Tag: Mobile advertising

Indonesia — Indonesian telecom provider Telkomsel has signed a mobile video advertising agreement with Novosol, a global mobile advertising platform, aiming to expand mobile ad revenue in Indonesia’s $20b advertising market.

The agreement is projected to generate $300m within three years, providing brands, advertisers, agencies, and resellers with access to over 270 million mobile users in Indonesia, including 170 million Telkomsel subscribers. It is also expected to strengthen Telkomsel’s position in the market, where it holds a 59% share by revenue.

Through this partnership, Telkomsel will benefit from Novosol’s ‘moLotus,’ a GSM-based platform that delivers 40-second video ads to mobile inboxes without requiring apps or data, supporting Android, iPhones, and feature phones.

Novosol is enhancing moLotus with AI-driven capabilities, including automated ad creation, campaign optimisation, and data-driven insights.

The platform offers scalability, personalisation, automation, and integration to support diverse advertising needs. Its online portal provides advertisers and agencies with business and operational tools.

With various interaction options, charging models, and ad formats like HQ Video and Slideshow, moLotus enables targeted campaigns to enhance visibility, engagement, and conversions. It also helps brands streamline processes, reducing telemarketing, training, and distribution costs. Advertisers benefit from AI-driven marketing and improved ROI, while agencies and resellers gain new revenue opportunities and better margins.

moLotus is expanding its presence in Indonesia’s growing ad market, leveraging its telco partnerships and high-margin potential. Already adopted by brands and telecom providers across Asia—including Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, India, and Vietnam—it is also exploring opportunities in the US.

The platform is used across various industries, including banking, insurance, automotive, consumer goods, e-commerce, retail, and government, supporting businesses in enhancing customer engagement and revenue growth.

With the Telkomsel partnership, Novosol strengthens its presence in Asia and continues its expansion into Western markets. With the global mobile advertising market expected to surpass US$1t by 2032 (Statista, Fortune BI), moLotus aims to capture a share of this growth.

Singapore – Global mobile advertising and technology solutions company Mobupps has recently announced the appointment of Siddharth Barman as its vice president of marketing, where he will lead Mobupps’ global growth initiatives, expanding the reach and impact of its products MAFO, iRTB & MobuppsX — across global markets.

In an exclusive conversation by MARKETECH APAC with Siddharth, he details that by drawing from his extensive experience in adtech and martech, he is poised to drive success in his new role by leveraging a deep understanding of growth marketing, strategic partnerships, and product innovation. 

“My avatar at Mobupps, is a mix of global and regional in nature, blending the innovative products(MAFO, iRTB, and MobuppsX) with the growth strategies. In the past, I led global product launches and built high-performing marketing teams, contributing to significant expansion across diverse regions, including the US, EU, LATAM, MENA, SEA, and India,” he stated.

Reflections moving forward

He brings with him over 14 years of expertise in growth marketing, strategic partnerships & product innovation. Before joining Mobupps, he held key roles at Affle, driving global growth across products, platforms & brand marketing. 

His career highlights include leading & launching technology products globally, building teams of growth marketers, contributing to global expansion, efforts & fostering strategic alliances in the US, EU, LATAM, MENA, SEA & India.

Reflecting on how his previous experience will impact what he will bring to Mobupps, he stated, “In my new position at Mobupps, I plan to apply these insights by focusing on launching innovative product versions and products powered by AI to anchor growth in developed markets. Additionally, we aim to penetrate emerging markets by establishing local teams and expanding client portfolios, positioning Mobupps for new records in the coming year.”

What’s next for mobile advertising?

Siddharth notes a handful of challenges and opportunities for mobile advertising in 2025 and beyond, stating, “The mobile advertising landscape presents both challenges and opportunities. Challenges include the need for transparency and fairness, particularly regarding policies and regulations, as well as the necessity to bridge gaps in cross-device media strategies. Opportunities lie in advancements in AI, the growing influence of new formats like CTV, and the globalisation of the business.”

For 2025, Mobupps envisions continued growth, focusing on anchoring growth in developed markets through innovative product launches, leveraging AI and brand safety. Additionally, Mobupps plans to penetrate emerging markets by establishing local teams & expanding client portfolios, positioning itself for new records in the coming year.

