AdMob delivers pay-per-click mobile advertising

Alexander Turcic · 01-19-2006, 04:30 AM

It's an old saying that there are no bad ideas. We beg to differ. AdMob is "the world's first pay-per-click mobile advertising marketplace" aimed at monetizing traffic going through mobile sites. The company promises to "focus on finding high quality clients" and to split revenues with 75% going to the publisher and 25% to AdMob.

Russell Beattie seems rather excided about the project, though I fail to understand what AdMob does that cannot already be done with AdSense & Co.

RussellBeattie · 01-19-2006, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alexander

Russell Beattie seems rather excided about the project, though I fail to understand what AdMob does that cannot already be done with AdSense & Co.

Adsense and Yahoo!'s YPN ads can't be viewed via mobile phones because they use Javascript. Admob provides both a text link and a small mobile page to the advertiser which can be viewed on a simple microbrowser. Not only that, web advertisers don't have a way of monetizing the mobile traffic (people don't type credit cards into their mobile phones) so the first advertisers using Admob ads will likely be ringtone providers and the like who can actually sell something at the end of a click-thru.

-Russ

Alexander Turcic · 01-19-2006, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RussellBeattie

Adsense and Yahoo!'s YPN ads can't be viewed via mobile phones because they use Javascript. Admob provides both a text link and a small mobile page to the advertiser which can be viewed on a simple microbrowser.

Current mobile browsers, which include NetFront, Opera Mobile, Opera Mini (limited), and Pocket Internet Explorer display Javascript (1.5) just fine.

Quote:

Not only that, web advertisers don't have a way of monetizing the mobile traffic (people don't type credit cards into their mobile phones) so the first advertisers using Admob ads will likely be ringtone providers and the like who can actually sell something at the end of a click-thru.

This is a very good point, and definitely true from an advertiser's point of view. Most publishers, on the other hand, are less concerned about the limited use of mobile traffic as long as AdSense displays context-relevant ads that visitors are likely to click on (and Google doesn't prohibit the use of AdSense on mobile-specific pages).

rmeister0 · 01-19-2006, 12:14 PM

Quote:

though I fail to understand what AdMob does that cannot already be done with AdSense & Co.

Well, it can make money for AdMob's owners, which AdSense does not.

MrSaint · 01-19-2006, 12:46 PM

A major problem for AdMob will be its size. Getting an ad network up and running is a monumental task.

Take Chitika as an example. Chitika is too small to have the necessary power to impose conditions to the advertisers. As a result, in addition to the already very intransparent auditing process, they took highly questionable steps to lower CTR. Bloggers aren't too amused about this, and many have already decided to dump Chitika again in favor of the more traditional ad networks (Google, Y!).

Don't take me wrong, I wish AdMob best of luck in pursuing their ventures. It's just not going to be easy.

Brian · 01-19-2006, 01:47 PM

While monetizing mobile traffic via mobile ads will accelerate the development of the mobile web, I strongly believe that the ads must have the following attributes in order to be truly effective and palatable:

1. Opt-in
2. Location Based
3. Highly targeted based on user preferences/interests

When are carriers going to open up E911 location capabilities to allow advertisers and other Location Based Services (LBS) access (with the subscriber's permission) to location data?

Purchasing on mobiles through click-through ads in one thing, but IMHO the real mobile advertising market will thrive on a combination of opt-in, highly personalized, location aware ads and promotions.

PS Welcome to MobileRead Russ!

Bob Russell · 01-19-2006, 02:06 PM

I'm probably missing something, but allow me to be the skeptic for a moment here.

I think the consumer loses if it becomes an all or nothing opt in for sharing location data. What we really need is opt in for a particular service, but sufficient controls would probably never exist to ensure that is stays with a particular service.

As far as opting in for ads, do you think that anyone would agree to opt-in? That would be like opting in for telemarketing! We can't even stop telemarketing with a national US system and laws to control it... there are too many exceptions. I still get nusiance calls enough to make me not want to answer the phone. (And it's going to increase on cell phones also.)

I'm also suspicious about location based ads. I know it's thought to be important so I'm probably just not forward-thinking enough but I think it will be a long time before location-based information is accurate enough to be useful. Have you looked for restaurants or stores in an area on national phone directories? It's pretty bad what you get back. And if I want to know about restaurants or shoe stores or whatever, I think I'd rather make a query than be stuck with an ad on my phone.

I think anything in my hand should have minimal advertising. It's more personal than desktop web browsing, and more intrusive because we're talking about something like adware taking over my phone, and I won't have open source alternatives either.

But the revenue is the main design goal so I guess it has more to do with what consumers will tolerate than with what is best for them.

