Here’s the thing.
I never understood mobile ads. text ads or banners.
I know they can be targeted in brand new ways but text & banner ads in a browser. DIdn’t get it and I’ve never clicked on one.
but we have a portfolio company that has quietly launched a service with a large carrier and using AdMob mobile ad network. And guess what? The click thru rates have been much higher than I exepected. In some ways they do as good or better than some ad networks I’ve seen on the web.
So it’s no suprise that Google is taking this seriously.
Display and search ads on mobile are going to meaningful. Click through rates aside, the inventory volume isn’t quite there yet. Yet it’s growing and fast.
But we haven’t seen a new form of mobile ads yet. Imagine ads that are more natural and part of the user experience. Maybe they are the actual content. Maybe they are a game. Maybe they are simple sponsors.
That’s what I’m waiting for and I think it will be here soon.
Anyone using Firefox/Safari can try a (still verybustedbeta) Dashboard feature we’re working on. Type “listen” on the Dashboard to activate it.
So cool. Thanks Tumblr.
I am kickin’ it old school.