When asked about how the company aims to navigate the future of mobile advertising in the region, he noted that Mobupps will leverage its robust portfolio of solutions and dynamic team to redefine the advertising landscape, exceeding customer expectations and setting new industry benchmarks.

“Looking forward, I anticipate that mobile advertising in the Asia-Pacific region will evolve with a focus on integrating cross-platform strategies, including CTV, mobile, and web while cementing leadership in sectors like iGaming, e-commerce, entertainment, and travel,” he added.

Speaking about Siddharth’s appointment, Yaron Tomchin, CEO of Mobupps, commented, “We’re excited to have Siddharth join Mobupps as our vice president of marketing. His impressive background in driving global growth, launching innovative products and building strong partnerships will be a huge asset as we grow & expand into key markets. Siddharth brings the energy and expertise that align perfectly with our vision for 2025 and beyond. I’m confident he’ll play a key role in helping us strengthen our brand and deliver even greater value to our clients and partners worldwide.”

Singapore – In-game mobile advertisements are leading gamers in the Asia Pacific (APAC) area to stop gaming, according to a new research by Omnicom Media Group (OMG) APAC. The poll included 12,204 people who were asked to rate their attitudes toward advertisements while playing mobile games.

Most of the participants report that commercials often cause them to stop playing games. Respondent preferences include wanting in-game advertisements to rotate within a gaming environment or to be seasonal. Some claim that these advertisements don’t inspire people to make in-person purchases, while others say they remember a brand for future transactions.

It is worth noting that engaging in-game encounters are crucial for drawing in players, and by bringing these encounters outside of the virtual world, businesses can make a bigger impression. When playing games, APAC players indicate a desire for material rewards from the real world, especially when it comes to mobile game advertisements.

Moreover, brands can create their own games, host gaming events, and offer in-game and real-world incentives linked to in-game successes as ways to entice and please mobile gamers. Aware of the potentially large expenses associated with developing original content, companies may decide to take advantage of the released titles like Fortnite and look into ways to create new worlds or distinctive experiences within those well-known gaming environments.

Furthermore, value is a major motivator for over half (47%) of APAC gamers, who want to get the most out of their gaming experiences at the lowest possible cost. This group is more likely to make in-game purchases or microtransactions during sales events (47%) or when they need power-ups (37%). Furthermore, a sizable portion confines their purchasing to limited-edition releases (30%) or sees such purchases as gifts for particular occasions (32%).

Speaking about the research, Nina Fedorczuk, OMG APAC’s chief enablement officer, said, “The gaming universe is an incredibly exciting one and there are numerous opportunities for brands and marketers. We need to understand the different nuances within the gaming ecosystem, including the types of moments gamers experience. For example, they can connect with friends via gaming over the weekends and be fully immersed in the experience but also play a quick puzzle game during a weekday commute.” 

She added, “It is no longer enough to treat gamers as a niche audience because almost everyone is a gamer. Brands need to find the sweet spots for this audience, and think hard about how they can add value to the gaming experience, instead of blatantly interrupting it.”

Los Angeles, California – Global video game commerce company Xsolla announces a partnership with B2B SaaS and marketing technology company AppsFlyer to streamline cross-platform data-driven insights for game developers.

These collaboration efforts come as part of Xsolla and AppsFlyer’s mission to assist mobile game developers by offering a unified cross-platform (PC, web, and app) solution that enables measurement across all marketing touchpoints and facilitates the analysis of customer journeys and activities.

Xsolla’s integration of AppsFlyer into their Web Shop services will allow for cross-platform measurement that enables developers to gain valuable player insights, estimate webshop and marketing efficiency, and increase the web sales channel’s performance.

Furthermore, this new addition will grant game developers the ability to gather and analyze user behavior and interactions on the web and inside the game, then compare metrics and gain valuable insights, all through easy-to-use dashboards. 

“This partnership with Xsolla promises to elevate measurement precision, enable user segmentation, and foster a deeper comprehension of customer flow, behavior, and engagement,” said Brian Murphy, AppsFlyer head of gaming. 

