By
Enid Burns, The ClickZ Network,
Aug 18, 2008
As
mobile advertising moves from an experimental buy to a dedicated budget
line item, ad networks serving the space have also matured. Third
Screen Media, Ringleader Digital, Ad Mob, Millennial Media, and others
have jockeyed to meet the needs of advertisers and publishers.
It hasn't always been easy, given the ongoing transformation of
handsets and network infrastructure. The iPhone, for one, has been a
game changer. The device can handle standard Web formatting, raising
the question of whether publishers require distinct ad network
relationships. Is a broad-reaching ad network, such as Platform-A
better equipped to bundle and sell ad inventory for mobile alongside
other networks? Or do pure-play ad networks such as Millennial Media or
Ad Mob have an edge with their singular focus?
An early wave of consolidation beginning in 2006 suggested the
many mobile ad networks might be absorbed into large media and
advertising conglomerates. AOL acquired Third Screen Media, which is now part of Platform-A, and Nokia acquired Enpocket and is building out a global ad network. In a somewhat smaller deal, Microsoft acquired European ad network ScreenTonic. Then, the acquisition trail grew cold.
Some believe it could get hot again. Greg Sterling, analyst with
Sterling Market Intelligence, said he expects to see some big plays
happen.
"While Third Screen Media has already been bought, and Enpocket
has already been bought...the question isn't which ones will be bought,
but which ones won't be bought," he said.
Sterling is far from alone, though not all networks will prevail in the long term.
"Today we see a lot of little startups that specialize in
mobile," said Karsten Weide, an analyst at research firm IDC. "A lot of
the mature advertising networks on the desktop Internet -- what if
these guys decide to get into this business too? Wouldn't they crush
the little guys? We don't know. So far it's a very tough environment to
be in, and it's so early."
By acquiring Third Screen Media, AOL's Platform-A gained an
established mobile ad network with a roster of publishers along with
the ability to sell packages across platforms. The same is true for
traditional ad networks that built their own mobile ad channels, for instance 24/7 Real Media.
"Strategically, online networks feel the need to be involved in
mobile," said Matthew Jones, director of mobile strategy and operations
at Gannett Digital.
Google already has a footprint in mobile. The search giant began offering mobile image ads
in April. "Google already offers local spot TV, spot radio, spot
newspaper ads. It would be a natural extension for them to offer mobile
if that becomes a viable delivery channel," said Augustine Fou, SVP of
digital delivery strategy at MRM Worldwide. He also believes the big ad
networks will move into the space.
Meanwhile, mobile specialists continue to innovate. Advertisers are able to target iPhone users specifically on AdMob's network,
just as any other handset or carrier network can be targeted. The
benefit is that advertisers are able to take advantage of iPhone's
interactive functions such as GPS, mapping, click-to-call, and video.
Whether they continue as a pure play, or become acquired by a
traditional ad network, mobile ad networks are starting to prove
themselves in the evolving marketplace. "Some of the ad networks are
going to rise to the top, and some are not going to be successful. The
ones that know how to work with publishers, deliver campaigns, are the
ones that are going to really shine," said Jeffrey Litvack, global
director of new media markets at AP Digital.
Publishers and advertisers say they've derived benefits from
the specialists as well as the big network players. Advertisers say
they make decisions where to buy based on the type of campaign.
Velti, a mobile marketing technology provider, bridges
traditional and mobile-specific network. Still, it tends to buy more
from traditional ad networks said Paul Cheng, VP of corporate
development and strategy. Velti, he said, specializes in
after-the-click marketing and advertising and the interaction and
dialog with consumers. "Consequently, our definition of mobile
advertising and marketing is quite different than one-off impressions
and landing pages that mobile ad networks offer today," he said.
Velti prefers multi-platform buys over ones focused on mobile
such as WAP banner ads. "WAP banner ads don't generally offer that much
more specialized a product in terms of feature and functionality than
traditional online networks," said Cheng. "In fact, they often offer
less information than traditional ad networks, given the limitations of
WAP and the capabilities there -- what they do offer is some
specialized targeting and demographic information that is harder to get
from online networks, so they fit a niche."
By contrast, Ansible, a mobile marketing agency set up by Interpublic and Velti last year,
makes more buys with mobile-specific ad networks. "They [mobile ad
networks] have been the most aggressive in canvassing the market,
providing the education, and trying to make the buying and managing
mobile manageable," said Chris Lorenzoni, mobile media director at
Anisible.
Mobile ad networks offer value to Ansible not necessarily
achieved by traditional ad networks handling mobile. Some of these
specialized offerings include targeting of specific handsets such as
smart phones and iPhones, or specific carriers.
"This is important if you are trying to drive the user to a
site [or] application that will only work on a specific phone, or with
a certain carrier...if we wanted to drive consumers to a mobile site
that had video, we would target accordingly and avoid bad consumer
experiences," said Lorenzoni.
Ansible is using targeting to efficiently drive traffic to a
WAP site it built for a technology client. "By targeting only smart
phones layered within content buckets that our target is more likely to
be reading, we have seen some great interactions from the clicks that
have come from the buys," Lorenzoni said.
Each client and each campaign must be considered individually,
and both Velti and Ansible do that when they evaluate whether to go to
a traditional or mobile-specific network. Publishers have similar
considerations.
"Mobile is a distinct channel and needs to be treated as
such," said Louis Gump, VP of The Weather Channel Mobile. "That's the
only way to be consumer friendly." He said it's not just a matter of
shrinking a site to fit a smaller screen, but considering the needs of
on-the-go consumers. That context, in turn, has implications for
advertising.
Whether a standalone network or part of a multi-platform
offering, the ability to sell across platforms will be important as the
mobile Web develops. But ad network relationships aren't likely to
replace mobile publishers' direct sales anytime soon. Gannett, which
sold its first mobile ad campaigns in 2001, and has long been on the
Third Screen Media network, sells across print, online, mobile, and
out-of home. "We believe we have solutions that cut across many
platforms at once, rather than platform-by platform basis," said Jones.
Gannett sells most of its own inventory, and hands the remnant
to Platform-A. "We're always going to have more success directly
selling for ourselves," he said. It allows Gannet to sell inventory
across platforms.
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