Greystripe Inc To Go AdMob’s Way?

It seems Greystripe Inc., a San Francisco based mobile advertising company, might go the AdMob way. Its founder Michael Chang said in a recent interview that he has been talking to a lot of what he calls ‘potential suitors’.

Started in 2004, Greystripe has been going strong for the past six years and is one of the leading rich media mobile advertising networks in the world today. It specializes in delivering full screen ads on the iPhone, Java, and Android platforms. It also serves flash ads on the iPhone using a unique transcoding technology. The company has raised nearly $18 million in venture funding and is expecting its sales to triple this year. Michael expects the company to be profitable next year.

Ever since Google bought AdMob, a lot of eyes have turned towards Greystripe, which is a competitor to AdMob. Michael Chang says that in the last two months, he has met a lot of people who have expressed their interest in buying the company. He says that a lot of people were actually interested in Greystripe even before Google’s acquisition of AdMob.

Going by what Michael Chang says, it is safe to assume that Google’s acquisition of AdMob, albeit inadvertently, has made a lot of people focus their attention on companies like Greystripe. By acquiring AdMob, Google has become the top player on the market with 30 to 40 percent market share. So, companies like Yahoo and Microsoft might try to acquire small and medium sized mobile advertising companies to consolidate their market share. Microsoft, in particular, is in dire need of a revival and I will not be surprised if they make the first move. It should be interesting to see how things unfold in the coming months.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

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New Interactive Mobile Advertising Service from America Movil and MyScreen

America Movil, a well known wireless service provider in Latin America, has joined hands with MyScreen, a Canada based mobile advertising company, to launch an interactive mobile advertising service across Latin American and the Caribbean.

This, as you can imagine, is an opt-in service which is available only to those who subscribe to the service voluntarily. Customers will be delivered interactive full screen ads at the end of every call. Banner ads will be served when customers are browsing the net on their mobile phone. The subscribers who opt in to the service will get special discounts, offers, and free services which are not available to regular subscribers of America Movil.

The ads delivered are highly targeted based on the preferences of each subscriber. The subscribers can get ads from different categories like health, entertainment, lifestyle, and sports. Subscribers can accumulate reward points for every ad they view on their mobile phone. They can redeem these reward points to get free services and other such offers from their operator.

America Movil and MyScreen conducted a trial this year to get an idea of the response from subscribers. Much to everyone’s surprise, the ads from MyScreen generated 20% CTR (click through rate), which is unprecedented to say the least. Just so you know, online ads, which have become ubiquitous these days, generate a CTR of 1%. In other words, the response to mobile ads, at least in this scenario, was 20 times higher than the response to online ads. This encouraged the parties involved tremendously to introduce the service to America Movil customers.

In my opinion, the timing of this alliance could not have been better. A recent report from Juniper Research says that mobile advertising in Latin America is still in its nascent stage and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. In 2012, the amount spent on mobile advertising in the region is expected to be somewhere around $1.3 billion. Considering the fact that America Movil has millions of subscribers from the region, it makes sense for them to join hands with MyScreen to come up with such a service.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

2 comments.

68100 - Ad-funded Mobile Directory Enquiry Service in the U.K.

One of the complaints of people who live in the U.K. is that the directory enquiries service in the country is pretty expensive. Popular companies like Yell, Maureen, and BT charge about £1 per minute which is not cheap by any stretch of imagination. Now, there is a cheaper alternative available in the form of 68100.

The directory enquiry service offered by 68100 covers both business and residential landline numbers in the country and costs only 35p per minute. Now, some of you might be thinking ‘there has to be a catch somewhere’. It is true. There is a catch. You need to listen to an ad when you call this number. It is a concept that you are all familiar with – mobile advertising. Let me tell you how it works.

1. You call 68100.

2. Your call is attended by an operator who searches for the number you request.

3. You listen to a small 20-second ad.

4. An automatic voice reads out the number you requested.

5. Once you hang up the phone, you get a text message which contains the requested number and an offer from an advertiser.

6. If you want the service to connect you to the number you requested, you can press 1.

7. If you are interested in the offer from the advertiser, you can press 2.

It is like any other directory enquiry service. The only difference is that it is available at an affordable price since a significant portion of the cost is covered by mobile advertisers.

