The following is a continuation of a post written by Hugh Evans recapping a presentation at Publisher Forum EU 12 in June.
The real nuts and bolts of what we wanted to cover in our presentation was still to come – the operational challenges that inevitably come along with a new and innovative medium such as mobile. Some are facing us now, and others we know will hit us in the not too distant future. This is a continuation of that list:
Targeting
Targeting is one of mobile advertising’s shining beacons for advertisers. Cookie targeting has its limitations (not all handsets support them, the data can’t always be trusted, etc.), but the operators hold some detailed data due to the direct billing relationship they hold with their customers. This data is, of course, very sensitive and so requires strict legal and ethical governance (opt-outs/ins and transparent Ts & Cs are essential). Also the extra weight in the ad request could affect latency if the architecture is not carefully organised.
Inventory management
There are a number of challenges with forecasting inventory on mobile. The ad servers are still catching up with online (which still hasn’t really cracked it). Spiking is even more random than on web which causes complications, but ultimately whilst we wait for the tools to advance, there is still a need for good old fashioned spreadsheets and traffickers’ intuition.
Beyond the Banner
There are so many new advertising opportunities beyond standard banner ads, stemming from an advance in tehnology. Smart phones such as the iPhone and the Blackberry are regularly pushing boundaries, and advertising is trying desperately to keep up and cash in on the wave of consumer interaction. But with a distinct and expected lack of standards, delivering advertising in a traditional way is impossible. Issues include:
- Delivery – can the ad server cover everything?
- Asynchronous vs synchronous communication between the ad server and the application – if it is an offline tool do we force the user to connect to the network so we can gather metrics and serve new ads, and if so when and how?
- Pacing – can traditional models be adopted?
- Reporting – When? How?
- Data Charges – what costs are picked up by the consumer, and what is covered by the user?
I certainly don’t have the answers to all of these questions. In my opinion, the only way we can start to unravel some of this further is for the industry to get together around a table and talk about them. We are already talking with key industry bodies including the IAB, MMA, and GSMA (depending on the topic) to address the difficult task of introducing guidelines, but progress can’t happen overnight.
In summary, I put together a few key takeouts from our presentation that I would like to share with you:
Selecting your mobile tools
Let’s talk
Actions speak louder than words
Hugh has a BSc in eCommerce from Brunel University, and a strong background in digital media sales. He is now Ad Operations Manager at Orange UK, where he heads up both mobile and online ad operations, on the Orange portals and extended advertising networks
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