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The best mobile advertising networks 2012

Posted on January 14th, 2012 by Christopher

best mobile ad networks 2012

 

 

 

So what is the best mobile advertising network to use if you’re a developer, mobile publisher or advertiser?  When deciding which mobile ad network to work with, many publishers and advertisers will be tempted to go with the most recognised names. But the truth is choosing the best mobile advertising network is a bit more complicated than making a beeline for the biggest kid on the block. Figures on which networks offer advertisers the most reach, and publishers the most revenue, are not always reliable or indeed available. In fact, because of the scarcity of verifiable figures, no one really knows which network is even the biggest.

So when choosing an ad network your best bet is to look at the differentiators and assess what network is the best match for your requirements. Are you looking to target an Asian audience? If so, then you need to know which networks cater best to Asian territories. Is your app iPhone-only? Well, you’ll need to know which network serves the most ads on Apple’s, rather than Google’s, platform.

Luckily Mobyaffliates is here to lend a guiding hand! Below are what we believe are the best mobile ad networks in some of the most relevant categories for publishers and advertisers. Hopefully our recommendations can help you make a more informed decision on what mobile ad network is right for you.   For more info check out our Mobile Advertising Networks Market Map [Infographic] or our 2012 Guide to Mobile Advertising Platforms.

*Mobile Ad Network Offers*

We’ve secured some great deals from some of the top mobile ad networks out there to help you generate more revenue from mobile advertising.

The best mobile advertising network for…

App Promotion

Appflood is one of the new breed of mobile ad networks that combines app promotion with mobile advertising and monetization.  Mobile advertisers can buy in-app advertising on a cost per install (CPI) basis over the Appflood network whilst developers can either monetize their mobile apps or exchange installs with other developers.  Appflood is one of the emerging new services emerging out of the developer platform space, originating from the Papaya Mobile mobile app engine and payments provider.

New Ad Formats

leadbolt-logo

Leadbolt offers some of the most innovative ad formats on the market which delivers high eCPMs for app developers and publishers and high conversion rates for advertisers.  They have pioneered new approaches such as App Icon Ads, Offerwalls and Interstitials which deliver much better performance and allow ads to be served within different types of inventory.  They recently got covered by Techcrunch but are still very much one of the under-the-radar success stories of mobile ads.

Weekly Payments

logo (3)
Mobbnet is a new mobile ad network offering something that all developers and publishers should be crying out for if they value cashflow … weekly payment!  If you sign-up with Mobbnet they will pay you all earnings for the previous week via wire transfer or paypal.  Worth checking out compared with some other networks which can ask for payment terms of net 30 or even net 60.  So you often won’t see any money until 2 + months later.

European traffic

MobFox 

 

MobFox is a relative newcomer to the mobile network party, but over the last year it has built-up a strong reputation with a number of innovative features, such as eCPM controls, the ability to pull ads from rival networks, and strong demographic-targeting. While its Asian inventory is lacking somewhat, in our recent MobFox review, we found that European publishers were experiencing very strong fill-rates and high eCPM. The Vienna-based start-up is increasingly looking like the network of choice for advertisers and publishers who want to target continental smartphone users.

Latin America

jampp logo

 

Jampp is one of the leading mobile ad networks for accessing Latin American traffic in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and other markets.  They connect directly to a range of traffic sources to allow advertisers to find the right inventory and offer a fully managed service and campaign.

Android

 

Airpush

Given the – quite frankly – frightening pace at which Android has taken over the smartphone market it’s no surprise that the last few months have seen a strong interest in targeted ad solutions for Android users. Enter Airpush, a mobile ad network that deals exclusively with Google’s little green robot. Airpush makes a bunch of eye-catching claims on its website, such as offering developers 10 to 30 times more ad revenue than non-Android-focused rivals. As we mentioned above, you need to take ad network boasts with a pinch of sale, but Airpush does have a nifty trick up its sleeve that makes such a revenue surge plausible – push notification ads. Say goodbye to all those inactive app users, now you can reach them from the comfort of their own notification tray!

