When it comes to mobile ad pricing, iOS apps have long commanded a premium over their Android counterparts. A recent report from Opera Software showed the iPhone and other iOS devices drive higher eCPMs and nearly twice the ad revenue of Android-based devices. New data from mobile ad exchange Mobile today shows iOS advertising still gets top dollar, but that Android saw gains in pricing in the third quarter. From July to September, eCPMs for impressions on Android phones rose 26% from 34 cents to 43 cents, while those for iOS held roughly steady, with a slight increase from 70 cents to 72 cents. Rates on Android tablets grew even faster, increasing 30% from an eCPM of 37 cents to 48 cents during the quarter, while rates on the iPad went up from 88 cents to 94 cents. What accounts for the uptick in Android pricing? Elain Szu, MoPub’s director of marketing, attributed the increase to factors including improved audience targeting on Android and standardization through the MRAID set of technical standards for mobile rich media ads. The MoPub study showed that MRAID-compliant ads achieved an eCPM of 74 cents in September compared to 50 cents for non-compliant ads. “With Android devices, there are so many different screen sizes, with different resolutions, getting that standardization from MRAID probably helped” lead to higher pricing, she said. The iPhone, however, remained the most popular device, with 3.5 bids per completed auction compared to the average of three bids across devices, including the iPad and Android phones and tablets. In terms of ad formats, medium rectangles and smartphone banners (320 x 50) had the strongest gains during the quarter, with eCPMs for the formats increasing 42% to $1.09, and 20% to 60 cents, respectively. On the iPad, banners (728 x 90) rose 11% to 90 cents but those for full-screen interstitial ads dropped the same percentage to $1.76. Looking at ad categories, health and fitness apps proved the most popular among advertisers during the summer months, with titles in that segment drawing an average of 4.8 bids per completed auction. That put it just ahead of news (4.2 bids), entertainment (3.5), games, (3.5) and social networking (3.3). The overall number of winning bids on the MoPub exchange increased 162% compared to the second quarter, even with a growing supply of mobile ad inventory -- “in our view, an indication that advertisers understand the value of RTB in terms of being able to reach audiences in the moment they are accessing their applications,” said Szu. The company says its third-quarter data reflects 20 billion monthly ad impressions a month on its real-time bidding system across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The "results may vary" disclaimer applies when it comes to mobile strategies for auto shoppers. A new study by mobile-local ad network xAd and call measurement company Telmetrics, based on Nielsen data, shows a lot of variation in how shoppers use mobile devices. But the study makes a few generalizations: 68% of auto shoppers using mobile devices to shop are Caucasian; 64% are male; and 35% have a household income from $50,000 to $100,000. And there are sub-categories: the slightly higher-income cohort that does its searching around general auto information and manufacturer sites; non-Caucasian deal hunters with average incomes of $35,000 to $50,000, who spend the majority of time at general auto information sites and manufacturer sites; circumstantial and emergency users, typically Caucasian females who depend on quick access to Auto info via search and familiar brand properties; and gear heads who are typically African American males, ages 25-54 with an annual income of $100,000 to $150,000. But there are big variations in how consumers use mobile in their hunt for wheels. The study says about half of all mobile auto searchers make a purchase and slightly fewer want to do the buy that day. The study says proximity, right fit and price are the most important factors. And while smartphone users tend to want to buy a vehicle within the hour, tablet searchers are less impulsive. The firms says that of the 15% of mobile consumers conducting mobile Auto searches, fewer than one percent are using apps. Rather, mobile versions of research sites like KBB.com, AutoTrader.com and edmunds.com are the most popular. The takeaway: don't make apps for bottom-funnel consumers. “Automotive mobile marketers should recognize auto searchers’ preference for mobile websites over apps,” said Bill Dinan, president of Telmetrics. “Also, understanding the role of location – specifically the importance of local driving distance – is essential to harnessing the 65% undecided mobile Auto audience and their purchasing power.” Forty-four percent of auto searchers looked up a business location or directions, and 43% looked up pricing info or compared prices; 36% looked for a business phone number and/or called the business. Thirty-five percent of mobile auto searches involved people who know exactly what car they want. Tablet users are much more familiar with the brand they want before conducting a search.
