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 […]
Although the performance-based pay-per-call model is not new, there is renewed interest from publishers due to the ubiquity of mobile and new experimentation in ad formats. Twitter last week, for instance, revealed plans to serve direct-response marketers through beta tests with brands for click-to-call functionality, as first reported by Digiday. At its most basic, the […]
Mobile analytics firm Kontagent has rebranded itself with a new name – Upsight – through its merger with mobile monetization platform PlayHaven, the companies said Monday. The rebranding comes a month after Kontagent and its competitor, HasOffers, were booted out of Facebook’s Mobile Measurement Program (MMP). Upsight also launched a new mobile analytics platform that shares the […]
Media agency MediaCom launched a partnership with mobile ad creation and analytics platform Celtra on Wednesday, a year after the two began working together. The two companies hope to develop solutions that simplify the management, observation and delivery of mobile advertising. Traditionally, these steps required clients to work with individual publishers and multiple tools. In […]
Despite Bitcoin’s volatility, businesses are beginning to experiment with the peer-to-peer payment system. One such company is Vungle, which helps mobile app publishers promote through 15-second in-app video trailers distributed through its ad platform. Vungle said Thursday it’s giving publishers the option to be paid in bitcoins, though its advertising clients cannot pay with the digital […]
Kargo, a mobile ad platform, has undergone several transformations and is about to make another one. Following the 2001 dot-com crash, Kargo pivoted from providing wireless operators with software and services to helping media brands launch mobile ad campaigns. The New York City company now has a client roster that includes CBS, Univision, Meredith and […]
RelayRides knows that mobile devices are an essential channel for reaching new and current customers. The San Francisco-based car-sharing service lets private car owners rent out their vehicles. It serves more than 1,900 US cities including 270 airports, connecting drivers with car owners who post photos and information about their vehicle on RelayRides’ website. When […]
Even as the cost of acquiring a new app user grows, mobile app analytics firm Fiksu has noted major fluctuations between gaming apps and general apps, as well as iOS vs. Android apps. According to Fiksu’s new Cost Per Install (CPI) Index, which measures the cost per app install attributed to advertising, the CPI Index […]
What is the cost of acquiring a loyal app user? Based on the testimonial of various industry insiders, the price is rising so quickly ad revenue can’t keep up. As such, app developers are looking for new ways to profit, often by developing ad tech. Gartner predicts mobile ad spend will reach $18 billion this […]
Solutions that analyze various data points such as device types, location data from an ad request, operating systems and other data to evaluate matches between users and devices are gaining traction. For instance, AdMobius, which offers probabilistic solutions, is rumored to be an acquisition target. But pinning down the accuracy rate of probabilistic solutions continues […]
Mobile demand-side platform (DSP) Tapad has hired Ben Regensburger, the former president of the DoubleClick ad exchange in EMEA and APAC before its acquisition by Google. Regensburger will serve as president of Tapad Europe. He joins Jim Clark, formerly of Turn, whom Tapad brought on this month to lead media and programmatic ad sales, as well […]
OpenX Technologies on Wednesday rolled out a mobile native ad exchange called Native O/X. The “native” ad formats include in-stream display, rich media and video ad units that are inserted into an app’s content. OpenX’s launch partners for the exchange include IconApps, Tagged, Run, Mediasmart and Celtra. Presenting ads in a format that matches the […]
Zumobi, a Seattle-based mobile media and advertising technology company that supplies integrated app content to brands and publishers, launched Wednesday the Zumobi Brand Integration Platform for Marketers. Zumobi operates premium mobile app network The Zumobi Network and has worked with publishing partners like Hearst Digital Media and MSN to monetize its mobile apps through its […]
Enterprise software provider Oracle moved further into targeted advertising by acquiring BlueKai, a third-party data provider and data management platform (DMP). Analysts and vendors differ however, on the mobile advertising implications behind the acquisition. Bluekai’s technology will be combined with Oracle’s Responsys application, which is geared toward B2C marketing campaigns, as well as Eloqua, which […]
Apple startled advertisers and the mobile app community earlier this month when it rejected several apps from the Apps Store for deriving data from the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) without serving ads. It is unclear whether Apple will continue to restrict certain uses of the IDFA, but advertisers are already looking for alternative solutions. AdExchanger […]
Competitors are jockeying to capture customers from HasOffers and Kontagent in the wake of Facebook’s decision to drop the two companies from its mobile measurement partner (MMP) program. HasOffers is the larger of the two MMPs shown the door last week for violating Facebook’s data policies. It has some very large app customers representing significant […]
