Posts Tagged ‘mobile advertising’
How lucrative are iPhone ads? MobilityWare made $300K in June
There has been some debate about whether developers can make serious cash from the advertising in their iPhone applications. In fact, Steve Jobs suggested that Apple created its iAd program as a way to address the lack of lucrative, high-quality ad programs.
However, iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad developer MobilityWare said it’s doing just fine with startup Greystripe’s mobile ad network. Specifically, the company said that in June, it made $298,308 across its 17 applications, including Word Warp, Solitaire, and Blackjack.
I’m guessing that’s on the high side for both companies, especially Greystripe (why highlight it otherwise?), but it’s still a sign that with enough hits, advertising can bring in real revenue. If MobilityWare can make that much every month, it would make around $3.6 million this year. That’s comparable, for example, to what popular app developer Smule made from its paid apps in 2009.
Speaking of iAds, Greystripe recently piggybacked on reports that some advertisers are unhappy with the slow iAd creation process by promising a five-day turnaround for rich media ads, compared to the eight to 10 weeks reported with Apple.
Greystripe has raised $17.6 million in four rounds of funding, most recently $2 million from Peacock Equity. It currently serves ads in more than 2,500 applications.
[image via Flickr/stopnlook]
Companies: Apple, Greystripe, MobilityWare
Apple closes down Quattro advertising network
Updated with comment from other ad networks
Quattro Wireless, the ad network acquired by Apple earlier this year, announced today that it’s winding down its existence as an independent network to focus on Apple’s iAd program.
Apple chief executive Steve Jobs has said he doesn’t see advertising as a big moneymaker for Apple on its own, but rather as a way to support the iPhone and iPad:
We want to help our developers make some money so that they can keep providing free or really low-cost apps to customers. That’s why we’re doing it. We’re not going to make much money in the ad business.
So from that perspective, the move isn’t too surprising. Quattro’s value to Apple is as an enabler for iAds, not as a standalone network.
Business Insider broke the news after receiving a copy of a letter that Quattro sent to network participants. The company has posted a similar note on its website. It says, in part:
We believe iAd is the best mobile ad network in the world, and starting next month we’re going to focus all of our resources on the iAd advertising platform. We are no longer accepting new campaigns for the Quattro Wireless Network, and we will soon begin winding down existing campaigns. As of September 30, we will support ads exclusively for the iAd Network.
Meanwhile, the iAd program is underway, but there are rumors that some advertisers are unhappy that the process is so slow. In fact, a competing ad network, Greystripe, is trying to capitalize on the delays by promising a five-day turnaround for rich media ads, compared to a rumored eight to 10 weeks for iAds.
And it looks like other phone makers want to follow Apple’s lead into advertising. BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion is shopping for a network, and has held talks with Millenial Media, according to the Wall Street Journal. (Google also purchased mobile ad network AdMob. But the model is different for Google since revenue comes from ads, not from the sale of devices using its Android operating system.)
Update: I spoke to Paran Johar, chief marketing officer at ad network Jumptap, about the news. Johar said the move has likely been in the works for a while, and that Quattro’s wind-down has contributed to a growth in advertising on Jumptap. The Apple iAd focus on premium advertising was always going to conflict with Quattro’s lower-end network.
“You can’t have a go-to-market strategy with … a $1 million minimum [in campaign spending] and also be selling ads out of the back of your van,” Johar said.
Greystripe chief executive Michael Chang sent the following statement:
Quattro’s decision to drop support for major audience segments on non-Apple platforms is ultimately bad for their advertisers and developers. Advertisers care about audiences, reach and user engagement, not specific platforms. As the Android audience catches up to iPhone and Blackberry continues to improve the potential for user engagement, these smartphone platforms will become increasingly important for advertisers. Greystripe, as an independent mobile ad network, is committed to the needs of advertisers, enabling them to engage their target audience on all major mobile platforms.
Companies: Apple, quattro wireless
People: Steve
Google launches mobile banner ads which know where you are
Google today announced on its Mobile Ads blog that it has launched location-aware display advertisements for mobile phones. Through Google’s “location extension” feature, advertisers can now include their location and phone numbers to appear in display ads on iPhone and Android mobile websites.