Google has introduced the ability to read and share reviews in Google Shopping. The company on Tuesday announced the addition of Shortlists to Google Shopping, allowing consumers to bookmark and then compare product features on Google Shopping and other sites across the Web before making a purchase. Shortlist allows consumers to add notes and details about a specific product. The price appears alongside notes and images. Friends can keep track of products and prices, as well as share the Shortlist to compare notes and add comments. More holiday shoppers will find "motivation" online this year, according to the National Retail Federation’s holiday consumer spending survey conducted by BIGinsight. Some 47.3% of consumers said they will look for holiday gift ideas online, compared with 45.2% who will find their inspiration for the perfect gift in the store, 40.4% from friends and family, 36.2% from advertising circulars, and 35.4% on television. Consumers will also take to their phones this holiday season buying gifts from apps. Google added Google Shopper 3.0 for Android to browse and research gifts on mobile devices. Among smartphone or tablet owners, 68% have used their mobile device to make a purchase in the past, according to Qualcomm Snapdragon, which manufactures processors for more than 500 mobile devices. Findings from the holiday shopping survey conducted by Ipsos suggest about half of average smartphone or tablet owners said they would definitely or probably be motivated to walk into a store if they received on-the-spot coupons for a retailer on their mobile device. Consumers are becoming more comfortable with the idea of mobile device apps as a form of payment. Some 58% of smartphone or tablet owners said they are comfortable making purchases on their mobile device. About 62% of consumers ages 18 to 34 are most likely to admit being comfortable making purchases on their mobile device, compared with 51% of those ages 35 to 50.
National Geographic Channel will use technology from Yahoo’s IntoNow to offer second-screen experiences in conjunction with the return of its reality series “Rocket City Rednecks” and “Doomsday Preppers.” IntoNow allows viewers to “tag” a show with a smartphone or tablet (via apps on the iOS and Android platforms) and receive access to added content. But the technology also offers opportunities for marketers. For “Rocket City Rednecks,” taggers can receive a 25%-off coupon for Papa John’s. In May, Lexus backed a promotion where viewers of ABC’s “Revenge” could enter a sweepstakes using IntoNow. Viewers of “Rocket City Rednecks,” which features an Alabama family using aerospace engineering training to solve “real-world scenarios,” can also enter a sweepstakes and take part in trivia games. “Preppers’” viewers -- the show is about people readying for the end of the world -- can use the tag functionality to receive behind-the-scenes photos, videos and trivia. In 2011, Pepsi used IntoNow to allow viewers tagging a spot with a Major League Baseball theme to receive a digital coupon with a barcode that could be used in stores for a bottle of free Pepsi Max. Yahoo bought IntoNow in 2011. The technology offers a version of interactive TV that may dovetail with consumers increasingly watching TV with a mobile device in hand and maybe less with a remote control, which is the device that propels iTV opportunities that cable operators are offering.
Gearing up for the holiday shopping season, Toys “R” Us has launched revamped mobile apps and mobile sites that add features for ordering and shipping, as well as scanning products in-store. The rollout includes updated Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us apps for iOS and Android and a new tablet-optimized site for both brands. The refreshed mobile offerings extend popular shopping services, including “Buy Online, Pick Up In Store” and “Ship to Store,” through their smartphones and tablets. They also provide a unified shopping cart between the Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us apps and sites so shoppers can switch between the two brands without having to make separate purchases. Milton Pappas, vice president, e-commerce customer experience at Toys “R” Us, said the app enhancements would enable someone to place an order via mobile and pick it up at their local store within three hours -- a boon for last-minute holiday shoppers. The redesigned apps also enable users to scan a product barcode or QR code to get more information. Customers are taken to a page showing product details and user reviews, and giving them the ability to add the item to their shopping cart. Mobile users can enter their ZIP code to see local ads and deals. Customers can also access deals through the company’s “R” mobile messaging program, which sends up to two text messages per week about coupons and offers. The Toys “R” Us iPhone app (all versions) has a rating of 2.5 out of five stars in the App Store, based on just 102 ratings. The Android version has an average rating of 4.3 stars in the Google Playstore, but is based on input from only 14 users.
