On Tuesday, the official word was handed down that Airpush, a respected mobile advertising leader, is merging with Tapcore, the foremost name in mobile app piracy detection and monetization.

Determined to detect and destroy the problem at its core, Tapcore and Airpush intend to pool resources, technology and industry experience to create what we’re told is an “entirely new solution for mobile developers and premium advertisers.”

With mobile app piracy costing developers dearly, and mobile ad fraud depriving advertisers of getting the full value of their ad spend, the partnership announced today comes at an ideal time for an industry staggering and, in some ways, stymied by a problem few have been able to mitigate.

The Tapcore and Airpush merger, however, carries the weight needed to alter that reality.

“In combining the cutting-edge technology of Tapcore, with the insight and mass developer footprint of Airpush — the merger creates a unified, laser-focused solution to begin cleaning up the tainted mobile app landscape,” reads a statement released to media. “Together, both companies are poised to combat both issues head on, while also providing a new solution for developers to truly monetize their users beyond traditional means.”

Just how big of an issue is mobile app piracy? Nearly 80% of free Android apps have been hacked, while 75% of free iOS apps have similarly been compromised.

“We’ve seen first hand the challenges piracy and fraud present in all aspects of the mobile advertising industry and our business specifically,” explains Asher Delug, CEO and Founder of Airpush. “From ensuring our 20,000+ advertisers maintain the effectiveness they’ve come to rely on with our platform, to battling piracy that affects the tens of million of users on our network around the world. Tapcore presents the perfect solution to help tackle these challenges through an extremely well-executed approach that complements our overall market strategy.”

Per the details shared, both companies will remain independent following the merger’s completion and continue to serve their respective clients. However, Airpush and Tapcore will “combine technology, teams and infrastructure” to strengthen the overall effort.

In addition, we’re told that the Tapcore and Airpush SDKs will be integrated to provide one, cohesive solution for developers to track, analyze and monetize their users.

In moving forward, the freshly merged entity will be led by CEO Stefan Keiss and CTO Dmitry Shkolnikov.

Asher Delug will now serve as Chairman of the Board, while current Airpush COO Inman Breaux will move into the role of president.

Financial terms pertinent to the merger were not disclosed as of this writing, but we can confirm that the combined companies are in the process of raising a round of investment to aid in its “aggressive growth and strategic acquisitions.”

“I’m extremely proud of what our team has been able to create, and the potential our technology has to truly create a shift in the industry when it comes to anti-piracy and ad fraud,” says Tapcore CEO and Founder Stefans Keiss. “Joining forces with Airpush gives us the reach and platform to truly extend our solution to the masses.”

The post Mobile Advertising Fraud Meets its Match in Merger of Tapcore and Airpush appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Screen6

MAW notes that the partnerships include Airpush, ShareThis, and Kochava Collective.

“Unlike other cross-device vendors, Screen6 maintains strict silos to store each of its clients’ datasets and does not own or license any of its own data to augment its clients’ graphs,” the Screen6 team says. “Without a centralized master graph to rely on, Screen6 does not require a cookie-sync with each of its clients. Screen6’s technology is able to work with data passed server-to-server since each cookie pool is de-duplicated within its own environment. Thus, Screen6 can process data and build private identity solutions for its licensees across all geographies while abiding by local legislation and industry self-regulation.”

Some clients require supplemental data to fill holes in their own dataset. A well-established desktop platform, for example, may want to extend into mobile. With Screen6’s Bring Your Own Data (BYOD) motto, the platform will now be able to leverage in-app data from the Kochava Collective and AirPush to bridge the gap.

Seth Socolow, SVP Strategic Partnerships at Airpush, says his company — a leading global mobile advertising platform — is optimistic about partnering with Screen6 “to give cross device buyers an opportunity to reach their audiences on desktop web, mobile web, or in-app.”

“Screen6 brings a differentiated technology and business model to the cross-device space and we look forward to working together,” Socolow adds.

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The study was carried out by Nielsen Research and conducted in partnership with POST Cereal, PETA and Charity:Water.