He further adds that “both AppsFlyer and Xsolla care deeply about delivering the best possible user experience and measurement capabilities to marketers, and this partnership will enable them to have greater control of their monetization strategies, budgets, and campaign insights.”

One prominent feature highlighted in this collaboration is that it not only provides the users of AppsFlyer, primarily utilized for mobile analytics, with the capability to track players’ data on the web but also aims to increase efficiency and provide better control over data for those striving to optimize and understand their digital customer journey. 

Meanwhile, Chris Hewish, CEO of Xsolla, shared that they are excited about the partnership as it marks a crucial step in providing support for mobile game developers. 

“The mobile sector continues to drive global gaming revenue and growth. The combination of Xsolla’s Web Shop solution and AppsFlyer unlocks a wealth of data-driven insights into player behavior and engagement, webshop and marketing effectiveness, and web sales channel performance,” he added. 

Singapore – IPG Mediabrands’ intel arm MAGNA has released its APAC ad market forecast for the period of June 2023. One of the main findings indicates that digital growth is primarily being driven by mobile advertising campaigns in the region comprising nearly 84% of total digital budgets. 

Overall in APAC, digital advertising is powering total market growth. According to the report, digital advertising revenues are seen to increase by +10% and will increase by another +8% in 2024 to represent 76% of total advertiser budgets at the said period. 

In terms of format, this year’s growth comes from social (+12%) and video (+11%), with search also increasing by +9%, but is said to already represent a huge 47% of total digital budgets. 

In 2024, mobile advertising spending will increase further (+10% to reach 86% of total digital budgets), with social and video leading growth, both to increase by +9%. Search is also forecasted to grow by +7% in 2024.

“Smartphones are not just the dominant way that most consumers access the internet; in many APAC [markets,] they are the only way most consumers access the internet. Because GDP per capita has only increased lately, many consumers skipped the desktop hardware generation and conduct their digital lives solely on their smartphones,” said the MAGNA report. 

Furthermore, in China, smartphones are more integrated into consumer lives than they are in almost every other market. Consumers regularly conduct not just their shopping and communications, but also their banking, insurance, and many work functions on their smartphones. By 2027, mobile advertising spending in APAC will represent 88% of total digital budgets, said MAGNA.

The forecast indicates search/commerce to remain the largest ad format, approaching the $300bn milestone (+9.1% to $296b). 

Within Search/Commerce, Commerce/Retail players will grow ad sales by 12% this year (to $121b ) i.e., faster than traditional Search Engine companies like Google or Baidu. Within Commerce/Retail players, e-commerce specialists like Amazon or Alibaba are by far the most developed (83% of the segment) but traditional retail chains like Walmart or Carrefour are leveraging first-party consumer data to attract CPG brands into spending on their retail media networks or third-party media partners. 

Meanwhile, traditional retailers are seen to grow Search-like ad revenues by +24% this year to $21b. 

Furthermore, the report finds social media formats to re-accelerate by +9.4% this year to $172b.

The industry seems to have turned a corner in 1Q23 when Meta reported a return to YOY growth on an FX-adjusted basis after two consecutive quarters of flat or negative growth. Meta and other established social media vendors seem to have finally recovered from the loss of workable consumer data in the Apple ecosystem since late 2021, and they are making inroads in the monetization of the short vertical videos that have completely changed the user experience, challenging ad optimization, in less than two years. 

Finally, pure-play short-form digital video (instream platforms like YouTube or Twitch, plus outstream networks) will grow ad sales by +8.6% to $71b this year.

Gurpreet Singh, managing director of MAGNA APAC, commented, “After experiencing a slowdown in 2020 due to covid, bouncing back with double digit growth in 2021, ad spends growth rates in most Asia [Pacific] markets are now getting back to the levels/trends we saw pre-covid. After 2020, the gap between digital & linear media spends has widened at a much higher pace than predicted.” 

“Current growth across most APAC markets continues to be largely driven by digital which is getting the dominant share of spend in the majority of markets, taking it away from linear media which shows a decline in most markets. In the next 5 years, digital spends are expected to further consolidate and increase dominance,” concluded Singh. 

Singapore – Data AI company, data.ai, and global digital advertising technical standards-setting body, IAB Tech Lab, have partnered to improve transparency and prevent fraud in the digital advertising industry. 

