mOcean today announced the launch of a beta program related to its new mobile advertising platform aimed squarely at mobile apps. Dubbed “MAST for apps,” the new platform claims to be the industry’s first “comprehensive ad management” solution tailored specifically for iPhone and other smartphone app developers.
Put simply, MAST for Apps enables developers to monetize their apps by selling and managing their own mobile ad space. To do so, the MAST for Apps platform incorporates a full suite of features, including enhanced targeting, real-time reporting and analytics, conversion tracking, yield optimization, and rich media support. After the beta period, the company will be adding several features to the platform, including a searchable directory of apps across multiple platforms, and a cross-marketing program allowing developers to drive inbound traffic and downloads for their apps.
The MAST for Apps ad serving system is available for all major mobile development platforms, including the iPhone App Store, Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store, Palm Pre App Catalog, Windows Marketplace for Mobile, and BlackBerry App World.
“With the massive growth of smart phone devices, and the recent announcement of the iPad and other tablet devices, mobile applications are becoming more prevalent than ever. And developers are looking for new ways to capitalize on this trend,” says Dave Gwozdz, CEO of mOcean Mobile, a wholly owned subsidiary of Mojiva, Inc. “MAST for Apps will help any size developer increase their profits, by allowing them to manage their own ad inventory, and by giving them access to the same set of tools that up to this point only Web publishers have had. This is a huge step forward for app monetization.”
Though the need for such a solution is definitely present, I can’t help but wonder why anyone would prefer a third-party solution like this when the big players already do it bigger and better. Apple will undoubtedly integrate Quattro wireless into its App Store to provide the same functionality as MAST for its developers, for example, while Google will do the same with AdMob. Unless it provides unique capabilities that the big guys can’t offer, it looks to me that MAST for apps is already obsolete.