Brian · 01-19-2006, 02:38 PM

If you think about how mobile phones will be used, then I think we can get an idea of where and how mobile ads will and should come into play.

Local Search- Mobile users will use their phones to search for places to eat, shop, and be entertained. In these cases, targeted ads appearing with search results would be based on keywords and location.

Opt-in promotions- users could opt-in to special offers based on their interests and location/proximity. Offers would pop up in SMS-style alerts depending on proximity to participating advertisers.

Mobile Web- while browsing mobile sites on a mobile device, click-through ads like AdMob ads will appear on the mobile site. I think these will be rejected unless they are unobtrusive, targeted text-only ads that take up very little screen real estate.

I think local search and opt-in advertising will be the most lucrative on mobile devices because people will use their phones to search for businesses and services that they will end up visiting in person to spend $$. Why do you think Google has partnered up with the likes of Palm on the Treo 700W, Motorola, and RIM/Blackberry to get a Google search box front and center on their handsets?

I have a hard time believing that people will use their mobile devices to buy products that will be delivered at a later date/location. Ringtones were mentioned, and while they are a huge market, most users will get sick of seing ringtone ads everywhere on mobile sites.

I highly recommend the book Going Wireless by Jaclyn Easton to anyone interested in the future of mobile advertising and wireless devices in general. She dedicates a significant portion of the book to mobile advertising/marketing and location-based services.

Scott R · 01-21-2006, 10:22 PM

Workable click-through mobile advertising will require the following two things which are, currently, not the norm:
1) Fast cellular networks (Ev-DO is the first of these).
2) Low-cost unlimited data plans.

Even with the above, I think it could be argued that it will only work for the following two categories of people:
a) People with lots of free time on-the-go (e.g., students with lots of spare time between classes).
b) People who don't realize that these are ads and are "fooled" into clicking on them.

With the current networks (which aren't super-fast), savvy users on-the-go aren't apt to click on links without giving them some serious thought first. I've got a Treo 650 w/Sprint's 2.5G Vision network. It's a comparitively cheap, unlimited data plan, so I don't have to worry about how much bandwidth I'm using. But it's still quite slow compared to my DSL at home, so I don't click on every link I *want* to click on, and I certainly don't click on links that look anything like ad links.

For at least the short-term, I think the only viable mobile advertising is going to be brand enforcement per-view advertising where the advertiser doesn't expect the user to ever click-through to their site (from a mobile device), but simply hopes that the placement of their name on the site will have a positive impact for their brand. This takes the form of a "Sponsored by Company X" blurb somewhere on the mobile site.

Easy access to ringtones and mobile apps is a good idea, but this will require more effort by the advertisers (and/or more proactivity by the site owner), and will come by way of site/device-specific affiliate links. The reason for this is that ringtones and apps/applets are not a generic item. You've got people browsing via devices that use the Palm OS, WM, S60, and Java-based phones, each of which have incompatible apps and often incompatible formats for ringtones, etc.

I've got much more I could blather on about this subject, as it's something I think about from time to time, but I'll leave it at that for now.

01-19-2006, 04:30 AM	#1
Alexander Turcic Fully Converged Posts: 18,163 Karma: 14021202 Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Switzerland Device: Too many to count here.	AdMob delivers pay-per-click mobile advertising It's an old saying that there are no bad ideas. We beg to differ. AdMob is "the world's first pay-per-click mobile advertising marketplace" aimed at monetizing traffic going through mobile sites. The company promises to "focus on finding high quality clients" and to split revenues with 75% going to the publisher and 25% to AdMob. Russell Beattie seems rather excided about the project, though I fail to understand what AdMob does that cannot already be done with AdSense & Co.

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01-19-2006, 12:46 PM	#5
MrSaint Little Computer Guy Posts: 73 Karma: 2466 Join Date: Aug 2005 Device: Treo 650 + iPaq	A major problem for AdMob will be its size. Getting an ad network up and running is a monumental task. Take Chitika as an example. Chitika is too small to have the necessary power to impose conditions to the advertisers. As a result, in addition to the already very intransparent auditing process, they took highly questionable steps to lower CTR. Bloggers aren't too amused about this, and many have already decided to dump Chitika again in favor of the more traditional ad networks (Google, Y!). Don't take me wrong, I wish AdMob best of luck in pursuing their ventures. It's just not going to be easy.

01-19-2006, 01:47 PM	#6
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	While monetizing mobile traffic via mobile ads will accelerate the development of the mobile web, I strongly believe that the ads must have the following attributes in order to be truly effective and palatable: 1. Opt-in 2. Location Based 3. Highly targeted based on user preferences/interests When are carriers going to open up E911 location capabilities to allow advertisers and other Location Based Services (LBS) access (with the subscriber's permission) to location data? Purchasing on mobiles through click-through ads in one thing, but IMHO the real mobile advertising market will thrive on a combination of opt-in, highly personalized, location aware ads and promotions. PS Welcome to MobileRead Russ!

