News Byte

A Velvet Rope for Mobile Media Buyers and Sellers, Run by Medialets

Publishers who worry that digital ad tech is hammering their premium pricing are increasingly turning to private exchanges, where they hope a velvet-rope approach will keep keep bargain buyers out. Here’s a similar approach from mobile ad start-up Medialets, which has created an exchange featuring ad inventory from “more than 40 of the world’s top publishers,” who Medialets won’t identify. The exchange is nonexclusive, so buyers and sellers can still work with offerings from Google, Apple and smaller players like Millennial Media, which is looking to go public.

More Money for Mobile Ads: Medialets Raises Another $8.4 Million

Meanwhile, what about Adobe’s move to dump mobile Flash? “It’s an awesome opportunity for Adobe to make lots of money,” says Medialets CEO Eric Litman.
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Three Cool iPad Ads

Earlier this week we got Condé Nast’s instructions on how to make a killer iPad ad. Now, three examples of some good ones.

More Money for iPhone Ads: Medialets Raises $6 Million

Foundry Group, DFJ Gotham, Dave McClure and former Gannett digital boss Chris Saridakis bet on the iPhone, Android, “in-app” ad maker.

Apple: Here’s How to Opt Out of Our Targeted Ads (But Not Our Location Tracking)

If you’re willing to do the work, you can opt out of Apple’s ad trackers. But Apple is going to keep track of your iPhone’s location data, no matter what you want.

Google on Apple’s AdMob Ban: Hey! Don’t Do That!

Still haven’t heard back from Apple about its new data-collection policy, which basically shuts Google out of the display-ad market for its iPhone and iPad apps. But Google’s AdMob has now mustered a response: It doesn’t like it! Also unhappy: Investors in mobile ad companies that might have contemplated a sale to Apple rivals.

Apple Makes Good on Steve Jobs’s Promise, Invites Other Advertisers. But What About Google’s AdMob?

Last week, Steve Jobs promised that his iPhone and iPad would be open to outside ad networks. Yesterday, Apple made good on his promise, by changing the terms of its developer agreement. Good news for some mobile ad networks. But what about Google?

Another iPhone Ad That Asks You to Shake It Up

Mobile advertising is growing fast, but it’s still a small business. Even if you use your smartphone a lot, you may not encounter a whole lot of ads. And even fewer interesting ones. So here’s one that just started running: A campaign for AMC’s “Breaking Bad” series that’s running on iPhone apps for CNN and NPR.

One Million Palm Pre Apps Downloaded

Well, here’s a nice data point to consider in advance of Palm’s earnings tomorrow. The company’s Pre App Catalog, which has been widely criticized for its paltry selection, just reached one million downloads.
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Another Ad Network? Yes, and This One’s for iPhone Apps: Medialets Raises $4 Million.

Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users have downloaded one billion apps for their devices in nine months. Someone other than Steve Jobs and co. ought to be able to make money from that, right? That’s more or less the logic behind Medialets, a start-up that serves up ads on Apple’s mobile applications, and to a lesser degree, programs designed for Google’s Android mobile platform. The New York-based company, founded last June, is announcing a $4 million Series A round led by Foundry Group. DFJ Gotham and angel investor Bobby Yazdani also participated.
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