The Big Announcement: Application-Centric Mobile Advertising

As the last post said, we’ve been deep in the trenches getting our new company and product off the ground.  Now we’re finally able to announce what it is.  But first, a little background…

In a previous life, we focused on making new and exciting networked mobile applications.  Our main product, The BEAST, was very ambitious and had huge potential to bring unique ways of interacting with content to mobile devices.  But one of the major problems with getting these new and exciting apps out there was creating a recurring payment model that a) would be practical for users and for a small company with no carrier or aggrigator ties, and b) not put users off, given that the vast minority would not be willing to pay monthly for a single specific phone application.  Many small and large mobile content publishers face this challenge to this day, and there are no ideal solutions available to them.

Our new company, AdHoc Mobile, addresses this challenge with mobile advertising.  Yes – mobile advertising isn’t new.  But the way we do it is.

There are a growing number of companies focusing on ads for mobile web pages.  This is becoming a huge market as anyone following the industry knows.  But no company that we know of allows the small and large application developer to include revenue-generating ads in a flexible, non-intrusive way.

We do.

Imagine being able to integrate ads of extremely customizable format and specifically target content into your application in a matter of minutes.  Pick a platform – MIDP1/2, BREW, FlashLite, Windows Mobile, whatever.  Integration of our ad system is easy on them all – and you set the rules for display.  Do you want a blurb of text in the top left corner of your app?  Go ahead.  A small graphical banner at the bottom?  Sure.  A full screen ad before you let the user start the game?  No problem.

What does the user get from this?  Believe us – we’re fans of new and exciting mobile apps, so we want this to drive adoption, not hinder it.  We’ve designed the system to allow content publishers to use non-intrusive ads in order to offer their applications for free or reduced prices.  No more hating yourself because you purchased a game without a preview and you hate it.  Play a free ad-supported version and buy the ad-free one only if you want.

The system doesn’t stop there.  We have a sophisticated targeting system to allow content publishers to send parameters that specifically target the ads to users.  We’re also working on even more targeting options including location-based services.

I know the debate is hot out there regarding ads on your phone.  But believe me – they do not have to be intrusive, and they can be the driver of tons of free new mobile content.  My personal goal is to see the small developer able to have a valid business model when they offer their new, never been done before, networked mobile app – and be able to publish it themselves with no need for aggrigators or carriers to sell it or institute a monthly charge. Yeah, it’s a dream. But an honest one!

Right now, developers and advertisers can sign up to use the system through the contact information on our web site.  Soon, we hope to launch a public web interface so that developers and advertisers can sign up as they wish.

Please check out our press release and send your comments and questions.  We really believe that this will benefit the mobile community, and if you have reservations or suggestions on how not to mess it up – we’re listening!  We want to empower people, not be a thorn in their sides.

5 Comments so far
Leave a comment








Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

Name (required)

E-mail (required)

URI

Your Comment