The feature, previously available only on search ads, will appear as banner text advertising and will pinpoint business locations on a small map as well as a “click-to-call” phone number. Consumers will also have the option for generate directions if needed.
Giving consumers the option of viewing businesses in their area increases Google’s chance that the consumer will call the business or click to its website, which are the two ways Google makes money on the service. The move shows Google’s increased investment in mobile and display advertising, two areas that have traditionally played second-fiddle to regular search advertising.
The location aware advertisements might be just what local businesses need as well. According to TechCrunch, “Google says that mobile ads that offer a location generally see an average 8 percent increase in click-through rates over plain-vanilla mobile ads, and click-to-call mobile ads see a 6 percent increase in clicks.”
Advertisers have to opt-in to the Google Ad Network and make sure they check the “Display Network” option. From there, the advertiser includes its number and address as well as the option to upload a logo. The last step is to check the box for iPhones and other mobile devices will full Internet browsers.
Companies: Google
Survey: Even with smartphones, texting still rules mobile advertising
Are you a hip location-based service looking to make money by selling ads for retailers on your übersnazzy iPhone app, which all the cool kids are using? Take another look at your business model. Chances are the good old SMS text message is still beating your app in reaching the pundits with ads.
According to a recent study commissioned by digital advertising company Placecast (carried out by research firm Harris Interactive) users still consider texting more important than any other activity, aside from talking. Which is not surprising if you consider the fact that smartphones account for little over than 20% of all mobile phones in the U.S. So, while location-based services like Foursquare (having just scored $20 million in funding and putting pressure on the other companies in the space), Gowalla, Brightkite and others are hoping to cash in on advertising integrated into their products, it is worth noting that these services still have very few users in terms of the percentage of people using smartphones. The survey points out that 40 percent of users said texting is “extremely” or “very” important to them. When it comes to the so-called check-in services like Foursquare and Gowalla, only 7 percent of men and 3 percent of women have same level of interest.
The survey, says Placecast CEO Alistair Goodman (pictured), represents the American population at large (2,046 adults in the United States, age 18 and over), not just centers for the digerati like San Francisco or New York City.
“We see in this data that texting is super-easy to use for both advertisers and consumers. For instance, middle-aged women are very brand-loyal and want to receive alerts on offers, but don’t want to use an application for it: for them, alerts are a utility and not a game they would like to play,” Goodman explains.
For retailers, e-mail has been a great way of communicating with customers, says Goodman, and texting is the logical extension of it. As always with advertising on a highly personal device like a computer, let alone on a mobile phone, it is a question of providing extremely relevant information to the consumer so as not to be intrusive. One of the ways of making advertising relevant to a consumer is to use place and time, ie. location data – which is comforting news to a hip location-based service. In fact, only less than 10% of the people taking the survey said that using their location in advertising was intrusive or wasn’t obvious to them. One third of the respondents of the Harris survey considered ads based on their location very useful, and other studies have shown the same tendency.
Mobile advertising is on the rise – Gartner expects the entire mobile ad segment to become a $7.4 billion market by 2014 – and seem to have an effect, since one in three consumers claimed to have gone into a store after receiving an ad, and one in four have made purchases, according to the Harris study. Microsoft is channeling (text-based) ads on the screens of phones using its upcoming Windows Phone 7 operating system, and Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs recently introduced the company’s iAd platform, providing guaranteed reach across a wide Apple device audience. And another study shows that the smartphone adoption rate will rise to 194 million users by 2015. Whether or not those nearly 200 million users will take app-based advertising over SMS alerts remains to be seen.
Companies: Apple, Brightkite, Foursquare, Gowalla, Harris Interactive, microsoft, Placecast
People: Alistair Goodman, Steve Jobs
AdMob CEO: Apple’s new ad rules will hurt users and developers
Yesterday, Apple finally updated its developer agreement to allow independent advertising companies. But at the same time it blocked ad firms owned by companies that make mobile devices and mobile operating systems. As All Things Digital points out, that shortlist currently includes Apple’s biggest competitor in mobile ads — Google-owned AdMob.
Today, AdMob CEO Omar Hamoui responded to the snub, and made it clear why he thinks it’s a terrible idea. “In the history of technology and innovation, it’s clear that competition delivers the best outcome,” he writes, “Artificial barriers to competition hurt users and developers and, in the long run, stall technological progress.”