The question now is whether people will be willing to listen to ads or not. It is difficult to answer this question. Some might avoid using this service because of their rabid aversion for ads. Some might use this service since it is cheap. I, for one, wouldn’t mind using such a service if I can save a pound or two. So, it all depends on people’s preferences.

The only problem with this service, in my opinion, is that it primarily caters to people who have low end mobile phones without internet connectivity option. If a person has a high end mobile phone, like I do, he can easily get the information he wants by visiting the website of Yell or Maureen. He does not need to use this service at all. Apart from this, I do not see any other problem with this service. This, I think, is yet another example as to how useful mobile advertising can be if presented the right way. What do you think?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, All things mobile phones.

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Working Mothers - The Target Customer Base for Mobile Advertisers

Here’s a quick question for you – whom do you think is the most important target customer segment for mobile advertising? I bet most of you would not hesitate to say that teens and young adults are the target customer base for mobile advertisers. Well; guess what? You are in for a surprise. Let me tell you why.

Working moms, according to a recent report, are more likely to spend money on mobile content than most other people. The latest report from Scarborough says that married women who have at least one child and a steady job are more likely to download mobile content and respond to mobile advertising campaigns than most other people.

The report says that the mobile bill of a working mother is nearly 20% more than the mobile bill of the average mobile user in the country. This is a significant difference and it just goes to show that married women with jobs do not mind spending a lot on their wireless bills. The report also says that a working mother is 40% more likely to download multimedia content to her mobile phone than the average mobile user. These are important data and they make us look at the mobile user demographic in a slightly different manner.

It is not hard to understand why working moms spend more money than most people on their mobile phones. A married woman who has a full time job and a kid is likely to make important decisions for her family. She gets to choose a lot of things for her husband, kids, and herself. So, when she comes across an offer which is good and could save her some money, she is likely to make a decision immediately. So, when mobile marketers send her targeted ads, she is likely to respond. This is why the working mother demographic is considered important by many.

If you remember, I already talked about people in the 30-50 age bracket who are likely to spend money on mobile related stuff here. Now, with this report, it becomes very clear. People with a considerable amount of disposable income are certainly an important target for mobile advertisers. They have money, they are used to taking quick decisions, and they do not think twice before responding to what they consider good offers. So, it is a good idea for mobile advertisers to widen their approach and target different customer segments to get better results.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising.

3 comments.

Smaato Mobile Advertising Awards 2009 – The Search for the Best Mobile Websites, Mobile Games, and Mobile Applications Continues

Smaato, a pioneer in the field of mobile advertising, has announced the Smaato Mobile Advertising Award 2009. The event was a great success last year and garnered a lot of attention. The event had more than 100 entrants and the feedback was mostly positive. Considering the fact that the event was first-of-its-kind, the reception was quite good. So, the company has decided to make the event bigger and better this year.

The competition has been divided into three different categories – iPhone, Mobile Applications (including games), and Mobile Web. The participation is free and it does not cost you a dime. If you think your mobile website, application, or game is really cool, you can participate in this event. The deadline for submissions ends on the 9th of October, 2009. You can find more details here.

A winner will be chosen from each category and all three winners will be invited to be a part of Mobile World Congress 2010 in Barcelona. Also, just like last year, Smaato will introduce the winners to the VCs who attend the event. Additional prizes include free tickets for Mobile World Congress, exhibition stands at M Days 2010 in Munich, and more. If you remember, Dial Plus was the winner at last year’s event and it has gone on to become very popular in a relatively short period of time.

Smaato has formed an impressive jury which includes some well known names from Mobile Marketer, Mobile Entertainment, VentureBeat, Mobile Monday, Infinita, Norwest Venture Partners, MSearchGroove, MobiAdNews, and more.

Like I have repeatedly said, events like this are very good for mobile advertising industry as they promote healthy competition and innovation. Most importantly, for up and coming mobile startups, events like these could be a great launch pad. So, in my opinion, these types of events are a sign of the growth of mobile advertising as an industry.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Mobile Events.

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