 

Video ads

 

Greystripe

Mobile video ads are still very much in their infancy, but with 38% better completion rate than desktop-bound online video ads (according to eMarketer), it won’t be long before they become ubiquitous. One of the most recognised early proponents of mobile video ads is Greystripe, who have won numerous awards for their rich media solutions. Greystripe now boasts that its the market leader in terms of full screen rich media ads, with a 75% share of the market, delivering big name brand campaigns from the likes of Sony, Burger King and HP.

 

iPhone

 

AdMob

 

Oooh, a Google product besting Apple’s own solution – who would have thought it! AdMob may not offer the highest eCPM anymore, and there’s plenty newer ad networks out there who’ve surged ahead in terms of innovation, but by most estimates it serves more ads to iPhone users than any other network. AdMob has a strong fill rate across pretty much all territories and, according to many developers, outperforms iAd when it comes to CTRs – despite Apple’s emphasis on rich media and despite the supposed warm fuzzy trust engendered by its branding….

 

Demographic targeting

 

Adfonic

 

UK-based Adfonic has made a name for itself by offering advertisers highly detailed, real-time, reporting and robust demographic targeting, which includes age, location, time of day, language, operator, device and OS. Adfonic also offers keyword tagging, which help squeeze-out that extra bit of contextual relevancy with publisher content.

 

Fill rate

 

MobPartner

 

With its advertiser-friendly Cost Per Action model (advertisers only pay when, for instance, a user downloads an app) it comes as little surprise that Paris-based MobPartner can offer developers an 100% fill rate. It also means that developers can draw on a range of big name campaigns and can be a bit more picky about the brands they want to promote. Of course, MobPartner’s CPA flavouring is great news for advertisers looking to boost app downloads, but while more brands means better targeting for developers their bottom line may suffer when compared to CPM and CPC-focused networks.

 

Big brands

 

Jumptap

 

When it comes to offering a robust data-driven platform for advertisers Jumptap has been top of the list for sometime now. Founded back in 2004, the award-winning network indulges big brand advertisers with its tapMatch solution, offering keyword-targeting and a traditional media-buying model. The network has also recently been one of the strongest proponents of rich media ads to increase ROI and claims to offer advertisers the largest open rich media platform. It’s no surprise that some of the biggest brands have jumped on-board with Jumptap.

 

Asian traffic

 

Buzz City 

 

With smartphone penetration rocketing toward saturation in The West, growth will undoubtedly begin shift toward emerging markets in the East. India, Indonesia and Vietnam, among others, are already showing signs of a mobile ad boom (Vietnam experienced a 223% increase in ad impressions in 2011 Q2 alone). Based in Singapore, ad network Buzz City has capitalised on the lack of attention paid to the Asian market by other ad networks. The network’s biggest markets are Indonesia and India, with over 3 million ads served to users in India and almost 2 million in Indonesia throughout November alone.

 

Adult

 

Adultmoda

 

There’s not much debate in this category, when it comes to ad networks that exclusively target the adult market Adultmoda is pretty much the only show in town. Owned by London-based parent company MobVision, Adultmoda serves some of the world’s biggest publishers of x-rated content (as opposed to its family friendly sibling Admoda), such as Brazzers, Reality Kings and YouPorn. Due to its market, Adultmoda exercises quite strict quality controls on which publishers it works with to ensure its advertisers are kept happy, while publishers enjoy some of the highest renumeration rates around.

Conclusion

As you can see there’s a great deal of diversity on offer when it comes to choosing a mobile ad network. Advertisers need to think carefully about what they’re trying to achieve with their mobile ad campaign and nail the fundamentals (CPA? CPC? Blind? Premium?) before they let themselves get beguiled by the ad networks’ invariably impressive claims and boasts. When it comes to publishers, they may find that shopping around and experimenting with a number of networks is the best tactic to maximise revenues – especially if you have a broad portfolio of apps and sites. As with most things, it’s about understanding your own aims and doing some research, but hopefully our above guide has put you on the right track!

