• GUIDE HOME • BLIND NETWORKS • PREMIUM BLIND NETWORKS • PREMIUM NETWORKS • LOCAL AD NETWORKS • AFFILIATE AND CPA NETWORKS •
SECTION 3: PREMIUM NETWORKS
- Twinpine (Africa specialist) * New: January 2013*
- Mobile Theory * New: March 2011 *
- YOC Group (Europe Specialist) * Updated: July 2010 *
- NAVTEQ Media Solutions (formerly Nokia) * Updated: July 2010 *
- Microsoft Mobile Advertising
- Advertising.com/AOL
Premium networks in a nutshell:
• Premium networks focus on a limited number of prestige publishers – mobile operators and big-brand, big-traffic sites, perhaps newspapers or broadcasters – for which they are akin to an extension of their direct-sales team. With Microsoft, Nokia and AOL, much of the inventory they sell is on their own mobile sites.
• The vast majority of campaigns are brand advertising, so the predominant (maybe only) pricing model is cost per thousand impressions (CPM) model – i.e. you pay X for every 1,000 devices that visit/download the page. This is for marketers who want exposure, perhaps to create awareness of a new product. Costs vary considerably, ranging from US $5-75.
• Networks may also offer performance advertising for marketers who want an active response to their ads paid for by cost per click (CPC); but expect to pay considerably more than on a blind network as CPC can range from US $0.05-0.50.
• Cost per action/acquisition (CPA), where the advertiser only pays if the customer clicks through and then buys, signs up etc, may also be available.
• Premium networks attract big brand advertisers who are prepared to pay premium prices to secure the prime locations on top-tier mobile destinations.
• With minimum monthly advertising spend set as high as US $10,000, these networks are for high rollers only.
• Advertisers should expect more direct sales and support, than self-service and a wealth of targeting options.
• Publishers should expect to receive a majority share of advertising revenue, perhaps 50–70 percent. Deals are usually negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Mobile advertising network: Twinpine
Type of network: Premium Blind.
Established: August, 2011.
Main offices: Lagos, Nigeria (HQ); Accra, Ghana and Nairobi, Kenya.
Employees: 10.
Major shareholders: Privately held company funded by equity from the founders.
Acquisitions: N/A.
Web: twinpinenetwork.com.
Mobile Web: m.twinpinenetwork.com.
Contact details: info(at)twinpinenetwork.com.
Recent news:
• October 2012: Twinpine and iHub launch report on state of mobile Web in West Africa • Report • Infographic.
• October 2012: Twinpine partners with Punch Nigeria News to launch punchng.mobi.
• July 2012: Twinpine hits 500 million monthly impressions in first year.
• June 2012: Twinpine signs Jobberman.com in exclusive deal.
• For more news visit: The Twinpine Blog.
Profile submitted by: Eniola Moronfolu, Research Lead, Twinpine.
First published: January 2013.
Q1. Annual revenue/turnover: Band A (US $1-5 million).
Q2. Is the business profitable? Yes.
Q3. Publishers on network: Over 40 premium African publishers; including:
• Nigeria: Vanguard; Jobberman; Complete Sports and Linda Ikeji.
• Ghana: Ghanaweb, Modernghana, Ghanasoccernet.
• Kenya: Standard Media; Vibeweekly.
• Uganda: Hippipo.
• Pan-Africa: eBuddy, Opera Live Scores.
Q4. Advertisers on network: Over 30 advertisers, including: Nokia, Google, MTN, Spinlet, VISA, Enterprise Bank and Guinness.
Q5. Case studies: here, including MTN, Nokia and Guinness.
Q6. Mobile ads served or page impressions monthly: 500 million impressions per month.
Q7. Unique mobile users that see ads: Network reaches 10 million unique users.
Q8. Geographical coverage: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Egypt, Sudan and Libya.
Video: Introducing Twinpine.
Proportion of advertising that is…
Q9. Blind v premium advertising: 20:80.
Q10. Mobile Web v mobile applications: 90:10.
Q11. CPC (performance) v CPM (brand): 100:0
Q12. Specialism by publisher or demographic: Premium local publishers from our key markets, Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, across content categories of news, entertainment, job portals, business, social networking, technology etc.
Q13. Options for targeting ads: Country, time/day, device, operating system, operator, location, sex and age.
Q14. Tools to help advertisers optimize/track campaign: Advertisers can log-in to track the progress of their campaigns. They can create, pause or stop campaigns. They also receive regular reports.