Live television viewing continues to lose ground -- albeit slowly -- as time-shifted programming and multitasking with smartphones and/or tablets gains ground.Nielsen's new cross-media platform report shows live viewing in the second quarter of 2012 averaged 4 hours and 18 minutes a day, down five minutes a day from the second quarter of 2011.Live viewing in the second quarter has remained fairly constant in previous years: 4:20 in the second quarter of 2010; 4:23 in the second quarter of 2009; and 4:23 in the second quarter of 2008.Averaged DVR playback -- time-shifted programming -- was at 22 minutes a day, up from 20 minutes a year ago. (About 45% of U.S. TV homes have DVRs). Video game use stayed the same, at 12 minutes a day, while DVD playback declined to 10 minutes from 12 minutes.Multitasking with video-capable devices also continues to climb. Close to 40% of Americans now use their tablets or smartphones while watching TV at least once a day -- 85% at least once a month.Drilling down, Nielsen says 29% of people use their smartphone at least once a day while watching TV, and nearly 50% of those younger 18- to-24-year-olds use it while watching TV.Almost 30% of those 25-34 use their smartphones to shop while watching TV. Smartphones now have a market penetration greater than 50%, and tablets are already in nearly 20% of U.S. TV homes.
The AOL On Network on Wednesday is expected to announce a partnership with online video platform Kaltura. The deal makes around 420,000 premium videos within the AOL On Network accessible from Kaltura's open-source video platform, which is used by 150,000 companies, including Best Buy, HBO and TMZ. “It opens up places where The AOL On Network's content can live that have traditionally been against the two-player experience,” says Frank Besteiro, head of business development for The AOL On Network. “As a media company, our thoughts are on mass distribution for our content, and that means making our content player agnostic.” As a result of the partnership, Kaltura’s publishers will be able to access and search the AOL video catalog, then add videos to their own accounts. Regarding the business arrangements of deals, Besteiro said: “We will set up individual agreements with partners interested in taking our content through their Kaltura players. We can sell or they can sell both options as available to partners.” Despite an explosion in online video, Kaltura co-founder Michal Tsur said quality content remains in high demand. “The goal [of working with AOL] is to provide a solution for publishers that have views but lack actual content,” Tsur said. Added Besteiro: “Mass video views are the objective for this partnership. The ability to drive video views of our content across all platforms and devices is what every media company is looking to achieve.”Kaltura recently launched new multiplatform functionality with support for iOS, Android, Xbox and Google TV, extending the reach of AOL content to users of mobile devices and connected TVs. Launched just this past April, The AOL On Network brings AOL's entire video offering under one umbrella, and reaches more than 75 million unique visitors per month, according to AOL, citing comScore data.
New research shows that in addition to being generally nifty, tablet computers make it easier for people with moderate vision loss to read, thanks to displays that are clearer and brighter than print on paper. That’s according to a new study by New Jersey’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, which tracked the reading speeds of 100 subjects with moderate central vision impairment when using iPads and Kindle tablets. Subjects reading text in 18-point font on the iPad gained at least 42 words per minute in their average reading speed compared to print, while subjects reading the same size text on a Kindle gained an average of 12 words per minute compared to their print reading speed. Patients with the worst vision (which the study defined as 20/40 or worse in both eyes) showed the biggest improvements when reading on tablet devices instead of print text. People with the worst vision loss also said the iPad provided the most comfortable reading experience. The study authors suggest that back-illumination may be the key to the iPad’s improved readability, because it enhances the contrast between words and background. Daniel Roth, M.D., an associate clinical professor at Robert Wood Johnson School of Medicine and the study’s lead author, stated: “Our findings show that at a relatively low cost, digital tablets can improve the lives of people with vision loss and help them reconnect with the larger world.” These results are especially significant because tablet ownership is increasing among older adults, who are more likely to suffer vision loss. According to data released by Pew’s Internet & American Life Project, 27% of American adults ages 50-64 and 13% of adults ages 65+ owned a tablet computer in August of this year. Those figures are up from 15% and 7%, respectively, in January of this year, and just 4% and 2%, respectively, in November 2010.