This partnership aims to provide the digital advertising industry with a list of Authorized Digital Sellers for Apps (app-ads.txt) and is now made available as part of IAB Tech Lab’s Transparency Center initiative. 

Through this partnership, IAB Tech Lab and data.ai are taking a proactive role in making authorized seller listings more easily accessible for mobile apps. data.ai has built an integration with IAB Tech Lab to share its data on app store listings to expand the coverage of app-ads.txt data available within the Tech Lab’s Transparency Center. Advertisers will see wider coverage of app-ads.txt data from both Google Play and Apple’s App Store. 

Ketaki Rao, data.ai’s chief product officer, commented, “We are excited to work with the IAB Tech Lab to establish a standard of trust across the mobile advertising landscape. data.ai sets the example for transparency and trust in the alternative data space and this partnership is a testament to that commitment.” 

Meanwhile, Shailley Singh, IAB Tech Lab’s SVP of product, shared this integration with data.ai has enabled them to expand their coverage of app-ads.txt data in the ‘Authorized Sellers for Apps’ list, which is made available to the industry through the Transparency Center. 

“We are thrilled to partner with data.ai, and look forward to bringing more transparency to the Mobile in-app space through this partnership,” said Singh.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Huawei Ads, the mobile advertising solution arm of tech company Huawei, has announced partnerships with Malaysian Digital Association (MDA) as a member and with GroupM as its certified agency partner to drive the advertising sales in Malaysia. 

Said partnership aims to help the organizations to draw on each other’s strengths and allow HUAWEI Ads to contribute to the adtech industry growth in Malaysia.

The MDA membership will enable HUAWEI Ads to stay relevant to the current digital ad trends and play a part in shaping Malaysia’s digital policies and advertising standards. Meanwhile, as a ‘HUAWEI Ads Certified Agency’, GroupM and its agencies will have exclusive access to the inventory options available on HUAWEI Ads in Malaysia.

Rei Xiao, director of Malaysia Huawei Device Ecosystem, said, “GroupM is one of the most renowned brands in the digital advertising field with strong track records and market share. The partnership will allow us to expose our differentiated ad solutions to GroupM’s current and potential advertisers.”

New ad features such as in-app bidding and contextual ads will be introduced globally to meet growing advertiser needs. HUAWEI Ads is also actively in talks with other respected media firms to form more strategic alliances and expand its position locally.

“Built upon Huawei’s established ecosystem, HUAWEI Ads is leveraging the synergies between Huawei’s devices, native apps, open capabilities and over 33,000 third-party app media integrated into its network, to connect the data dots across various smart devices and apps, and helps advertisers reach out to more than 730 million global potential customers on its mobile ecosystem,” Xiao concluded.

Malaysia – Ogury, ‘the Personified Advertising company’ with a global presence and which has created an advertising engine that would deliver precision, sustainability, and privacy protection within one technology stack for mobile, has appointed Httpool as its official advertising sales partner for Malaysia. 

Ogury deems to be a leader in mobile brand advertising. It offers advertisers fully visible impactful ads, future-proof targeting, and protection, while for publishers, it provides a respectful user experience and premium demand. Ogury’s solutions connect comprehensive audience interest, brand performance, privacy protection, and sustainability and enable brands and agencies to optimize their campaigns. 

Adam Rubach, Ogury’s VP for new markets in APAC, said that through the partnership, Httpool will be helping them deliver effective and sustainable digital advertising, anchored in consumer privacy protection. Ogury started to partner with Httpool when it entered the Indian market in 2020. 

“Today, we are glad to expand this strategic partnership through Malaysia, a key market in terms of mobile consumption,” said Rubach.

Httpool said that the partnership is an important step for the company. With offices all over APAC such as in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Cambodia, among others, Httpool provides brands and media agencies support, technology, and access to its most relevant global and regional media partners in targeting business and marketing objectives.

Meera Muhunthan, Httpool’s managing director for Malaysia, commented, “We’re very excited about this partnership! As we partner with Ogury in Malaysia, we will be able to further empower brands to sharpen their advertising strategy with personified targeting and impactful mobile ad formats. As an official ad sales partner, we will ensure that advertisers, agencies, and brands have access to our top dedicated teams and support, every step of the way.” 