Millennial Media is at a crossroads. With a new CEO and recent acquisition, the Baltimore company has made several moves to strengthen its position in the mobile advertising space and speculation over its next move is growing among industry insiders. Last month, Millennial tapped ad tech veteran Michael Barrett to replace founding CEO Paul Palmieri, […]
Mobile advertising firm Amobee launched Wednesday a platform update, Amobee LTV (an acronym for “Lifetime Value”), designed to provide app publishers and advertisers insights into who their users are and how they’re using the apps. The release follows Apple’s rejection of apps that derive data from the Identifier For Advertisers (IDFA) without serving ads, a […]
For a mobile ad startup, getting kicked off Facebook’s platform is pretty much the worst-case scenario. As reported by AdExchanger last week, this nightmare recently became reality for two companies, HasOffers and Kontagent, who were found to have violated data collection policies and were removed from Facebook’s mobile measurement partner (MMP) program. The rejection of […]
Many app developers and ad tech vendors received a jolt recently when Apple began rejecting some apps that retrieve a user’s Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) without serving an ad. Apple’s decision was especially surprising, since the device manufacturer had allowed that activity for nearly two years. Regardless of Apple’s motivations for this change (the company did […]
Combined year-end results from four ad tech companies show that rich media, location-based targeting and increasing brand spend drove expansion in the mobile real-time bidding (RTB) space for the previous quarter. Global bid responses for both mobile Web and app inventory continue to grow, according to mobile RTB ad exchange Smaato. Based on activity across […]
The advertising industry has been wrestling with what exactly constitutes ad viewability. Trade organizations like the the Media Rating Council (MRC), among others, are working to develop and refine guidelines on this issue. The MRC in particular has approved several viewability measurement solutions. Only a handful of vendors have been approved so far, such as […]
Yahoo and mobile ad-serving platform Mocean Mobile jointly announced Tuesday the launch of the Mocean Mobile Marketplace. Mocean Mobile brings mobile inventory from publishers such as Nokia and Univision to Yahoo’s Ad Exchange. Publishers in return can access Yahoo’s ad-targeting capabilities and other services. The Mocean-Yahoo partnership comes one week after Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer […]
Ad exchange OpenX and the mobile ad network Airpush launched a mobile private exchange AirX on Monday. AirX combines OpenX’s real-time bidding (RTB) exchange with Airpush’s ad network. Approved advertisers receive a first look at the inventory of more than 120,000 Android apps, said Seth Socolow, SVP for strategic partnerships at Airpush. “One of the […]
Mobile app developers rarely use traditional paid media to advertise their products. That might change, according to the mobile advertising firm Motility Ads, which is helping app publishers like King.com, Wooga and SGN create TV commercials to promote their games and drive downloads. AdExchanger spoke with VP of business development Josh Rinsky about the company’s […]
Although Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer emphasized the importance of mobile advertising to the company’s growth during Tuesday’s earnings call, she acknowledged that Yahoo’s mobile ad revenue has yet to become a significant portion of the company’s total revenue, which could greatly hamper the company’s future profits. The company’s mobile revenue “is still not material,” Mayer […]
Despite investor Carl Icahn’s proposal to spin PayPal off from its parent company, eBay announced plans to allocate “a disproportionate share” of investments to PayPal in 2014, focusing on developing PayPal “ubiquity,” mobile and connections between online and offline commerce. Together, eBay and PayPal create “mutually reinforcing network effects,” eBay CEO John Donahoe declared during […]
Yesterday, mobile ad network Millennial Media announced the hire of industry – and programmatic-media – veteran Michael Barrett as its new CEO. As Barrett told AdExchanger’s Judith Aquino yesterday, “Buying programmatically is certainly a big interest with a lot of our advertisers, publishers and developing partners, and we’ll continue going down that path. [But] Millennial is also […]
Although analysts and industry insiders have predicted the death of the QR code in recent years, Mike Wehrs, CEO of mobile barcode company Scanbuy, hopes data aggregation will extend the usefulness of 2D barcodes. Founded in 2000, Scanbuy’s customers include companies like Nespresso, Starbucks, Coca-Cola, Panasonic, Staples and Home Depot, which use Scanbuy’s platform to […]
Michael Barrett, the former CRO of Yahoo and CEO of AdMeld, which was acquired by Google in 2011, has joined Millennial Media as its new CEO. Co-founder and CEO Paul Palmieri will depart and join venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. In the press release (see it), Michael Barrett said: “I am honored and thrilled […]