Everything has a prime time — both media consumption and activities. It may not always be particularly marked, but it’s generally there. Sometimes, there is more than one clear statistical peak in the day. (Drive-time radio is a longstanding example.) One of the more recent behavioral phenomena to emerge as a consistent pattern in a specific time span: mobile shopping. Although clearly a pursuit of a minority of the adult population, when including shopping via the mobile Web and using apps, all indications are that total numbers are growing — both total mobile shoppers and total spend. While this is good news for the mobile industry, retailers still view mobile shopping with uncertainty as they strategize how to deal with the much-reported threat of “showrooming” or comparison shopping. According to USA TouchPoints data, in terms of total reach within the 18-64 population, those shopping via mobile in an average week account for a little over 6% reach with a slight skew to women. Of those, just over 19% shop this way during the week and almost 27% do so on weekends. In terms of dayparts, the clear candidate for prime-time status right now appears to be late afternoon to mid-evening — 4 p.m.-8 p.m., during which average reach among mobile shoppers never drops below 8% and gets as high as 13%. This is perhaps surprising, considering this is also when families return home, meals are prepared, people commute etc. It is also an indication of when some of the feared comparison shopping is concluded. Are these the post-browsing and window-shopping hours? Interestingly, this is not all a young persons activity. While 18-34 years olds are best represented at just over 9% weekly reach, 18-49-year olds are not far behind at 7.5% and 25-54-year olds register 6.5% reach. While it is possible that the younger demo may increase their mobile shopping more quickly than the other groups, there is really nothing to suggest that in the data, the ubiquity of the mobile phone is a key factor that would mitigate against a really significant divide opening along age lines. Perhaps counter-intuitively, auction-based purchases via mobile (like eBay) attract higher levels of reach on an average weekday at 6% (perhaps monitoring bids or items previously placed via computer) and coupons sites and apps, such as Groupon, attain higher reach over the weekend at 8.5% of mobile shoppers. This may be a reflection of the expansion of the category beyond the strict confines of the deal of the day model to something users can gain value from in a manner more in keeping with their lifestyles — catching up on recent deals they saw or missed. However, a the variables stand now, they will undoubtedly continue to show increases in volume as mobile shopping establishes its place as we enter this holiday season and beyond.
Marketers keep inching closer and closer to mobile customers by using more precise targeting in hopes of influencing intent. Foursquare recently added ratings to locations in its Explore tab to provide nearby customers with a 1 to 10 scale of certain venues, like restaurants and bars. Unlike Yelp’s user ratings and rankings, Foursquare bases its scale on digital breadcrumbs from people who have left tips, likes and dislikes along with popularity, loyalty, local expertise and billions of overall Foursquare check-ins. Starbucks put QR codes on coffee packages so consumers can quickly receive additional information about the particular coffee. Vans Shoes promotes MMS sign-ups on its Web site. All these approaches are aimed at getting the consumer to do something based on providing them with additional (and hopefully useful) information. Although location can be tracked and is used in many of those approaches, it’s not necessarily leveraged to its fullest when it comes to targeted messaging. We’re talking about going beyond the idea of sending the right message at the right time or even the right message to the right person, which many have been refined over the years. One mobile startup has been powering this new activity with some major brands including retailers and hotel chains such as Ritz-Carlton and Intercontinental Hotels Group. Messages to consumers from companies like these are being delivered to consumers’ mobile devices based on customer segment, location, and mobile app usage history, facilitated by New York-based mobile startup Xtify. Xtify created a platform and process to target both the consumer and message at just the right moment, at the most effective location. The idea is to target at the highest moment of relevancy. They use push messaging in conjunction with precise targeting to influence intent using the context of messaging based on location. The people most likely to use the Xtify capabilities are those customers who downloaded a brand’s app because they already are fans of a particular