Ringleader Adds 'Mobile Cookie' Certification For Publishers

Ringleader

Mobile ad firm Ringleader Digital has launched a certification program for publishers to use the company's Media Stamp, its mobile equivalent of a Web cookie for tracking usage. Ringleader's new Certification Center will allow agencies to access the complete list of participating publishers along with key site demographics and contact information to help them run more targeted mobile campaigns.

"This gives advertisers the ability to come in and see the value of the Media Stamp across multiple publishers and who's participating," said Brad Blanken, chief revenue officer at Ringleader. He added that the move would help pave the way for marketers to make direct buys with mobile publishers, hundreds of whom have already signed up for certification.

The new vetting process is also ensuring that publishers are sharing information about Ringleader's privacy and opt-out policies with their visitors, according to the company.

Its Media Stamp technology has raised privacy concerns over its ability to create and store profiles about cell users based on the sites they visit. By collecting data based on more than 100 device characteristics, the company says it can gather enough information this way to create unique, "anonymous" stamps for each mobile phone user.

A class action suit filed last month against Ringleader alleged that the company is violating consumers' privacy by tracing their mobile activity for ad purposes without their permission. The action, which also named publishing partners including CNN and WhitePages.com, further claimed that Ringleader makes it impossible to delete tracking databases in the iPhone and other devices using HTML5 software.

Blanken said the company's privacy policy provides "a very clear, conspicuous way to be notified on what's happening and to opt out if that's their choice. When a consumer opts out, we're taking them out of any type of targeting or contextually relevant ad-serving." The company's privacy policy provides an opt-out link that allows users to refrain from receiving targeted ads.

As demand for mobile audience measurement increases, more companies are offering tracking tools for mobile publishers. Earlier this week, comScore announced a new service with analytics firm Bango to let users tag mobile sites and applications to track engagement metrics.

1 comment about "Ringleader Adds 'Mobile Cookie' Certification For Publishers".
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  1. Thom Kennon from Free Radicals, October 8, 2010 at 7:45 a.m.

    This is very interesting technology / solution / service. Anybody have first hand experience and tales re how they're applying we would be very eager to hear news.

    @tkennon | bigevidence.blogspot.com

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