Q15. Cost range for advertiser: Minimum campaign spend is US $1000.
Q16. Estimated ROI for advertiser: Campaigns regularly achieve 3% CTR.
Q17. Remuneration for publishers: Publishers receive 60% of revenue.
Q18. Fill rate: The average fill rate on the Twinpine platform is 70%.
Q19. Protection for publishers:
• Publishers can refuse certain advertisers’ campaigns.
• Business or operational details of individual publishers are confidential.
• Publishers are protected from campaigns that promote nudity, violence, drugs etc.
Q20. Tools for publishers: The real-time ad-serving platform allows publishers to monitor advertising activities and revenues at any time.
Q21. Special relationships with agencies, telcos, portals etc: All relationships between Twinpine and clients are based on business.
Q22. Links to research: See the Twinpine/iHub report on: The state of mobile Web in West Africa and this: Infographic.
Q23. Main competitors: Inmobi, Buzzcity, Abmob.
Q24. Industry associations, industry accreditations or awards: Members of Mobile Marketing Association (MMA): Elo Umeh, Twinpine CEO, is the Co-chair for MMA West Africa.
Q25. Key differentiation:
• Twinpine is distinctly premium and diverse, hence, first choice for advertisers who want to target specific publishers and see their ads live in seconds.
• Twinpine is local, therefore understands each brand campaign and execute appropriately to deliver the best possible result. Twinpine also provide 24/7 direct client service and support to advertisers and agencies which no other mobile ad network in its space offers.
• Back to mobiThinking mobile ad network guide
• What’s the best mobile ad network for you? 10 important questions to ask
• The insider’s guide to mobile marketing in Nigeria
• The insider’s guide to mobile marketing in Kenya
Mobile advertising network: Mobile Theory
Type of network: Premium.
Established: 2010.
Main offices: San Francisco (HQ), New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, USA.
Employees: 22.
Major shareholders: The company is self-funded.
Acquisitions: N/A
Web and mobile site: mobiletheory.com.
Contact details: mobiletheory.com/contact/; Darin Honey, president/SVP sales, darin(at)mobiletheory.com; Scott Swanson; CEO, scott(at)mobiletheory.com.
Recent news:
• 2011: Mobile Theory runs the mobile ad campaign for the “Unsweetened truth” US anti-smoking campaign .
Profile submitted by: Scott Swanson; CEO
Last updated: March 2011.
Q1. Annual revenue/turnover: Band C (US $10-20 million).
Q2. Is the business profitable? Yes
Q3. Publishers on network: over 300 publishers, representing over 450 sites and applications, including NASDAQ, EatingWell magazine, Digital Trends and Hachette Filipacchi Media (Premiere Magazine; Woman’s Day; Elle).
Q4. Advertisers on network: International and domestic advertisers including Grand Marnier, eBay, 3M, Fathom, Kellogg’s and Microsoft.
Q5. Mobile ads served or page impressions monthly: Mobile Theory serves 850 Million premium ad impressions per month.
Q6. Unique mobile users that see ads: The network reaches 52 Million unique users with the following geographic order: United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, France, Japan.
Q7. Geographical coverage: US 80%, Canada 10%, Europe 10% (Primarily focused on USA, with growing presence in Canada, UK and other countries).
Proportion of advertising that is…
Q8. Blind v premium advertising: 100% premium, no blind advertising.
Q9. Mobile Web v mobile applications: 40:60.
Q10. CPC (performance) v CPM (brand): 10:90.
Q11. Specialism by publisher or demographic: More than 15 targeting channels offered, including small business decision makers and the affluent; and audience channels such as Moms on the go, Hispanic/Latino, African-American and Early adopters.
Q12. Options for targeting adverts: Geographic (including GPS targeting), device and carrier targeting, browser, operating system, day parting (e.g. morning or afternoon) and time of day, content and age/gender targeting based on registration data.
Q13. Tools to help advertisers optimize/track campaign: Dedicated to exceptional client service, using sophisticated optimization tools for campaign management and reporting, including performance and engagement reports, campaign pacing analysis, log file data collection, conversion and click-stream, and customizable reports. The campaign management team is well-versed in using third-party adservers and platforms including Atlas, DoubleClick DART, Medialets, Crisp Media, Phluant Mobile, PointRoll.
Q14. Cost range for advertiser: CPM ranges from US $5-$25; minimum monthly spend requirement: US $10,000.