Ever since Apple changed its iPhone Developer License Agreement in April — which banned third-party app analytics tools, and in the process appeared to lock out third-party mobile ad firms from displaying in-app ads — it’s been unclear how the company would deal with mobile advertising competitors. Now we know it’s far from a worst-case scenario — instead of locking all competitors out, smaller ad companies will be able to collect user data to sell ads (with Apple’s approval). But the wording is definitely vague, and the new rules could easily be used to lock out an independent ad firm like Millenial Media if it’s purchased by the likes of Microsoft or Yahoo.
At Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference this week, Steve Jobs presented a slide that predicted 48 percent of mobile ad purchases for the second half of this year will come through its iAds advertising platform. Given its lofty ambitions, there’s little reason for Apple to open up its mobile platforms to all advertising networks. It’s also well within Apple’s rights not to. But considering that Google’s purchase of AdMob was delayed by six months for FTC approval, acting so brazenly anti-competitive may not be the wisest choice for Apple.
Companies: AdMob, Apple, Google
People: Omar Hamoui
Mobile ad network InMobi launches in the US
Google and Apple aren’t the only companies with big plans in mobile advertising. InMobi, a startup with high-profile backing that describes itself as “the world’s largest independent mobile ad network,” announced today that it’s launching in the United States.
The Bangalore, India-headquartered company said its network covers 16.7 billion monthly ad impressions in Asia, Africa, North America, and Europe. And that already includes 2 billion impressions in the US — even though the official launch is today, InMobi has actually be working with advertisers since January.
Anne Frisbie, InMobi’s vice president and managing director of North America, said that one of the network’s big strengths is its underlying technology — 80 of its 120 employees focus on building the product and technology, not in selling ads or making deals. (The Silicon Valley office, however, will focus on sales and business development.) Not only can InMobi deliver data about which devices, content types, or demographics are getting the best response, but it can automatically improve a campaign to get better results with the audiences that an advertiser wants to reach. Plus, there’s the previously mentioned global reach.
Those advantages, plus the overall growth in mobile ad market, is why Frisbie said there’s still a big opportunity, despite Google finally acquiring mobile advertising startup AdMob or Apple developing its own iAds advertising service.
“I don’t think that the game is over,” Frisbie said. “It’s at an inflection point in this business.”
The company has raised $7.6 million from Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (one of the best-known venture firms around) and Sherpalo Ventures, the investment vehicle of early Google investor Ram Shiram. It was originally called mKhoj but renamed itself last year.
Don’t miss MobileBeat 2010, VentureBeat’s conference on the future of mobile. The theme: “The year of the superphone and who will profit.” Now expanded to two days, MobileBeat 2010 will take place on July 12-13 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Register now. Tickets are going quickly. For complete conference details, or to apply for the MobileBeat Startup Competition, click here.
Companies: InMobi
People: Anne Frisbie
Admob report: Android finds home in U.S., but iPhone still dominates
Right after Google got the green light to acquire Admob, the mobile advertising company today released a report analyzing where the majority of Android and iPhone operating systems are in its network around the world.
While the study notes that 75 percent of Android OS devices are in North America, compared to 49 percent of iPhone OS devices, the reality is that the iPhone still outnumbers Android two to one in the U.S. There were 8.7 million Android OS devices and 10.7 iPhone OS devices in the U.S. in April. Globally, the numbers are 11.6 million and 27.4 million, respectively.
While the total number of devices running the iPhone operating system may outnumber Android, a recent report from The NDP Group, an analytics firm, underscored that Android has passed iPhone is sales for the first quarter in 2010. So while there may still be more iPhone OS devices in the U.S., that soon could change as Android continues its sales growth. The NPD Group compiles and analyzes mobile device sales data based on more than 150,000 completed online consumer research surveys each month.
Admob’s last report looked at the newly launched Google phone, the Nexus One. While many thought it would rival the iPhone, the device only landed one in 50 mobile ad requests.
Admob serves mobile advertisements to some 23,000 mobile web sites and applications. Each month, the company analyzes the data from these ads to provide insight into what may be happening in the mobile industry.
A full report can be found here.
Companies: AdMob, Google, iPhone