To pull it off, researchers turned to scientifically accepted methodologies as a means to quantify advertising effectiveness metrics on both virtual reality and traditional digital video formats.

For Airpush, creator of the industry leading VR ad platform VirtualSKY, the report and its findings couldn’t be more important or instructive.

In particular, the study was undertaken as a way to better understand the consumer impact of VirtualSKY’s ExperienceAds (an exclusive interstitial ad unit that delivers 20-45 second, 360 degree advertisements to consumers at natural breaks in other VR apps).

The research was focused on gauging the effectiveness of VirtyalSKY’s ExperienceAds against that of “more traditional advertising environments” (e.g., VAST video, online video and broadcast television) in terms of driving brand lift in what Airpush calls four key metrics that brands consistently use to assess advertising effectiveness (Content Engagement, Brand Perceptions, Brand Behaviors and Brand Integration Perceptions).

“The results of the study demonstrated that advertising in Virtual Reality was between 1.5 and 18x more effective than more traditional video advertising, depending on the content and metric,” reads the report summary shared with MMW. “Highlights included brand recall, which was at least 8x more effective across all brands when immersive VR ads were utilized, as well as intent to share, which was at least 2x.”

“We launched the VirtualSKY platform in early 2016 because we instinctively knew that VR was the most effective medium ever created for brands to reach out to consumers,” explains Seth Socolow, SVP Strategic Partnerships for VirtualSKY and Airpush. “However, the results of this study far exceed even our expectations for VR, and are a huge validation for the VirtualSKY platform that can easily deliver this kind of engagement to any advertiser at scale.”

According to the provided report data, Airpush’s brand partners seem to agree with the positive outlook for VR advertising and the big wins that advertisers can score in partnership with VirtualSKY.

In July, Post aimed to capitalize on the marketing power of virtual reality when the venerable breakfast cereal brand launched the largest targeted interstitial ad campaign ever with VirtualSKY.

Running on all major VR platforms (including Google Cardboard, HTC Vive and Oculus), the campaign brought water guns and dodge balls to the most important meal of the day through immersive 30-second pre-roll spot for Post’s Fruity Pebbles “Yabba Dabba Doo” campaign.

“The Pebbles Cereal VR experience was born out of the spirit of the Yabba Dabba Do! campaign that if you can think it, you can DO it,” says Oliver Perez, Pebbles’ Senior Brand Manager. “It was uncharted territory for us, but a real reflection of the campaign’s ethos and we were thrilled to partner with Airpush’s VirtualSKY network to distribute the spot. We had a hunch if external distractions were eliminated and viewers were part of an immersive experience, metrics such as brand affinity and purchase intent would increase – which is exactly what Nielsen and Airpush confirmed through this study. It goes without saying Pebbles will continue to explore this medium to truly connect with our consumers.”

The complete findings are documented in Airpush’s “Virtual Reality Advertising Effectiveness Study” available here.

The post Nielsen and Airpush Explore Effectiveness of Virtual Reality Ads appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Diverging from the beaten path of app monetization through advertising, Airpush has pioneered a path to new revenue streams through the creation of a unique mobile data marketplace that facilitates what AdAge calls a more direct relationship between user data and dollars.

At a time when the publishing world is growing increasingly anxious in its battle to curb massive ad blocker revenue loss, Airpush’s freshly unveiled platform could prove vital in that effort. MOBI.INFO, which can be used on top of other monetization strategies, enables publishes to potentially grow their revenue without changing a thing, Airpush says. The platform lets publishers reap the rewards of additional revenue streams through the collection of their anonymous user data, which is then uploaded directly into the global data marketplace.

In effect, MOBI.INFO is a place where companies have the ability to purchase these diverse and highly sought-after data sets. To just scratch the surface, this includes everything from beacon data and encrypted email addresses, to device identifiers and app install and engagement data.  “The result is the world’s first dedicated mobile data marketplace, allowing mobile publishers and data companies to quickly make transactions at scale,” says Airpush.