01-19-2006, 02:06 PM	#7
Bob Russell Recovering Gadget Addict Posts: 5,381 Karma: 676161 Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Device: iPad	I'm probably missing something, but allow me to be the skeptic for a moment here. I think the consumer loses if it becomes an all or nothing opt in for sharing location data. What we really need is opt in for a particular service, but sufficient controls would probably never exist to ensure that is stays with a particular service. As far as opting in for ads, do you think that anyone would agree to opt-in? That would be like opting in for telemarketing! We can't even stop telemarketing with a national US system and laws to control it... there are too many exceptions. I still get nusiance calls enough to make me not want to answer the phone. (And it's going to increase on cell phones also.) I'm also suspicious about location based ads. I know it's thought to be important so I'm probably just not forward-thinking enough but I think it will be a long time before location-based information is accurate enough to be useful. Have you looked for restaurants or stores in an area on national phone directories? It's pretty bad what you get back. And if I want to know about restaurants or shoe stores or whatever, I think I'd rather make a query than be stuck with an ad on my phone. I think anything in my hand should have minimal advertising. It's more personal than desktop web browsing, and more intrusive because we're talking about something like adware taking over my phone, and I won't have open source alternatives either. But the revenue is the main design goal so I guess it has more to do with what consumers will tolerate than with what is best for them.

01-19-2006, 02:38 PM	#8
Brian MobileRead Editor Posts: 447 Karma: 84 Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Massachusetts Device: Treo 700p, Zodiac2	If you think about how mobile phones will be used, then I think we can get an idea of where and how mobile ads will and should come into play. Local Search- Mobile users will use their phones to search for places to eat, shop, and be entertained. In these cases, targeted ads appearing with search results would be based on keywords and location. Opt-in promotions- users could opt-in to special offers based on their interests and location/proximity. Offers would pop up in SMS-style alerts depending on proximity to participating advertisers. Mobile Web- while browsing mobile sites on a mobile device, click-through ads like AdMob ads will appear on the mobile site. I think these will be rejected unless they are unobtrusive, targeted text-only ads that take up very little screen real estate. I think local search and opt-in advertising will be the most lucrative on mobile devices because people will use their phones to search for businesses and services that they will end up visiting in person to spend $$. Why do you think Google has partnered up with the likes of Palm on the Treo 700W, Motorola, and RIM/Blackberry to get a Google search box front and center on their handsets? I have a hard time believing that people will use their mobile devices to buy products that will be delivered at a later date/location. Ringtones were mentioned, and while they are a huge market, most users will get sick of seing ringtone ads everywhere on mobile sites. I highly recommend the book Going Wireless by Jaclyn Easton to anyone interested in the future of mobile advertising and wireless devices in general. She dedicates a significant portion of the book to mobile advertising/marketing and location-based services.

01-21-2006, 10:22 PM	#9
Scott R Junior Member Posts: 5 Karma: 25 Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Simsbury, CT Device: Treo 650 / Zodiac 1	Workable click-through mobile advertising will require the following two things which are, currently, not the norm: 1) Fast cellular networks (Ev-DO is the first of these). 2) Low-cost unlimited data plans. Even with the above, I think it could be argued that it will only work for the following two categories of people: a) People with lots of free time on-the-go (e.g., students with lots of spare time between classes). b) People who don't realize that these are ads and are "fooled" into clicking on them. With the current networks (which aren't super-fast), savvy users on-the-go aren't apt to click on links without giving them some serious thought first. I've got a Treo 650 w/Sprint's 2.5G Vision network. It's a comparitively cheap, unlimited data plan, so I don't have to worry about how much bandwidth I'm using. But it's still quite slow compared to my DSL at home, so I don't click on every link I want to click on, and I certainly don't click on links that look anything like ad links. For at least the short-term, I think the only viable mobile advertising is going to be brand enforcement per-view advertising where the advertiser doesn't expect the user to ever click-through to their site (from a mobile device), but simply hopes that the placement of their name on the site will have a positive impact for their brand. This takes the form of a "Sponsored by Company X" blurb somewhere on the mobile site. Easy access to ringtones and mobile apps is a good idea, but this will require more effort by the advertisers (and/or more proactivity by the site owner), and will come by way of site/device-specific affiliate links. The reason for this is that ringtones and apps/applets are not a generic item. You've got people browsing via devices that use the Palm OS, WM, S60, and Java-based phones, each of which have incompatible apps and often incompatible formats for ringtones, etc. I've got much more I could blather on about this subject, as it's something I think about from time to time, but I'll leave it at that for now.

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