Mobile advertising, while on a big growth curve, is going through some of the same evolutions of online advertising though in some cases at an accelerated rate. One emerging development is the launch of new private ad exchanges that help bring together premium publishers with top brand advertisers, creating a somewhat rarified arena for the two parties to do business.
That’s what mobile rich media advertising firm Medialets is doing with the launch today of its Medialets Private Marketplace, a buying platform that lets advertisers directly plan, buy and execute on Medialets’ collection of top publishers instead of turning to traditional ad networks. The marketplace is designed to make it easy and efficient for ad buyers to purchase impressions at scale with transparency about where their ads will be placed. The marketplace will also include a real time bidding exchange.
It will allow publishers to sell more of their inventory outside of direct sales teams and still maintain control over which brands can buy. They can set the price they want for impressions and ensure that they can associate themselves with quality brands that fit their image. About 40 unnamed premium publishers have signed on to sell inventory on Medialets Private Marketplace.
“The intent is this helps publisher hold onto the value of their inventory better because inventory is fully transparent to buyers. Advertisers know they’re buying on one publication as opposed to another, and it allows publications to distinguish themselves rather than being aggregated,” said Medialets CEO Eric Litman.
Last month, Nexage launched what it called the first private ad exchange for mobile, helping its premium publishers sell inventory to select brand advertisers through its real time bidding platform. The platform follows in the footsteps of similar ad exchanges like Admeld in online advertising. Ernie Cormier, the CEO of Nexage told me the emergence of private mobile ad exchanges is a sign of growing maturity for mobile advertising, as the tools of online advertising spread quickly to mobile.
Mobile advertising is still maturing and there’s a lot of growing up to do. Many media buyers still need to be convinced that mobile is where to start putting their money. But the market is growing fast and it’s showing how it can be a very personal and effective way for advertisers to reach consumers on the technology they carry with them at all times. It’s going to be some time before mobile advertising catches up to online but as mobile absorbs the lessons of its predecessor, it’s accelerating the growth process. The emergence of private exchanges is one example of that.
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