Earlier this year, Forbes staff writer Jeff Bercovici wrangled some pertinent numbers from Tumblr–in the midst of touring CEO David Karp’s $1.6 million minimalist loft in Williamsburg. Despite traffic of 18 billion page views per month (as of January), the company ended 2012 with $13 million in revenue.
For context, when Tumblr raised $85 million Read More
When Steve Jobs launched iAd last July, the idea was to provide a mobile advertising platform that took its cues more from television advertising than online advertising, which he deemed “irritating.” As with all things Apple, iAd only works within the walled garden—selling ads within apps on iOS devices like iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches.
Advertisers would pay a premium, but could expect an advertising experience perfectly built for its environment.
According to information from the research firm IDC, however, the sales strategy that works so well to sell Apple devices hasn’t necessarily paid off in the case of Apple’s attempt to dominate mobile ad sales. Read More
With smartphones and tablets breaking away from the pack as the next phase of personal computing, advertising on these devices is poised to become big business. New York’s Medialets, a mobile rich media advertising firms, has been beating Apple on their home turf and capturing dollars from some big brands and publishers. They have now raised a fresh $8.4 million, bringing their total to $18 million.
Peter Kafka broke the news based on an SEC filing. He found previous backers DFJ Gotham and Foundry Group had reinvested, and Medialets CEO Eric Litman confirmed that there were some new investors as well. In that interview he confirmed most of the companies business still revolves around in-app advertising, but Medialets has recently created a self-serve advertising platform and moved into advertising on the mobile web. Read More
The average user may not have noticed some changes to Apple’s UDID, but with iOS 5 the company has closed off a valuable source of information for independent mobile ad networks. “A lot of people are scrambling to find alternatives,” says Giancarlo Maniaci, the CEO of TapIt. “The UDID allowed people to track what apps a user had installed and give our clients a sense of how well their campaigns were working. Now Apple is the only one who can offer that.” Read More
The Daily was News Corp.’s valentine to Apple, a premium tablet product that was unveiled this month by Rupert Murdoch, Jesse Angelo, and Apple’s Eddy Cue.
But when it came to the advertising that would be featured in The Daily, the logical choice for ad placement, Apple’s iAd, lost out to the New Read More
