For our first post-Thanksgiving post, we sit down with Adam Cane, Atlas Sales Engineer, to talk turkey about our mobile offering.
Describe the mobile advertising market today.
Mobile advertising today is to some degree reminiscent of the early days of Internet Advertising; there isn't yet an agreed-upon standard for tracking conversions, and so click-through rate the primary success metric.
In addition, mobile advertising budgets are pretty small these days, but that will change in time as advertising continues to converge across mediums: TV, phone, and internet.
What specific changes do you see happening in the next 1-3 years?
As mobile advertising budgets grow, advertisers will demand better tracking and standards. The MMA (Mobile Marketing Association - essentially the IAB for Mobile) has released ad-serving standards as it relates to ad size and file size - but has yet to address what those in the mobile business think of as "the conversion conundrum:" How can advertisers accurately and impartially track conversions stemming from mobile campaigns; both post-view and post-click?
Why is that a problem?
Mobile technologies and vendors have typically resorted to server-side cookie technology to persistently track users and log conversions, unlike most internet advertisers, who can use browser-side cookies. However, most mobile vendors bundle their technologies with networks, which means that there's real demand for an unbiased party to track conversions.
So, is there an Atlas solution?
Yes. We're working to ensure that Atlas can offer the same unbiased 3rd-party tracking in Mobile as we do today with internet advertising. Atlas is currently testing with several mobile vendors to "retro-fit" Atlas web browser tracking onto mobile-served campaigns - inclusive of conversions. This will allow agencies and advertisers to manage their mobile campaigns the same way they do online, in addition to taking advantage of Atlas' unique product offerings like engagement mapping.
For more information about how Atlas can track mobile campaigns, please contact your Atlas representative.