The Biggest Challenges Faced By Mobile Advertising

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What Are The Biggest Challenges Of Advertising On The Small Screen? (The Drum)
The Drum asked contributors: what are the biggest challenges of advertising on a small screen?

• James Hilton, CEO, M&C Saatchi Mobile: Messaging and creativity.
• Amy Vale, VP of global research & strategic communications, Mojiva: Far from being a challenge, the benefits of our ever-improving mobile devices come in the form of faster and more responsive wireless connectivity, larger and more vibrant display, improved graphics and browser capabilities
• Ilicco Elia, head of mobile, LBi: Everything you do on your mobile phone is inherently personal. For an advert to stand out in that environment it needs to be as personal and as relevant as everything else you do, otherwise it will seem out of place.
• Martin Jordan, marketing director, Equator: The main problem for mobile advertising right now is in its point of evolution.
• Matt Champion, media services director, Fetch: The biggest challenge is choosing the right content for a small screen.

And there you have a cross-section of the industry and their thoughts on the challenges of advertising on mobile. Read >>

Google Acts To Raise Mobile Ad Prices (WSJ)
Google will require current advertisers using its AdWords online-ad system to pay for ads on some mobile devices, like tablets, for the first time. The move is an attempt by Google to boost the prices that advertisers currently pay for mobile device ads. Under Google's change, dubbed "enhanced campaigns," the company also said it will require advertisers to pay for ads on tablets even if they just want to reach personal computer users. All AdWords advertisers will be "upgraded" to "enhanced campaigns" by mid-2013. A Google spokesman said that "the lines between devices are quickly blurring," and the company's data show that "ad performance on these devices is similar."  Read >>

Things To Know About The Mobile Ad Industry (PFSWeb)
With both the digital and traditional advertising industries in a constant state of change, here are four things to know about the mobile ad industry:

1. The mobile ad industry is growing around the world
2. Mobile ads on social networks are booming
3. Bigger screens aren’t always better for mobile ads
4. Mobile ads are on devices consumers interact with

Check out click-through-rates per device:

Mobile advertising is an industry which (both online and offline) will likely continue to focus on in the coming years. The industry is still in its infancy and many will explore the capabilities of these ads to determine how they can effectively reach their audience. Read >>

Is Apple Experimenting With An iWatch? (The New York Times)
Apple is experimenting with wristwatch-like devices made of curved glass, according to people familiar with the company’s explorations. Such a watch would operate on Apple’s iOS platform, two people said, and stand apart from competitors based on the company’s understanding of how such glass can curve around the human body. Such a watch could also be used to make mobile payments, with Apple’s Passbook payment software. Investors would most likely embrace an iWatch, with some already saying that wearable computing could replace the smartphone over the next decade. Read >>

Reasons Why Apple Could Reject Your App (VentureBeat)
Apple’s App Store review process is designed to keep the app ecosystem healthy and to protect users from low-quality or hostile apps. Here are nine surprising reasons apps get rejected by the App Store that you should consider before you submit your next app:

1. Using the word "beta"
2. Long load time
3. Linking to outside payment schemes
4. Does not mention other supported platforms
5. Localization glitches
6. Improper use of storage or file systems
7. Crashes from users denying permissions
8. Improper use of icons and buttons
9. Misuse of trademarks and logos

If your app does get rejected, don’t panic. Address the issue and resubmit. But the best approach is to avoid rejection in the first place. Read >>

Google Chairman Plans To Sell Off His Stock (Bloomberg)
Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is adopting a plan to sell as many as 3.2 million shares of GOOG. The planned share sales, worth about $2.5 billion, are for Schmidt’s individual asset diversification and liquidity. The plan represents 42 percent of Schmidt’s share holdings. "This is a routine diversification of assets and Eric remains completely committed to Google," according to a spokeswoman. Sales may take place over a maximum period of a year. Read >>

Open Road Films Taking To Mobile Advertising For Ticket Sales (Mobile Commerce Daily)
Open Road Films is taking to mobile advertising to spread the word about its upcoming film Side Effects, while also cementing pre-sale ticket sales. The banner ads are running inside the PandoraiPhone application. Instead of pushing users to a site such as Fandango to drive ticket sales, the film studio is directing consumers to its Facebook page. The film studio is encouraging click-throughs with a call-to-action to watch the trailer. Smart marketers need to be thinking of ways to leverage mobile for more than incremental ticket sales. In this case, encouraging Facebook “Likes” is a great way for Open Road Films to build a longer-lasting relationship with consumers. Read >>

The 'Second Screen' Industry Is Set To Explode (BI Intelligence)
Watching television while also using a smartphone or tablet is one of the most popular leisure activities of the mobile era. The mobile industry is working hard to create mobile apps and sites that relate to what's on TV, in order to capitalize on this behavior. In a new report from BI Intelligence, we examine how second screen apps, social networks, and mobile sites will ultimately succeed in drawing significant audiences, analyze how they will begin to see some advertising dollars, look at who second screen audiences are, explore the second screen opportunity from the broadcaster angle, and detail the opportunity represented by audience analytics and second screen commerce. Read >>

Apple And Google Lead Webkit Development (Bitergia via TechCrunch)
Apple and Google still represent the bulk of reviewed commits contributing to the ongoing development of WebKit, the open source Web browser engine that powers Safari and Chrome.

Bitergia, a company that analyzes free, libre and open-source software projects, gathered data on the development of WebKit in a new report, showing that the share of reviewed commits coming from parties other than Apple and Google is at 25 percent and growing, higher than it has been in the past. Read >>

Home Depot Picks Apple Over BlackBerry, But It May Regret It (Forbes)
Home Depot has decided to supply its corporate staff with Apple’s iPhone 4S, ditching the some 10,000 BlackBerry smartphones its executives have used to date. It could well be that BlackBerry will look back at Home Depot’s decision as its turning point. BlackBerry is scrappy enough to hold on to a core portion of its core user group—businesses—and then build from that base, especially with the rollout of BB 10. The message the market has been hammering home these last few years, innovate or die, has been duly received in Waterloo. The fact that BlackBerry saw fit to glam up its image with her speaks volumes. As for Apple, well, maybe I won’t flog its recent woes, but others sure are. Read >>

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