Contributing to one of Airpush’s deep-seated goals of helping publishers tap into reliable new revenue streams born of properties not previously monetizable, the Los Angeles-based mobile advertising powerhouse says MOBI.INFO restructures the familiar ad network model by replacing advertising CPMs with revenue generated from “valuable data.”

And there’s valuable data everywhere in mobile. According to AdAge, apps that integrate the standalone MOBI.INFO SDK will be able to “distribute the so-called data exhaust created when people use their apps and turn it into revenue when it meets a buyer’s criteria.”

“The idea is to give mobile app publishers a way to feed their data wares into a buying hub that could help them monetize the data generated when people open and interact with their apps, whether or not an ad is served into the app,” summarizes Kate Kaye of Advertising Age in this morning’s report.

Publisher and advertiser benefits aside, MOBI.INFO may ultimately be just as helpful to consumers.

“The platform, which protects consumers via a transparent end-user opt-in, has the ability to reduce the number of overall ads that a user sees, and increase their relevance, overall effectiveness and consumer value,” explains Seth Socolow, SVP of Strategic Partnerships at Airpush. “MOBI.INFO also includes a deep integration with Freckle, a leader in the location and attribution marketing space. Freckle’s integration helps advertisers gain more valuable insights out of the consumer data generated by the platform, and obtain additional data sets from its beacon technology.”

To learn more and get the jump on MOBI.INFO, click here.

The post Airpush Launches Mobile Data Marketplace Enabling App Monetization Without Ads appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“If you want to truly gauge the impact of virtual reality on MWC this year,” proposes tech blogger Emma Martin, “just look around at the number of booths that offer attendees a chance to try on a headset for virtual reality product demonstrations, gaming experiences, marketing pitches, and entertainment opportunities. They’re going to be everywhere.”

VR Rumor Roundup

Samsung has already confirmed its intention to unveil new smartphones at MWC. But it’s the South Korean tech giant’s plans for virtual reality that are generating the most speculation.

Citing sources in the European tech channel, Jamie Feltham of VRfocus says that pre-orders for the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge may kick off during MWC with an alluring window of opportunity attached. According to the rumor mill, individuals who preorder one of the new smartphones before March 10th will receive a free Gear VR with their order.

In recent weeks, HTC has also been subjected to endless MWC rumors. Will HTC’s hotly anticipated One M10 make an appearance in Barcelona? Although the speculative chatter persists, it’s a safe bet that HTC will keep the wraps on its refreshed flagship smartphone until spring as the company opts instead to focus on virtual reality at MWC. Sources attest that one of HTC’s highest priorities for the Congress is demonstrating the company’s virtual reality expertise and passion.

“The Taiwanese company is not holding a press event at MWC, but will be attending to showcase the latest version of its virtual reality platform Vive Pre ahead of pre-orders opening on February 29,” says Rhiannon Williams of the U.K. Telegraph.

Virtual Reality Comes to Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising will formally enter the age of virtual reality in Barcelona when Airpush rolls into Mobile World Congress to officially launch its virtual reality ad network called VirtualSKY.

While most attention on VR last year was directed at hardware, the latest industry estimates suggest that VR will reach $4.7 billion in sales of software as soon as 2018. To help both VR content creators monetize their work and give advertisers the access they’ve been clamoring for inside of VR headsets, Airpush is the first major mobile advertising powerhouse to embrace VR to this extent.

Visitors at Airpush’s booth will be treated to Gear VR demos of the platform in action. VirtualSKY, the company says, has been “designed from the ground up to deliver gorgeous, immersive, virtual reality advertisement experiences from the world’s top brands and advertisers into virtually any VR app.”

Nokia Taps VR for 5G Push

Nokia will present at Mobile World Congress its vision for 5G. And it will tap the power of VR to make its case.

Claiming to have already tested a blazing 5G connection marked by download speeds of 30 gigabits per second (that’s about one thousand times faster than a typical 4G experience), the company will pull out all the stops to showcase in Barcelona the dramatic impact upon the world that 5G’s advent will yield.

