Posted on 2010 under Communications |
9
Mar
Like many other developers, uLocate works closely with ad networks to monetize WHERE, its free mobile app that is available on a number of carrier networks and Android, iPhone and Palm (NSDQ: PALM).
But WHERE often struggled to keep its fill rates high, and when campaigns ran out, it had to use less desirable banner ads pushing ringtones and wallpapers, said uLocate’s VP of Marketing Dan Gilmartin. Today, the Boston-based company is launching an ad network that it created internally to remedy the problem and has been using since December. The ad network, which it calls the WHERE Ads hyper-local advertising network, is now available outside the company, and is being used by various publishers, including Geocade, Jambase, MocoSpace and Superpages.com.
The problem WHERE is solving is a common one that many mobile application developers and publishers are encountering as they generate audiences and millions of page views faster than brands adopt mobile as a potential advertising platform. Gilmartin said it continues to use Quattro Wireless, which was recently acquired by Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), but new sources of local ads dramatically increased click-through rates and CPMs.
How is WHERE doing it?: Gilmartin was a bit reluctant to give away all of its secrets, but said they are working with about a half a dozen local ad providers that work in other mediums, such as directory services, coupons, event sources, and other aggregation services. They provide local offers and ads that can be matched to users who search in the WHERE app for activities or nearby restaurants.
The reaction: Gilmartin said they were able to start replacing ringtone ads for ads that were relevant based on what a consumer was looking for…if they were searching for a nearby restaurant, an Italian restaurant may have popped up. Customers’ reactions were surprising and thanked WHERE ‘for removing the ads,’ Gilmartin said. “It’s contextually relevant to what the consumer is doing, and it’s locally relevant to where they are, and it’s designed to look good in the app, so it’s not an obnoxious banner.”
How things have changed: He said now instead of getting paid per click, often the ads are paid for based on performance, a person may have to visit to website, a menu, or click to call. Then, when a user clicks, they are redirected to a mobile landing page that Where’s made, and can deliver local information to the consumer.
How it is different: All mobile ad networks aspire to provide local ads in their network, but inventories are often low. Results can also vary based on how locally targeted the ad is—is it based on the person’s country, state, city, or neighborhood level? Obviously, the neighborhood ad will be more relevant, but often time is the hardest one to get.
Posted on 2010 under Communications |
9
Mar
The Financial Times has a sizeable and nicely growing subscription business—so why mess with micropayments? FT.com Managing Director Rob Grimshaw says that half the FT’s print customers are newsstand buyers, and the company needs to offer an similar a la carte option online as well. Grimshaw, in an interview with ContentNext Media Managing Editor Ernie Sander, also explores about what the company has learned about its readers from its “data warehouse,” and how it has used that information to help convert some of those readers into customers.
Two other panelists at paidContent2010’s The Business of Digital News session, KC Estenson, CNN.com’s SVP and GM, and Lincoln Millstein, Hearst’s SVP of digital media, talked about the opportunities that apps and e-devices present for publishers looking for new revenue streams. Josh Cohen, Google’s senior business product manager, meanwhile, explains why news organizations that blame on Google (NSDQ: GOOG) are shooting the messenger. See highlights of the panel below.
Full uncut session
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Posted on 2010 under Communications |
9
Mar
T-Mobile USA executives explained that it abruptly ended its year-old exclusive search deal with Yahoo, and replaced it with Google (NSDQ: GOOG), because it is what their subscribers wanted. “It was customer led; the Google brand is associated with Internet and search,” Ian McKerlich, T-Mobile’s director of mobile web and content, told mocoNews today.
We were the first to report last week that T-Mobile dropped one search provider for the other, leading to to significant shift in control of the U.S. mobile search market away. Google now has deals with T-Mobile and Sprint; (NYSE: S) Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) works with AT&T (NYSE: T) and Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) has partnered with Verizon Wireless. Clearly, the space continues to be fragmented, but T-Mobile’s sudden change of heart raises an important question: Will carriers continue to be able to lock-in lucrative contracts with search providers with the promise of directing traffic their way when consumers are demanding to use other services?
McKerlich said for other reasons, the switch made sense. T-Mobile was the first carrier to work closely with Google on rolling out its Android-based devices, so having a “single partner across our own portfolio,” allowed it to cut down on the number of messages T-Mobile had to deliver.
T-Mobile said it started updating its web2go Web portal with Google search back in February. As part of the switch, it made other updates to the service, including making it more touch-friendly and easy to personalize. But it also changed the way it lumped together both mobile content results with web results into a single page. If a subscriber searched for “Beyonce,” both ringtones and general web results would be returned. McKerlich: “We believed in federated search being well suited for mobile devices, but federated results were confusing to the consumer. Now we have more of a pure play search.” Seattle-based Medio Systems continues to index and return content results in the Google deal, just as it did for T-Mobile with Yahoo, but they will only show up when someone searches the download store.
The web2go portal is now available on 94 percent of all T-Mobile phones, including the Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Cliq, BlackBerry devices, a majority of feature phones, and even the upcoming HTC HD2. T-Mobile said the changes, including the switch to Google, has led to a 300 percent increase in traffic per customer, and in the case of the Cliq, 25 percent of customers have customized their home page. Of course, users can still opt to open a web browser and go to any search provider it would like, such as Yahoo or Bing.
McKerlich declined to discuss the financial arrangement between T-Mobile and either Google or T-Mobile. “In either relationship, both of them were attractive deals when we did them.” Is T-Mobile concerned that it is becoming to reliant on Google? McKerlich: “I don’t really think so. Certainly if the consumers say they like Google, we’ll give it to them.”
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Posted on 2010 under Communications |
9
Mar
» Google’s online-only availability for the Nexus One has yet to prove successful. [ZDNet]
» Foursquare creates new analytics tools for businesses. [Bits]
» Users admit some degree of smartphone addiction and 41 percent say it would be a “tragedy” if they lost their iPhone. [LiveScience]
» Can Windows Phone 7 protect companies who are fearful of Apple’s wrath? [Boy Genius Report]
» Broadpoint AmTech predicts Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) could sell 7 million iPads by year’s end. [eWeek]
Posted on 2010 under Communications |
9
Mar
With services that make it easy for users to share their location—like FourSquare and Gowalla—gaining buzz and usage, Facebook is finally set to fire back with its own move into the hot location-aware space. The NYT reports that the social network will release a new feature in late April that will let users share their locations; the social network also plans to let outside developers build Facebook apps that incorporate that info.
As the paper points out, the move isn’t a surprise at all; Back in October, Facebook actually hinted that such a feature was on the way in an update to its privacy policy, which made mention of the possibility of a service that would include “location sharing.” And with social networks from Twitter to the new Google Buzz letting users tag their locations it only made sense that Facebook would follow suit, especially considering the promise of geotargeted ads.
Asked for comment, a Facebook spokeswoman says, “We are constantly experimenting with new ideas and products internally. We don’t have anything more to share at this time.”
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