Where, a Geo App Launches a Local Mobile Ad Network
Where, a geo-enabled local search and recommendation service by Boston-based uLocate Communications, has launched Where Ads, a hyper-local advertising network. The company is launching the new network because it believes that its access to carrier infrastructure gives it an ability to deliver hyper-local and contextually relevant content and by extension highly targeted local advertising.
According to Dan Gilmartin, uLocate’s VP of marketing, the company has decided to scrap running generic ads (such as ones for ringtones and chat) on its app and replaced them with local ads (for local merchants that also include special offers and deals) they aggregated from partners such as Quattro Wireless, a company acquired by Apple. Upon launching these new ads, the company saw click throughs almost triple and boosted their CPMs.
“About 30 days ago, we reached to some other mobile content publishers assuming they were dealing with the same issues we had, poor ads that degraded the app experience and low revenue,” he said. The company launched Where Ads with ten publishers who will run ads from Where’s ad network.
I like this move by the company: it is not only solving the problem with low relevance of mobile ads, it is doing so by building what could potentially be a sizable business. Where offers its app on multiple mobile platforms including the iPhone and has seen its app downloaded over 10 million times.
Originally posted here:
Where, a Geo App Launches a Local Mobile Ad Network
10 Austin Startups You Should Meet While You’re at SXSW
Since more than 30,000 people are coming here to Austin for South by Southwest, I figured I’d offer up a list of local companies that members of the digerati should take the time to meet while they’re in town. Austin has a ton of startups, but I tried to highlight the ones doing things that Austinites do well (such as enterprise social media efforts and hardware) as well as those I think are about to break out and become bigger.
A note to those folks following the manufactured Foursquare-Gowalla smackdown: Gowalla is not listed because most people have already met with Josh Williams, Gowalla’s founder, and I wanted to save room for some unknown Austinites.