“In a demo that could combine the high speed and the low latency being sought for 5G, Nokia plans to let attendees play catch using only VR to watch each other and the ball,” explains PC World‘s Stephen Lawson. “A VR system will track the positions and movements of two players and of the ball they’re tossing back and forth. When you’re counting on a wireless network to tell you where a ball is so you can catch it, low latency is critical. Nokia will be betting its 5G prototype has what it takes.”

Apart from the VR-focused demonstrations set to take place throughout the convention hall, virtual reality is also expected to feature prominently in some several of the keynote speeches scheduled during the four-day conference, including remarks from Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

The 2016 Mobile World Conference spans February 22-25 at the Fira Gran Via in Barcelona, Spain.

The post All Eyes on Virtual Reality Ahead of MWC 2016 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

On Monday, CNBC confirmed that Samsung’s $99 Gear VR headset blazed its way to sold-out status at Amazon.com and BestBuy.com barely 48 hours after launch. It’s a stunning success, but one that the digital content crew at The New York Times has already experienced first-hand. Their publication’s VR app, we’re told, was downloaded “more times in its first four days than any Times app before,” says Kate Kaye of AdAge.

Okay, so downloads are one thing. What about engagement? As it turns out, Kaye explains, viewers “spent an impressive average of nearly 15 minutes using it.”

Initially panned by some critics and editorial rivals, the Times is now having the last laugh. Their project, Kaye notes, was “the biggest ever” for Cardboard, Google’s sophisticatedly simple VR viewer.

Perhaps nowhere is the groundswell of interest in VR more apparent and exciting than in the gaming market. According to an October 2015 report from Grand View Research, Inc., the global virtual reality in gaming market size is expected to blow past $9 billion by 2022. These projections are sparking a rush to market for app developers and gaming companies looking to capitalize on this nascent gaming genre’s potential.

With a majority of games downloaded today being free-to-play, the world’s foremost mobile ad players have already begun pioneering new in-app advertising and monetization solutions for VR games.

The most talked-about innovator in this arena today is VirtualSky, a new platform created by Airpush, a global mobile ad platform that presciently began working on its virtual reality ad network long before VR ad solutions were on any mobile ad company’s priority list.

Earlier this month during ad:tech New York, attendees were treated to demos of VirtualSky’s “Experience Ads,” which are placed at natural breaks in gaming content (between levels, for example) and transport viewers “into the world of the ad with 360 degrees of video and sound.”

With strong advertiser interest already apparent, VirtualSKY has begun accepting early advertiser campaign requests on virtualsky.com.

“Virtual Reality has received the endorsement and investment of the largest tech companies in the world today,” says Cameron V. Peebles, Head of Global Marketing for VirtualSKY. “From Google to Sony to Facebook, options for VR content development have exploded while any real monetization or advertising capabilities have yet to emerge. VirtualSKY is the first platform to offer both of these.”

These late-2015 successes have no doubt lit a fire under long-time VR doubters who have finally witnessed the mainstream virtual reality boom they never anticipated (or at least not this soon). But their challenge, as 2016 looms large, now includes playing catch-up to the pioneers who were among the first to plant their flags in this space and are currently reveling in the riches born of seizing the VR industry’s earliest opportunities.

The post VR Pioneers Paving the Way for Virtual Reality’s Takeover appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Not even displays from 200 major Fortune 500 brands like IBM, Oracle, Microsoft, eBay, Dish Network, and American Express could fully overshadow up-and-coming technology startups like Koncept VR, Tagazu, Thinaire and StatSocial.

“I was really taken back by the number of young, hungry companies here,” tech blogger Kevin Matthies tells MMW. “Some of these fresh-faced CEOs make Mark Zuckerberg look like and old man.”

At no point during the show was youthful innovation more pronounced than throughout N3 – NOW. NEW. NEXT., a live pitch competition spanning the two-day event.

The competition featured a dozen promising startups assessed by a veteran judging panel comprised of industry leaders from the likes of M&C Saatchi Mobile, Thomson Reuters, L’Occitane, Battery Ventures, Foundation Capital and more.

