful of cannibalizing inventory and driving down auction rates. The mobile ad platform TapSense, which offers a private mobile RTB marketplace, is tackling this challenge by making a deal with publishers. “We want […]
Facebook is increasingly focused on connecting audiences across screens and channels, and helping clients measure those results. Graham Mudd, the company’s director of advertising measurement for North America, described aspects of the company’s approach to AdExchanger at the IAB’s Mobile Marketplace conference. “We believe the future of marketing is being able to find specific consumers […]
Like their US counterparts, mobile startups in China and India are urging app developers to embrace mobile real-time bidding (RTB). Two such companies, AppFlood and Vserv.mobi, both launched RTB platforms on Tuesday. China-based mobile ad network AppFlood launched a mobile RTB ad exchange and demand-side platform (DSP) designed to serve publishers and advertisers across the […]
As consumer apps companies ramp up efforts in geo-targeted ads and hyper-local search, Foursquare has responded by turning check-in data into marketing services opportunities. Following a February announcement that Microsoft would invest $15 million in the location-savvy startup after its $35 million Series D in December, Foursquare’s revenue stream – and data reach – may get […]
Mobile ad platform 4INFO ties mobile ad campaigns to offline conversion rates by matching offline consumer data with mobile devices on a household level. Founded in 2004, the company started out as a SMS publishing company but pivoted to mobile advertising in 2010. Its client roster includes Macy’s, Target, Kraft, Campbell’s, Walmart and Southwest Airlines. […]
Location data is a key component of many mobile ad strategies, but more is needed to make the ads relevant. Sportswear company Columbia wanted to reach people who were likely to be interested in its Omni-Heat jackets, but it knew that serving ads in cold climates wasn’t enough. Through the ad agency BSSP, Columbia tapped […]
Delivering retargeted ads to mobile users is a challenging practice. Marketers must decide whether the same consumer browsed through multiple mobile sites and apps, then evaluate the extent to which they can serve relevant ads without appearing creepy. Retargeting firm MyThings believes it has found a solution through a combination of probabilistic technology and various […]
Mobile ad startups take note: Opera Mediaworks is revving up its acquisition engine. Spun out from the Norwegian browser company Opera Software last year, Opera Mediaworks is made up of companies such as AdMarvel, Mobile Theory, 4th Screen Advertising and Handster. After integrating its various services into one suite, the company’s next goal is to […]
Mobile app retargeting firm ActionX is the latest company with a solution to help retailers target consumers across screens. ActionX’s Crossfire technology uses a set of pixels on a retailer’s app or website to track customers logged in to the site across a mobile device and desktop PC. “[Customers] roll up their cross-screen data and […]
Facebook and Google have emerged as the front-runners in the race to capture mobile ad dollars, with Google leading the charge. Facebook’s efforts to extend its mobile reach and rapid growth has made it a strong contender for first place, but can the behemoth social network overtake Google’s hold on mobile advertising? It is difficult […]
