Posts Tagged ‘mobile advertising’
Flash app platform Sprout reinvents itself as AdVine ad platform
, a San Francisco startup that first launched as a platform for building Flash applications, has been refocusing its technology on ad-creation. In case the shift wasn’t clear, Sprout signaled the new focus today by relaunching its flagship product under the name .
One of AdVine’s big attractions is the fact that it creates ads that can display both the Flash or HTML5 formats. Those ads will use Flash on Web browsers, then they’ll play in HTML5 on smartphones that don’t support Flash. Sprout’s interface has been compared to Adobe’s design program Photoshop, and it’s supposed to make the ad creation process quick and easy for designers. The should help with this too.
Adam Taisch, the company’s vice president of business development, said Sprout is on a two-week development cycle, leading to a constant flow of new features. Just in the last few weeks, Sprout has added click-to-call and click-to-text options in the ads, he said.
Designers can use AdVine to create mobile ads that are compatible with Apple’s iAd format. In the demo video below, a demonstrator uses AdVine to assemble an iAd for the movie Tron: Legacy and also shows what it’s like to interact with the ad.
Sprout launched at the conference now co-produced by VentureBeat.
Getting content noticed is a challenge for everyone making apps. We’ll cover the topic at . Startups and big companies alike are encouraged to submit their discovery tactics to our . Early bird discounts are available until September 22. Sponsors can contact us at sponsors@venturebeat.com. To buy tickets, .
Companies:
People:
Motorola snags Aloqa to put location-aware mobile content in plain sight
Motorola has location-based service search developer and for an undisclosed chunk of change to enhance its factory-shipped MOTOBLUR phone user interface with location-based push content.
The technology will allow Motorola phones to push content — such as App data or even advertising — to users wherever they happen to be walking or driving at the time.
Motorola has been on a bit of a shopping trip lately, app development platform 280 North in August to ramp up its app-delivery platform. The move came at a time when Apple and Google have clearly dominated the app-delivery marketplace with the App Store and Android Marketplace.
The phone manufacturer is in a bit of a sweet spot with the popularity of its Droid series of Android phones, but like other manufacturers faces the task of differentiating its “flavor” of Android from others. Using Aloqa’s technology to enhance its MOTOBLUR interface could easily be another move to separate its phones from the rest of the pack.
Aloqa will become a part of Motorola Mobility, which Motorola plans to spin off into a separate company that handles cell phones and set-top boxes in the first quarter of 2011. The company $1.5 million in 2009 in a round led by Wellington Partners and other angel investors.
[Photo: ]
Companies: , , , , ,
Greystripe’s mobile ads break free from their app prison
As the mobile advertising industry grows, most of the attention has focused on advertising inside applications, not on mobile websites. Since the iPhone’s enormous app ecosystem is one of its main draws, it’s no surprise that , but other ad networks have taken a similar route. Mobile ad startup was all about apps, until today.
Now, the San Francisco startup is launching a new feature called RevMax for Mobile Web. With it, mobile website publishers can run ads that have all the slickness and interactivity of the Greystripe ads that run in native applications. Those ads use the company’s Lightning Technology, which takes ads created in Adobe’s Flash format and converts them so they work on non-Flash devices like the iPhone.
Chief executive Michael Chang said that until now, the advertising that you’ll find on most mobile websites is just a dinky little banner. By making the ads bigger and more prominent, and incorporating richer media, Greystripe can dramatically increase the clickthrough rates, he said. The company already tested the feature with select publishers, including the IAC-owned sites CollegeHumor.com, Dictionary.com, and Evite.com. The tests showed that smaller banner ads saw average clickthrough rates of 0.56 percent, while a large, rich media ad saw a clickthrough rate of 1.31 percent.
This move seems to fit into recent debates about for consuming content on smartphones. But Chang said Greystripe isn’t choosing one over the other. For publishers like IAC, there are some properties that make more sense as apps, and others than make sense as websites. With Greystripe, you can make money either way, or through a combination of the two. And the brand advertisers that Greystripe works with care mainly about reaching a specific audience, regardless of which phone they’re using, or whether it’s in an app versus the mobile browser.
“The trend we’re seeing is a need to reduce fragmentation,” Chang said.
Greystripe has raised $17.6 million in four rounds of funding, most recently $2 million from Peacock Equity. It says it serves ads in more than 2,500 applications, with “a number of developers” () earning more than $100,000 per month from their ads.
Companies:
People:
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, 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 said it’s doing just fine with startup ’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 in 2009.
Speaking of iAds, Greystripe recently piggybacked on reports that by 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 ]
Companies: , ,
Apple closes down Quattro advertising network
Updated with comment from other ad networks
Quattro Wireless, 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 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.
after receiving a copy of a letter that Quattro sent to network participants. The company has posted a similar note . 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 . In fact, a competing ad network, Greystripe, is trying to capitalize on the delays by 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, . (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 , 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: ,
People:
Google launches mobile banner ads which know where you are
Google today announced on its 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 , “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:
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 (carried out by research firm ) users still consider texting more important than any other activity, aside from talking. Which is not surprising if you consider the fact that So, while location-based services like ( and putting pressure on the other companies in the space), , 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 .
Mobile advertising is on the rise – – 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. is , and CEO Steve Jobs , 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: , , , , , ,
People: ,