For more check out our mobile advertising network directory

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Mobile marketing for the online casino industry – iphone, ipad or i dont know?

Posted on April 25th, 2010 by admin
This is an article which will be out soon in igaming magazine - publishing here as they don’t have a digital service.  It basically looks at what the opportunities are in mobile marketing for the online casino and gaming sector.
Mobile marketing for the online casino industry – iphone, ipad or i dont know?
According to the Wall St Analyst Mary Meeker, mobile represents a new wave of computing, on a par with previous technological cycles such as the desktop PC revolution.  She predicts that within the next five years more users will connect to the Internet over mobile devices than desktop PCs”.  Her most recent report points out that whilst some companies will “Win Big” from mobile, others will get left behind and will “Wonder What Just Happened”.

Already many Casino and gaming operators, affiliate networks, service providers, brands and marketers have begun to move into mobile.  However, as fast as the industry moves, it is hard to keep up with the new trends in mobile, which is developing at an incredible rate.  Just as the casino sector got to grips with the mobile web, along came the iphone and applications wave.  Now, just as the industry is beginning to understand the iphone along comes the ipad – another potentially explosive new platform and form factor – taking the mobile concept to the PC, rather than the PC concept to mobile.

So how can new and existing players in the market stay current and relevant on this evolving platform and how can they make the most of the opportunities available?

The Story so far

The landgrab for the mobile casino market has already begun. The likes of Spin3, Playtech and others have already deployed sophisticated platforms covering a range of games types.  Spin3 has a large number of brands active on its mobile platform including Ladbrokes, Jackpot City, All Slots Casino and Wild Jack Mobile Casino.  The mobile casino brand mfortune has begun advertising on television whilst a recent study by Comscore suggested that 7.6% of Smartphone users play mobile casino games. Major brands from the sports betting world such as William Hill are also ramping up promotion of their mobile services.  Affiliate networks such as Income Access, Brightshare, Euro Partners and Affiliates United have all begun recruiting for mobile casinos.  At mobyaffiliates.com, our directory of mobile affiliate programs, we have found that the market is dominated by the casino sector – which has rapidly overtaken other areas such as ringtones.
However, success so far has been patchy to say the least and many players are yet to see any positive return from their investment in mobile.  Mobile is in many ways much more complex than the PC environment that the online casino sector is used to.  Instead of catering to a handful of different browsers and one dominant operating system (Windows), the mobile channel is extremely fragmented across different operating systems, browsers and handsets. It is notable that mfortune, one of the more successful mobile casino brands is operated by a team from outside of the online sector.
In order to succeed on mobile and make get a return on investment what issues do existing industry players and new entrants have to consider on mobile?

What handsets and platforms to target?

The main complexity that mobile brings is the issue of dealing with multiple operating systems  and hundreds of devices.  This brings additional costs and operational overhead in terms of adapting services for each particular device.  The major operating systems at present are iphone, android, Symbian, Windows Mobile and Blackberry, but there are also niche platforms such as Palm, Maemo and Mobile Linux – just to increase the complexity further.

As a result, an increasingly common approach for mobile service providers is to focus on iphone-only development. The iphone has a much lower installed base of handsets than other platforms such as Symbian (used by Nokia) however, it is the most commercially attractive option for many mobile service providers due to the type of users (early adopters) and the high rates of usage for apps and mobile internet.  However, this approach leaves a large proportion of the potential market inaccessible, and for some services, including casino, an iphone audience may not be the most commercially attractive. In addition, Apple’s iphone App Store is heavily controlled, which means that many casino services are unable to get listed. However, Darren Pollard of Mayfair Mobile Gaming states that the situation is more nuanced than a blanket ban, “Although there is a generally accepted rule that Apple will not approve and/or support real-money gambling Apps on its iTunes App Store, these stores are run in regionally specific silos, so gambling operators should look to building relationships with influential people in these value chains in countries where gambling is legally and socially acceptable such as the United Kingdom.”