N3 — a “Shark Tank” style competition — was such a hit that it’s sure to return next year, Matthies believes.

“We saw things this year that were really true to the spirit of the event,” Matthies says, noting that in previous years there was very little “ad tech” at ad:tech New York. “This year, there were innovative things on display that really fit with the occasion.”

One of the show’s most buzzed-about standouts was Airpush. In October, the Los Angeles, California based mobile ad company unveiled a platform that extends its reach into the nascent world of virtual reality. Reps from Airpush were on hand in New York City to demo this virtual reality ad network called VirtualSKY.

“VirtualSKY has been designed from the ground up to deliver gorgeous, immersive, virtual reality advertisement experiences from the world’s top brands and advertisers into virtually any VR app,” Airpush says.

As the company demonstrated for attendees visiting the Airpush booth, VirtualSKY places 10-30 second immersive “Experience Ads” at natural breaks in content, transporting viewers into the world of the ad with 360 degrees of video and sound.

With the latest industry estimates calling for virtual reality to reach $4.7 billion in sales of software as soon as 2018, it comes as little surprise that VR was featured so prominently in multiple booths during this year’s show.

AdsOptimal, a Silicon Valley startup headed by Brad Phaisan, was pushing VR-based web ads during ad:tech. The company rolled into the Big Apple to formally launch its virtual reality platform called 3DX. Those behind the startup say next year will be all about pushing virtual reality ads to mainstream digital media.

“Our goal is to be a platform that can show virtual reality across devices. We want to build the web version of VR where it can run anywhere, not specific to platforms and no installation required,” Phaisan told e27 last week.

For a closer look at this year’s show from event organizers, check out the official ad:tech New York site here.

The post Ad Tech Innovation Returns to Ad:Tech New York appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Named VirtualSKY, the platform is Airpush’s latest attempt to move the needle in mobile advertising by introducing VR to premium advertiser experiences.

As tech behemoths like Facebook, Google, and Samsung step up to take virtual reality into the mainstream, Airpush is similarly doing its part within this pioneering parade. But is mobile advertising ready for virtual reality? Airpush thinks so.

“VirtualSKY has been designed from the ground up to deliver gorgeous, immersive, virtual reality advertisement experiences from the world’s top brands and advertisers into virtually any VR app,” the Los Angeles-based ad network explained in a news release.

Without question, Airpush is certainly looking in the right direction for a growth market. According to the latest industry estimates, VR is now expected to reach $4.7 billion in sales of software as soon as 2018.

Detecting an opportunity to satisfy a market need, Airpush set out to change the little-publicized fact that until now, there has been no scalable monetization solution for virtual reality developers to consistently generate revenue and, correspondingly, no way for advertisers to place ads inside of content.

So how does it work? Airpush asserts that its VirtualSKY platform overcomes two of the biggest thorns in the side of advertisers seeking to connect with the masses — slow load times and scalable inventory.

By using proprietary technology to eliminate the plodding pace customary with massive virtual reality files, Airpush promises that its new platform can deliver exceedingly fast, pre-cached streaming that practically rids load times from the mobile ad experience while also reducing skipping.

Additionally, the company is quick to point out that integrating with VirtualSKY is an uncomplicated task as it can be swiftly integrated into any VR app. And when you consider that Airpush already integrates into more than 150,000 mobile apps globally, it’s easy to see why the company is optimistic about VirtualSKY’s prospects to “expand at a rate that will bring campaign scale in line with other digital mediums faster than any other offering in the space.”

Taking a page from its popular decision earlier this year to extend to advertisers the opportunity to have their Abstract Banners customized by Airpush’s design team specialists at no extra charge, VirtualSKY advertisers will also have “dedicated access” to complimentary virtual reality design services, something that will allow for campaigns to be created and launched within a matter of days.

