MSearchGroove

[The Msearchgroove mobile advertising podcast series – and close collaboration with VisionMobile – continues with a look at ad-funded content and the impact of interactive advertising. And what better senior executive to speak out on this than Patrick Parodi, Amobee Media Systems CMO and head of European operations. His company got in on the ground-floor and has consistently argued that only user-centric (translated: opt-in) services will cover all the bases and boost everyone’s revenues in the end. Next week we pick up with ScreenTonic and keep up the momentum with a top-notch line-up including Hyperfactory, Enpocket, 4INFO, and MoPhat – so check back regularly.]

Amobee Media Systems made its mark on this space through a user-centric, operator-focussed approach to ad-fund the entire spectrum of mobile content. In a nutshell, the system enables targeted, interactive ads to be dynamically inserted into the full range of mobile content and apps, including WAP browsing, video & music, games, SMS and MMS. For a short while it was a lone voice in the space, preaching that only a system that puts operators in control, and allows users to opt-in to receive ads in exchange for subsidized content would ever gain traction. Granted, the space has crowded since, but Amobee remains a first address when it comes to delivering a new twist to permission-based, interactive advertising schemes. (Amobee also supplies developers with HAPI (Handset Application Programming Interface), which can be integrated and activated to make mobile content “Amobee ready” and conditioned to take ads.)

Take the recent tie-up between Amobee and Anam Mobile, a provider of messaging infrastructure technologies, to deliver a joint solution for ad-funding subscriber originated SMS messages. The solution effectively pays off for both parties: operators can boost their revenues through opt-in advertising, and users have access to a lower cost SMS package (since ads help subsidize the messaging service). It reminds me of the ads and messages that appear at the bottom of email messages, and which we automatically pass around. In a word, that’s the value prop here: a peer-to-peer communication and advertising model that enables viral marketing. (It’s quite unobtrusive, but relevancy is another story.)

At the other end of the content spectrum, Amobee sealed a deal with PacketVideo to serve targeted and relevant opt-in advertising impressions within that company’s media platform. Amobee also sharpened its focus on mobile music, teaming up with SDC, a provider of mobile music solutions, to serve opt-in advertising impressions. (The partnership provides SDC’s white label music players the ability to serve contextual and targeted opt-in advertising impressions without affecting the mobile music listening experience.)

But the real news is deployment and operator interest in ad-funding. Amobee tells me both are on the upswing, so we can expect some operators to reveal their trials and learnings soon. In the meantime, I caught up with Patrick Parodi, Amobee Media Systems CMO and head of European operations, to find out how operators are thinking about this model and hoping to protect their turf at a time when strength as a gatekeeper in this scenario is waning. Patrick, who is also Chairman of the Mobile Entertainment Forum, the leading global trade association representing both the mobile and entertainment industries, believes the “user-paid” model is THE key barrier to the growth of mobile data consumption and revenues. His warning: Adapt or die.

Listen to the podcast here. [21:02]

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• Mobile Search, Mobile Content, Mobile Advertising, Podcasts

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