Mobile Marketing 101: AdMob Network

Starting this month, I will try to provide a brief coverage of the major mobile advertising network to give marketers out there an idea who/what/how to approach in this media space. I'll begin this segment by going over, arguably, the largest mobile advertising platform: AdMob.

Admob is probably the biggest mobile advertising network in the marketplace today. Advertisers can expect to see their mobile ads served from mobile webpages to iPhone applications. A quick visit to their website reveals four primary services: 1). Advertisers, 2). Ad Agencies, 3). iPhone Dev Folks and 4). Mobile Web Publishers. The former two services are catered towards marketers looking to target mobile advertisements while the ladder two are catered towards folks looking to monetize their mobile programs.

Some of the biggest brand names have advertised through AdMob, some of them includes: Land Rover, Target, Playstation/Resistance 2, Thumbplay, EA, Jaguar, American Express, etc... Advertisers love AdMob because of their understanding in both Brand as well Performance driven marketing goals. AdMob has the ability to serve ads to targeted audience based on proprietary ad serving algorithm and takes pride in the ability to offer in depth mobile analysis to measure your campaigns ROI.

Admob offers some interesting insight into the mobile atomsphere, such as the Mobile Metrics Reporting which shares some interesting data points with the entire mobile community. In addition, they also share some some case studies with successful advertisers as well as a blog which they share latest mobile advertising news.

Mobile Network: AdMob (www.AdMob.com)
Reach: Claims to reach 49% of mobile web network and apps (2,309 iPhone Apps as of 05/2009)
Ad formats: PNG
Spec/Sizes: 120x20, 168x28, 216x36, 300x50
Knowledge Base: AdMob Metrics Reporting, Admob Client Case Studies, AdMob Blog (Life and Times of Admob)

Microsoft Joins Google and Yahoo in Mobile Banner Ads

Microsoft announced they will be launching mobile banner ads to advertisers interested in reaching customers using mobile Hotmail and Messenger. This is a natural progression for Microsoft to continue its pursuit to compete with Google in two playing fields: Mobile and Advertising. While Google's mobile advertising model is based on a more open-ended network (Adsense publishers can be anyone), Microsoft's staple of users on Messenger and Hotmail is pretty sizable in itself. In addition, its mobile operating system has had a first mover advantage with a large user base.

My only concern is if Microsoft can deliver a solid mobile ad platform with reliability and usability for its advertisers. As a paid search marketer, we find the user interface with Microsoft's search engine advertising to be a bit cumbersome. When compared to Google's adwords platform, it just doesn't feel as intuitive and easy to use. If Microsoft is to be taken seriously in its mobile advertising effort, they should focus on this area.

Microsoft will now join Google, Yahoo, Third Screen Media and AdMob to the mobile advertising space.