• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, April 5, 2012

Opera Software has launched App-Tribute through its advertising subsidiaries AdMarvel, Mobile Theory and 4th Screen Advertising. The company has been testing the tools with several partners to gather marketing and analytics data without taking sensitive information, such as unique device identifiers, cookies or MAC addresses.

The software tracks click intent without user behavior, according to Mahi de Silva, executive vice president of consumer mobile at Opera Software. The software combined intent to install the app with the intent to purchase without relying on a unique identifier (UDID), transmitting user information, or browser-based cookie. The UDID identifies the clicks generating the installation of the app on the consumer's device.

App-Tribute’s app-based advertising platform supports cost-per-click, cost-per-download, cost-per-install and cost-per-mil or 1000 impressions promotions. It works across all ad formats, including banners, interstitials and rich-media creative pieces, including iOS and Android devices.

ABI Research estimates the total number of app downloads this year at 36 billion, with iOS and Android contributing about 83%. Downloads to Windows phones comprise the remainder.

Opera's free development kits, one for advertisers and the other for publishers, work within any rich media format. For advertisers like Zynga, the kits are inserted in apps track downloads and subsequent installs. No personally identifiable information is accessed or shared, and the only server-side communication is to report and validate app installs. For publishers like Conde Nast, the kits tracks the promotion of apps and anonymous consumer interest in designated apps.

The tool is Opera's solution to offset Apple's decision to phase out the ability for marketers and application builders to link actions taken by more than one application running iOS, such as iPhones and iPads.