Q15. Estimated ROI for advertiser: Average click thru rates of 1-5%, engagement rates on full page and rich media advertising of 10-25%. However, Mobile Theory is primarily a brand solution, therefore, our clients tend to look at brand metrics like awareness, engagement, preference, and purchase intent or video-play-through percentages rather than CTR.
Q16. Remuneration for publishers: Revenue share to publishers is 60%.
Q17. Fill rate: This depends on the industry vertical the publisher serves, the ad units the publisher has enabled and other variables. Fill rates range from 20-100%, with a network average of 40%.
Q18. Protection for publishers: Publishers and app developers can access our reporting interface on a 24/7 basis. They can review ads based on price, creative, client name or service. Publishers can also opt out of a specific campaign at any time.
Q19. Tools for publishers: Mobile Theory provides a 360 degree solution for publishers from direct sales to ad serving and mobile ad management to mediation and ad product consulting and configuration. We see it as our role to help publishers understand and develop the highest value advertising products and assist them in taking those to market.
Q20. Membership of industry associations, industry accreditations or awards:
Members of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA).
Q21. Main competitors: Among mobile ad networks, Mobile Theory competes with iAd and Millennial Media; and large mobile sites such as cnnmobile.com, espn.mobi and weather.mobi.
Q22. Key differentiation: Mobile Theory maintains the closest ties with premium publishers, working with dozens on an exclusive basis. This provides the network with unparalleled quality and unique inventory that other networks cannot offer. Coupled with the broadest suite of rich media full page, and mobile video placements in the industry, Mobile Theory focuses on opportunities that go beyond the standard mobile banner.
• Back to mobiThinking mobile ad network guide
• What’s the best mobile ad network for you? 10 important questions to ask
Mobile advertising network: YOC Group
Type of network: Premium.
Specialism: Europe.
Established: The YOC network was established in Germany in 2005.
Main offices: Berlin, Germany (HQ); UK; Spain; France; Austria and Belgium.
Employees: 180 people.
Major shareholders: N/A.
Acquisitions: In 2009 YOC acquired mobile ad networks Mobile Interactive Advertising Media (Spanish) and Bluestar Mobile (British).
Web: en.group.yoc.com.
Mobile Web: yoc.mobi.
Contact details: Christian Louca, Christian.louca(at)yoc.com.
Recent news:
• January 2010: YOC launches blind ad network: Ubiyoo.
Profile submitted by: Christian Louca, UK managing director and head of publishers, YOC.
Last updated: July 2010.
Q1. Annual revenue/turnover: Band C (US $10-20 million) .
Q2. Is the business profitable? Yes.
Q3. Publishers on network: Over 196 publishers.
• UK publishers include: Telegraph Media Group, The Guardian, PC Advisor, 3 UK, MacWorld and Flirtomatic.
• French publishers include Le Monde and Météo 123.
• Spanish publishers include El Mundo and El Pais.
• German publishers include Handelsblatt and Zeit.
• Italian publishers include Gazetta dello Sport.
Q4. Advertisers on network: Advertisers include SAP, Vodafone, Mercedes, Opel, Walt Disney and Coca-Cola.
Q5. Mobile ads served or page impressions monthly: The YOC network has over 500 million monthly page impressions.
Q6. Unique mobile users that see ads: Network reaches 35 million unique mobile users.
Q7. Geographical coverage: UK 50%, followed by Germany, Austria, Italy and France.
Proportion of advertising that is…
Q8. Blind v premium advertising: 10:90.
Q9. Mobile Web v mobile applications: 80:20.
Q10. CPC (performance) v CPM (brand): 35:65. (Campaigns in Spain, Germany and France are predominantly CPM; while UK and Austria are CPC and CPM.
Q11. Specialism by publisher or demographic: YOC works publishers across all sectors including national newspapers, business and financial, information sites, sports, entertainment and technology.
Q12. Options for targeting adverts: Targeting options including age, gender, device and geographical targeting.
Q13. Tools to help advertisers optimize/track campaign: Advertisers receive daily reports and analysis from a dedicated campaign manager.
Q14. Cost range for advertiser: N/A.
Q15. Estimated ROI for advertiser: N/A.
Q16. Remuneration for publishers: N/A.
Q17. Protection for publishers: Publishers can refuse inappropriate advertisers.
Q18. Key differentiation: The YOC Group is Europe’s largest premium off-portal mobile advertising network. Our customers include international top brands, media houses, Internet portals, mobile phone service providers and banks. YOC has experience developing and operating more than 400 mobile portals in Europe, as well as planning mobile marketing and advertising campaigns for a range of blue-chip brands.