brand. The technology is embedded within the brand’s app so the consumer never sees Xtify, a noticeable pattern in the mobile industry. “If you have an app, you likely are a brand loyalist,” says Josh Rochlin, Chief Executive Officer of Xtify. “This is the next-generation CRM. Influencing intent is the goal and the ability to segment and target based on context is crucial.” Xtify’s technology uses persistent location technology, which is built into Apple and Android devices and registers a user’s location anonymously on a continuous basis. A marketer can customize messages dependent on when they’re sent, based on time, location and frequency. For example, a person may be sent a mobile message when they come within a certain distance of a particular store. If the person opens the message, they may only receive one more message (a different one) within a four-week period. If the consumer does not open the app within 30 days, they can be sent a reminder by SMS to open the app. This allows marketers to send consumers useful messages when they enter a predefined geofenced area. Consumers don’t have to open the brand’s app to find if there is a special offer, since it is automatically triggered when the consumer is in the vicinity. “We took the push notification and built a cloud interface using dynamic segmentation for targeting and messaging,” says Rochlin. When mobile shoppers are viewing a brand’s Web site, different messages can be sent based on whether the consumer is at home, in the store, or even in a competitor’s store. The offers can be totally tailored to each of those locations. The idea is that no message is sent to a person more than once and every recipient has to have opted in -- typically done when they download the brand’s app. The general concept of Xtify’s geofencing approach is that if a person opens a page within a certain radius, they will receive value. It’s up to the brand or marketer to determine how best to provide that value to each individual and to influence intent. When a person receives a message of value, the system also allows it to be shared with other platforms like Facebook and Twitter. An example of precise message targeting is that when a Ritz-Carlton guest arrives near the hotel, they receive an SMS welcoming them to the hotel and suggesting they open the Ritz-Carlton app to receive a special offer. Messages also could be tied to a brand’s loyalty program, for even more personalized messaging. The logical next step will be to measure the power and effectiveness of influencing intent.
Some 50% of both smartphone and tablet users have made automotive-related purchases through a mobile app or a Web browser, according to findings released Tuesday. xAd and Telmetrics released the automotive findings of their Mobile Path to Purchase Study revealing that mobile ad spending in the automotive category rose nearly 375% from Q2 2011 to Q2 2012. It also identifies a 51% purchase and conversion rate for mobile auto searches. The study breaks down the auto category into three subcategories: Automotive Information, Auto Manufacturers & Dealers, and Auto Parts & Services. And four consumer profiles of mobile auto searchers: Auto Researchers, Deal Hunters, Emergency Users and Gear Heads. Mobile Auto users are largely Caucasian males between age 25 and 44, with an annual salary between $50,000 and $100,000. And while the Automotive category hits a note with males, the Auto Parts & Services category indexes high for women. Consumers interacting with the Auto Parts & Services subcategory are split between hobbyists and users. The study suggests that this demonstrates consumers with a more immediate need. One interesting factor points to nuances in the category. It turns out that more than one-third of mobile auto users knew exactly what they were looking for, and 36% had a general idea during their decision-making process, indicating that the familiarity of brands plays a key role in influencing the mobile path to purchase in the Auto category. The study suggests passive engagement on sites related to financial services, news, social media and local directories as a more effective strategy when trying to influence the purchase of auto-related goods and services. Location will become increasingly important for smartphone and tablet users. When asked to pick the top three reasons for making an auto-related purchase after using an app or visiting a Web site, 86% of smartphone users said "close to my location," compared with 53% of tablet users. The xAd and Telmetrics study combines online survey data from 1,500 U.S. tablet and smartphone users, as well as observed behaviors from Nielsen’s Smartphone Analytics Panel of 6,000 Apple and Android users.
Los Angeles-based Fan Appz this week launched a new social media marketing product called “Personalized Marketing Platform.”