Commentary

Mobile Search Connects With Paid Ad Call Tracking

Bill-Dinan

Marketers who have thought through mobile ad leads might be ahead of the game. xAD will rely on Telmetrics to help validate the performance of its mobile ad network through call-tracking metrics. The company plans to deliver quality lead data for calls placed through mobile ads across the company's platform of mobile search publishers, local directory and navigation providers and carriers.  

xAD works with large media publishers and other ad networks to deliver paid search ads on mobile. Guess what? Those searching on mobile devices are a lot further in the sales funnel than marketers first thought, especially for those on the go. They are on a mobile search engine looking for a specific item. So, it turns out, advertisers are prepared to pay more per click when they can validate the intent of the consumer and track the sales lead, according to Bill Dinan, president of Telmetrics.

Actually, Dinan has a point. I'm more likely to click on a phone number in an ad if I can quickly connect with the company that can help solve my problem, whether that means verifying stock in the store or confirming directions to a physical location. xAD can track when a mobile user clicks on a phone number in the ad to make a call to the brand. That proxy for a call turns into a lead. Really, it is that legit? The only problem I have with it is don't call my mobile phone number to try and sell me anything, so you better somehow connect that number with my email address without me knowing or you're going to piss me off.

The leads, however, appear to work for xAD network. The company serves more than one million national, regional and local advertisers that target consumers at the point of purchase.

Dinan says Telmetrics' call measurement products track leads from local search advertising for hundreds of thousands of SMBs and national franchise locations, but it also protects numbers that need to remain blocked to the brand. It measures performance of call durations, caller demographics, caller locations and peak calling times.

The ability to track "quality" calls, which eliminates any calls from telemarketers, will turn mobile call tracking into a monetization goldmine. When searches connect with paid ads it gives marketers the ability to monetize mobile events at a greater dollar rate than a click, Dinan says.

Venture capitalists also see the incremental value in mobile call tracking. GRP Partners and Rincon Venture Partners led a $4 million round of VC funding for RingRevenue, a call performance marketing company that will use the financing to accelerate growth and expansion plans worldwide.

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