• Back to mobiThinking mobile ad network guide
• What’s the best mobile ad network for you? 10 important questions to ask
Mobile advertising network: NAVTEQ Media Solutions
(formerly Nokia Interactive Advertising).
Type of network: Premium.
Established: The original advertising network was set up in 2004 by Enpocket.
Main offices: Boston, USA (HQ); London, UK (European HQ); New York, USA; Mumbai, India; Ratingen, Germany; Singapore and Brazil.
Employees: N/A.
Major shareholders: Wholly-owned subsidiary of Nokia.
Acquisitions: Enpocket (2007); Navteq (2008).
Contact details: navteqmedia.com/contact-us.
Profile submitted by: Diana Lagattuta, head of marketing.
Notes: In 2010 Nokia Interactive Advertising (NIA) became Navteq Media Solutions. Navteq is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nokia that focuses on mapping, navigation and location-based services. This profile has not been properly updated to reflect these changes.
Q1. Annual revenue/turnover: N/A.
Q2. Is the business profitable? N/A.
Q3. Publishers on network: NIA focuses on advertising on Nokia services, such as Nokia.mobi and Nokia Internet Radio, and works with strategic partners, top-tier publishers and operators, such as RTL in Germany, Airtel in India and Sprint in USA.
Q4. Advertisers on network: In 2008 NIA ran almost 4,000 campaigns for over 350 brands including D&G, Ford, Universal, P&G and Sony Pictures.
Q5. Mobile ads served or page impressions: Over 5,000 different advertisements per month.
Q6. Unique mobile users that see ads: N/A.
Q7. Geographical coverage: Americas, Europe, India, Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa (in order of importance).
Q8. Blind v premium advertising: 10:90.
Q9. Mobile Web v mobile applications: 70:30.
Q10. CPC (performance) v CPM (brand): CPM 95%; sponsorship 5%.
Q11. Specialism by publisher or demographic: Premium, top-name publishers and mobile sites and applications that come bundled on device.
Q12. Options for targeting adverts: Demographics, location, handset type, and in the US by channels (e.g. auto, news, sports).
Q13. Tools to help advertisers optimize/track campaign: N/A.
Q14. Cost range for advertiser: From US $15-75 CPM, depending upon region, class of publisher and targeting selected.
Q15. Estimated ROI for advertiser: Click-through rates are very high across our network, resulting in a lot of media that is solidly booked by repeat customers. The most impressive, I remember was a campaign in India for the airline Garuda (the national airline of Indonesia) which achieved a 40 percent CTR.
Q16. Remuneration for publishers: N/A
Q17. Protection for publishers: Strict guidelines for the type of content from publishers and advertisers; so that major brands can be assured that their advertising does not appear next to inappropriate content and visa versa.
Q18. Key differentiation: Unrivalled ability to touch hundreds of millions of consumers across the globe. Almost 40 percent of mobiles sold are a Nokia, and with our major push into services we can offer more than just banners, with more integrated, immersive advertising that leverages contextual information, such as location.
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Mobile advertising network: Microsoft Mobile Advertising
Mobile site: msftads.mobi
Type of network: Premium
Established: US and Canadian operations were launched in 2007. The acquisition of ScreenTonic in 2007 extended the network into EMEA.
HQ: Redmond, USA; European HQ: Paris, France.
Other offices: New York, USA; London, UK; Madrid, Spain.
Employees: N/A
Thanks to: Jamie Wells, director of global trade marketing, Microsoft Mobile Advertising.
Last updated: December 2009
Q1. Annual revenue/turnover: N/A
Q2. Publishers on network: Key partners include carriers such as Verizon Wireless (US), Bouygues Telecom (France) and independent publishers such as MSNBC, CNBC and Fox Sports. Microsoft mobile sites include: MSN, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Live Hotmail and the Bing search engine.
Q3. Advertisers on network: N/A
Q4. Mobile ads served or page impressions: Nearly 2 billion monthly page impressions and growing.
Q5. Unique mobile users that see ads: Over 32 million monthly unique mobile users for both mobile search and display.
Q6. Geographical coverage: US (largest market), Canada, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands and Norway.
Q7. Specialism by publisher or demographic: Advertisers can purchase mobile media on a guaranteed or bided basis across premium branded sites including Microsoft properties, Verizon Wireless, MSNBC, CNBC and Fox Sports. A select portion of Microsoft’s partner inventory is available for semi-blind/channel advertising.
