Mobile Affiliate Network MobPartner Growing 1,000%, Hits 3 Million Transactions

MobPartner, an affiliate marketing network for the mobile web and apps, has hit 3 million transactions this week, an important milestone.

Co-founder and CEO Vianney Settini says there’s a huge opportunity in cost-per-action (CPA), affiliate advertising on mobile. CPA means advertisers only pay when a user does a specific action, like buying a product or filling out a survey, instead of paying per click (CPC) or per pageview (CPM). Most mobile ad networks are CPC and CPM-focused, but MobPartner is tackling the CPA opportunity.

CPA gives advertisers clear ROI and gives them their money’s worth. Settini told us that if you’re selling mobile games, you might actually lose money with a CPC campaign. Publishers like it because they can pick and choose the campaigns they run and the campaigns are often open-ended.

MobPartner got started early 2008 as a builder of mobile websites and, when their customers asked them for solutions to monetize their website, the company pivoted to an affiliate marketing solution. The company’s base is global, 25% US, 5% Latin America, 30% Europe, 20% Africa (mostly South Africa and Kenya, where mobile is huge) and 20% Asia. The company is based in Paris with a sales office in San Francisco, and Settini tells us business grew 1,000% last year.

Settini says it’s unlikely the big dogs in mobile advertising like Google will try to displace him, because they aren’t into affiliate marketing, and that they have a big enough head start against the big fixed web affiliate marketing networks to compete.

Settini himself has an impressive entrepreneurial background: he started building websites in high school and when i-mode, an early internet service for mobile phones, came along in Europe, he built iGloo, a mobile portal with 15 million pageview per month at peak.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/mobpartner-2011-5#ixzz1NwOe0E9W

Keeping a balanced investment between apps and mobile

A Microsoft study found that consumer usage of mobile Web browsers and mobile apps is equal, signaling the importance for marketers to keep a balanced investment between the two.

The Microsoft data shows that there are no significant behavioral differences across mobile operating systems. Thus, marketers should consider campaigns that include multiple handsets to achieve the campaign objectives and optimize reach metrics instead of focusing on select OSs, per Microsoft.

“Consumers are more engaged with mobile than we think,” said Pavan Li, senior research manager at Microsoft Advertising, Redmond, WA. “Our findings showed nine of 10 mobile Internet users have used mobile search and eight of 10 mobile Internet users have used their mobile device as part of their purchase process.

“Focus on the reach instead of the OS,” she said.

A Forrester Research study predicts that marketers will finally allocate sufficient funds into mobile, with an estimated $1 billion in spend for mobile display and search advertising by year-end.

The Microsoft Advertising mobile ad network reaches 55 percent of U.S. mobile Internet users, according to Nielsen’s May 2010 Mobile Media View.

Microsoft’s mobile ad network reaches users on the following handsets:  59 percent on iPhone, 53 percent on Android, 45 percent on BlackBerry and 55 percent on feature phones, per Nielsen.

Mobile Web and apps are both important
Here are some of the main takeaways of the Microsoft research:

Mobile has become a part of cross-media consumption

There are more heavy mobile Web users than heavy app users

Mobile ad exposure impact store traffic

Multi-screen exposure drives increased brand interaction and conversion

Microsoft Advertising advises marketers to keep a balanced investment between applications and the mobile Web.

Maintaining a balanced approach with on-deck and off-deck ads targeting both the mobile Web and apps will increase the success of mobile campaigns aimed at driving consumer reach and engagement, per Microsoft.

“To maximize audience reach and engagement, marketers need to consider a more balanced approach to mobile campaigns that include mobile browsers as well as mobile apps across multiple handsets, including Windows Phone 7, iPhone, Android, BlackBerry and feature phones,” Ms. Li said.

“Based on our findings, iPhone users are the most balanced users between apps and browser,” she said. “It is completely different from what we would assume due to the focus on iPhone apps in the consumer and trade press.”

Source: http://www.mobilemarketer.com/cms/news/research/9756.html

Eric Schmidt Delivers the Opening Keynote at the 2011 IAB Annual Leadership Meeting