Android, Google’s mobile operating system, has many of the advantages of the iphone in terms of usability but is a much more open platform.  There are a wide range of independent app stores for android which will host all types of applications and the Android Market (Google’s app store) is much less controlled that the Apple app store. A wide range of devices are now being produced by a range of manufacturers using Android which means that it will attract a wider group of users than the high-priced iphone.  Although android doesn’t have as much market traction as the iphone it is catching up fast and some commentators expect it to become the dominant mobile operating system over time.
As a result a number of casino services are now focusing on a “dual platform” strategy that focuses on both iphone and Android.  In terms of the other platforms, Blackberry suffers from a  commercial point of view from the fact that the devices are often linked to company accounts which means that they are not always able to install new applications or take payments for games.  However, with Blackberry increasingly moving into the consumer market it is also becoming a potentially attractive operating system to target.  Symbian, used by Nokia has the largest base of handsets, but suffers from version fragmentation making it harder to develop applications.  However, given the potential scale of the market, Symbian is still worth considering if you are willing to deal with the head-aches involved in working with the platform.
Focus on the mobile web – not apps?

An alternative to choosing one or two operating systems or taking on the high costs of serving multiple OS is to focus on developing for the mobile web rather than applications.  Creating a mobile web site using HTML creates a platform-neutral service which can be used across iphone, Android, Symbian and all types of handsets.  In addition, a mobile web ite does not have to be accepted onto an app store which provides more flexibility for the casino sector on some platforms and in some markets.  Whilst a mobile-web based service cannot handle some of the rich interaction that can be provided using an application it is an adequate platform for a large number of services and is only increasing in power as mobile handset browsers improve and new web standards emerge.  For example, the new HTML 5 standard promises to allow much richer mobile web experiences on platforms including the iphone, and is potentially where gaming platform companies should concentrate their efforts.
User education is key

There have been a plethora of well documented issues plaguing the mobile gambling industry over the last five years in terms of user-education. This is to a large degree what is hampering take-up of the platform amongst casino players. Mayfair Mobile Gaming’s Darren Pollard says, “online gambling companies have not done themselves any favors by not addressing the issue of “mobile specific education” which has long been the Achilles heel on the uptake of mobile gambling” Gaming companies need to do much more to educate potential players on mobile specific issues such as data charges, network dropouts (players should not login to play a real money game on their mobile if they are about to get on the subway) and ease of discovery and installation of the mobile gambling application. Darren Pollard notes that “Although Apple has done a great job on user education with its user-friendly iTunes/iPhone ecosystem, the “true gambler” is not necessarily going to have an iPhone or Android device.”

what about the ipad and other emerging mobile platforms?

Increasingly, mobile internet is becoming more about other types of devices than the mobile handset.  For a while now a number of publishers and developers have found that web-enabled games devices such as the PSP account for a significant proportion of their mobile traffic.  In addition, the ipod touch has become a major source of traffic and usage for mobile web sites and “iphone” applications.

Now it appears that another category of web-enabled tablet devices might be the next big thing on mobile after the successful launch of the Apple’s ipad.  Already, the ipad has sold over half a million units and a range of similar devices are set to be released by competitors.  Potentially, Apple could have created another device class for the mobile web, which could fit very well with casino and other gaming services, perhaps more so than the mobile handset.   Some casino brands will already be developing specific web sites and applications for the ipad in order to take advantage of this new opportunity.  Whilst existing websites or apps designed for the iphone do work on the ipad it is likely that specially adapted services will be most successful in the long run.
So, whilst mobile does represent a big new market, operators and other industry players need to clearly understand the channel before making a play.  The right choices need to be made about which platforms and devices to target, and the most appropriate approach to product development.   The mobile platform keeps evolving at a rapid pace so ongoing investment is required to keep up to date with the latest opportunities.  However, given the growth of the platform, for those who succeed, the rewards will be enormous.
James Coops is the founder of mobyaffiliates.com, which helps merchants and networks to recruit affiliates for the mobile channel and enables affiliates to find the best mobile programs to make money on mobile.  He also runs mjelly.com – a directory of mobile sites and applications that helps publishers and developers to get traffic to their mobile services.
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