Q8. Options for targeting adverts: Targeting capabilities include device, demographic (gender, age, household income), geographic and behavior.
Q9. Tools to help advertisers optimize/track campaign: For mobile display, Microsoft offers day parting, day of the week, frequency capping, third-party impression and click tracking, as well as content, level and ad placement level optimization tools. For mobile search, Microsoft offers targeting by day parting, day of the week, as well as leverage keyword/match-type/bid suggestion tools to enhance the ROI of campaigns.
Q10. Pricing models: Advertisers can purchase mobile media either on a CPM or CPC basis depending on their campaign needs and objective. Microsoft also selectively offers advertisers the option to purchase mobile media on a CPA basis.
Q11. Cost range for advertiser: N/A
Q12. Estimated ROI for advertiser: N/A
Q13. Remuneration for publishers: N/A
Q14. Protection for publishers: N/A
Q15. Key differentiation: Microsoft Mobile Advertising is uniquely positioned to help advertisers reach millions of consumers across mobile display and search. In the US Microsoft can connect brands to nearly half the mobile Web audience with an integrated experience across mobile, PC and gaming. Combining mobile MSN and Bing with partners such as Verizon Wireless, Microsoft helps drive extraordinary results for advertisers by leveraging uniquely actionable audience insights harnessed across multiple screens.
Q16. Contact details: US contact form; UK contact form.
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Mobile advertising network: Advertising.com/AOL
Type of network: Premium
Established: The network was launched in 2005 by Third Screen Media. TSM was acquired by AOL in 2007, and merged into Advertising.com (acquired by AOL in 2004).
HQ: New York, USA
Other offices: London, UK; Toronto, Canada; Atlanta, Baltimore, Beverly Hills, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Dulles, Mountain View, San Francisco, USA.
Thanks to: Kashif Ali, senior director, publisher services, Advertising.com Mobile (AOL Advertising)
Q1. Annual revenue/turnover: N/A
Q2. Publishers on network: over 75 publishers, representing over 100 sites and applications, including Accuweather, CBS, The New York Times, Tribune, Whitepages, and AOL’s owned/operated properties such as AOL, MapQuest, Moviefone.
Q3. Advertisers on network: Over 100 per year, including AT&T, Bank of America, Electronic Arts, Exxon, Ford, MGM Grand, P&G, Sony, Thumbplay.
Q4. Mobile ads served or page impressions: Over 1 billion page impressions per month.
Q5. Unique mobile users that see ads: 29 million unique viewers per month (Nielsen, June 2009)
Q6. Geographical coverage: Primarily focused on USA, with growing presence in Canada, UK and other countries.
Q7. Specialism by publisher or demographic: More than 20 channels offered, including audience-targeted packages such as Hispanic/Latino, African-American, and mobile mothers.
Q8. Options for targeting adverts: Full suite of targeting options, including device, browser, operating system, carrier, on/off-deck, geography, time-segment, content, and multiple demographic combinations.
Q9. Tools to help advertisers optimize/track campaign: Advertising.com’s mobile campaign management team manages and optimizes campaigns in consultation with advertisers. Standard self-service reports e.g. campaign pacing are available advertisers online.
Q10. Pricing models: All major pricing models supported, including CPM, CPC and CPA.
Q11. Cost range for advertiser: CPM ranges from US$5-US$25; CPC ranges from US$0.05-US$0.50; depending on campaign objectives and parameters.
Q12. Estimated ROI for advertiser: Varies by campaign objective.
Q13. Remuneration for publishers: Revenue shares are competitive and reflective of market, typically ranging between 50–70 percent.
Q14. Protection for publishers: Publishers can set acceptance criteria for industries, advertisers, type of advert and pricing, among other parameters. Publishers can also opt out of a specific campaign at any time.
Q15. Key differentiation: Expertise: Advertising.com’s unmatched expertise in building and operating advertising networks. Resources: AOL’s vast sales, product and engineering resources. Scale: approximately 50 percent reach of North American mobile Web. Flexibility: range of buying and participation options. Relevance: full suite of targeting solutions.
Q16. Contact details: For Advertisers: Phil Miano, sales director, advertising sales, Philip.Miano(at)corp.aol.com. For Publishers/partners: Kashif Ali, senior director, publisher services, Kashif.Ali(at)advertising.com.
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