“Virtual Reality has received the endorsement and investment of virtually every major player in the tech industry,” says Cameron V. Peebles, Head of Global Marketing for VirtualSKY and Airpush. “From Google to Sony to Facebook, options for VR content development have exploded while any real monetization or advertising capabilities have yet to emerge. VirtualSKY is the first platform to offer both of these.”

To learn more about VirtualSKY, check it out here.

The post Airpush Unveils Virtual Reality Ad Network ‘VirtualSKY’ at Advertising Week appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

On Tuesday, Pixalate — a respected fraud protection and data intelligence company — unveiled the industry’s first in-app Mobile Seller Trust Index (MSTI).

“With the new MSTI,” a provided statement reads, “Pixalate is providing clarity on how supply quality in mobile should be evaluated based on factors including legitimate inventory, fraud, transparency and location.”

All told, the MSTI evaluates 125 supply-side platforms with in-app mobile inventory based on comprehensive analysis of some five billion impressions. It’s a sweeping assessment that VentureBeat‘s Barry Levine playfully calls a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for sellers of in-app ad space.”

Pixalate, however, prefers to liken the ranking system to Amazon’s online marketplace, which lends buying guidance to others through the meticulous ranking of both sellers and products.

By the fraud protection firm’s own admission, the inception of this index warrants mixed reaction — jubilation in response to the growing number of ad platforms that have stepped up their game, but also concern about the long and lingering list of those still beleaguered by low quality of traffic and relatively high levels of fraud.

Pixalate CEO Jalal Nasir says that supply quality measurement for in-app mobile ads “has become a minefield for buyers,” noting further that the study revealed how 38 percent of in-app mobile ad inventory remains fraudulent.

Consequently, of the laundry list of ad platforms ranked, all eyes are gravitating toward the cream of the crop — the top ten platforms ranking highest in quality and trust per Pixalate’s pervasive criteria:

1. Amobee
2. Rubicon Project
3. Big Mobile Group
4. Millennial Media Exchange
5. OpenX
6. Airpush
7. Marketplace
8. Google AdExchange
9. Nexage Inc.
10. InMobi

Those making the top ten cut understandably appreciate the recognition following protracted efforts to deserve such elevated placement.

“At Airpush, we have always had a heavy focus on keeping the quality of our mobile inventory at or above industry standards,” said Cameron V Peebles, Head of Global Marketing for L.A.-based Airpush, in response to the publication of Pixalate’s Index.

Of the 125 sellers of mobile ad inventory, Airpush was ranked No. 6 worldwide.

Asserting that Airpush has dedicated “immense resources and manpower” to reduce mobile ad fraud, Cameron says the Pixalate acknowledgement “is a huge validation of all of our hard work we have done to ensure that Airpush advertisers around the world have consistent access to one of the largest, most reliable and most profitable mobile ad libraries available today.”

Pixalate plans to update the Index monthly. To learn more or to download the full report, click here.

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Regardless of your problem, challenge, or opportunity, a new resource from Accel Partners can help steer you toward the appropriate partner you need get out of a mess or make the most of a promising situation.

Growthverse is serving up a visualization of companies in the marketing technology space that “can be uniquely probed and prodded by users in search of information particularly relevant to their needs and ambitions.”

“It all starts with one question: What marketing problem are you looking to solve?” asks MAW report author Michael Wiser. “From industry leaders in analytics, like App Annie, to mobile advertising’s most innovative and effective platforms, like Airpush, the robust roster of high quality and infinitely qualified companies in this space can help those with problems effortlessly find the industry’s best problem solvers.”

Accel Partners’ Kobie Fuller believes this tool can point the right people in the right direction to the right service providers.

“It’s still confusing but we’re doing our part to make it a little easier,” Fuller is quoted in the report. “If we’re able to do that, we’ve done our job. It’s a problem we both emotionally identify with. If we’re able to have knowledge and development a platform that can do that, and we can leverage our brainpower and the communities, we’re done a big service to marketing technology as a whole.”

The post From App Annie to Airpush, Growthverse Helps Marketers ‘Visualize’ the Best Industry Leaders, Resources appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.