Mobile Start-up Qriously Expands To U.S.

London-based mobile start-up Qriously is entering the U.S. market with the launch of a New York office led by Joe Zahtila, former chief revenue officer and COO of Dynamic Logic. The company, which replaces regular mobile ads with short survey questions on behalf of brands and publishers, is also rolling out a pair of new ad offerings.

While its flagship Pulse product gauges consumer sentiment in real-time, based on their location, the new products extend the survey approach to additional areas. The new “Censio” ad will allow developers to ask app users questions about how they use their products, while the “Tactus” will let advertisers perform copy tests by serving questions to track people’s awareness of previously viewed ads.

Launched in 2010, seven-person Qriously has raised $1.6 million to date from venture investors Accel Partners and Amalfi Capital. Ad clients pay per answer for questions served on smartphones and tablets, but the company also provides developers a free SDK (software development kit) to solicit immediate feedback from users within apps.

Qriously, which declined to name any advertising client Tuesday, says its platform reaches 35 million devices globally.

“Using our range of products, companies can quickly and easily gain invaluable real-time insight into the opinions of mobile users worldwide,” stated company co-founder and CEO Christopher Kahler.

Now Qriously wants to bring its mobile tools for quickly ascertaining public sentiment to the U.S. In addition to appointing Zahtila as general manager for North American operations, the company also named Julian Kenny, formerly head of customer services and claims at St Andrews Group plc, as EVP, finance and operations.

The start-up will face a host of competitors in the U.S. from Nielsen and comScore to mobile-specific analytics firms such as Flurry and Distimo.

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