New Zealand – As expected, digital advertising, in the middle of the pandemic, is forecast to comprise the larger fraction of ad spend by New Zealand advertisers in 2021 with 59% to comprise their overall media budget, according to a new global report by global media investment and intelligence company MAGNA. 

Although New Zealand, being primarily an island, has been successful in containing Covid-19, advertisers are still inclined to put their dollars into digital channels, which can be mainly attributed to how the media practices have evolved to leverage the appeal and impact of digital formats, whether lifestyles are hindered by the virus or not. 

The projected growth in digital follows 2020’s 3.3% growth rate. According to the report, most of the digital growth will come from spending on mobile devices, which will see specifically an 18% increase and to represent 67% of total revenues within digital advertising. 

Overall, the advertising economy in New Zealand is seen to increase by 7.6% in 2021 to reach NZD 2.8b ($1.8b).

Still in line with changing preferences of audiences, the report said that linear advertising revenues will see an uptick of 2.9% to represent 41% of total budgets, an actual down from taking 49% of budgets as recently seen in 2019. 

Meanwhile, in terms of specific mediums, television spending is forecast to grow by 5.6%, to represent one-fourth of total budgets. The report said that this will bring total spending levels back to 92% of their 2019 levels. On the other hand, radio and OOH are seen to fare slightly worse with a 2% growth to reach 86% of 2019 spending levels, and a 5% growth to reach 68% of 2019 spending levels, respectively. 

Globally, as the economy recovers faster than expected with a GDP of 6%, marketing activity, and advertising spending are likewise projected to demonstrate the same upward growth. With the added driver of rescheduled international sports events, the report forecasts global all-media advertising spending to grow by $78b, a 14% increase, to ultimately register an estimated $657b in 2021, a new all-time high, said MAGNA. 

Meanwhile, in the Asia Pacific, while the rollout of COVID vaccines has not been as aggressive as many Western markets, there were still fewer cases and deaths as well as fewer shutdowns vs. those markets in the west. This has not stopped consumers in the region from changing their behavior in the same ways as in heavily COVID-impacted markets, which meant more indulgence to stream, more adoption of e-commerce, and more integration of digital platforms into their daily lives. As a result, economic recovery and organic digital growth will power APAC’s total advertising spending to a 12.8% increase in 2021, following 2020’s 3.3% growth. This will see total advertising budgets in APAC reach $203b, significantly ahead of 2019’s $186b total.

According to Gurpreet Singh, managing director at MAGNA APAC, digital will continue to be the biggest growth driver across most markets fueling a faster recovery. Singh also said that since linear media was the most affected last year, its recovery back to pre-covid levels is going to remain a big challenge across the majority of APAC markets for the next few years.

“2021 will see higher than usual growth in ad spend bouncing off of the reduced spend we saw in most of the APAC markets last year. This will largely result in regaining lost ground, however, some markets will take more than a single year for their ad spend to recover from the impact left by covid,” Singh said.

APAC remains the second largest global advertising region, behind North America but $59b ahead of EMEA. 

Singapore – App marketing platform Adjust joins the TikTok Marketing Partner Program in order to optimize advertising visibility for advertisers in the short video-sharing platform.

The partnership includes integration of Adjust’s ‘Audience Builder’, enabling clients to export first-party data, such as audience groups, directly to TikTok from the Adjust dashboard. Adjust’s ‘Audience Builder’ helps advertisers retarget their campaigns based on focus groups such as age groups. As advertisers are armed with this data from audience segregation, marketers can run highly personalized campaigns to boost user engagement and loyalty, all while protecting their users’ data privacy.

The TikTok Marketing Partner Program is part of the TikTok for Business platform, and aims to provide marketing solutions designed to give brands and marketers the tools to be creative storytellers and be able to meaningfully engage with the TikTok community.

As a mobile measurement partner, Adjust enables advertisers create, optimize, target, and measure their ad campaigns on TikTok. To simplify campaign optimization, clients can link their TikTok account to view and edit TikTok campaign data directly in the Adjust Automate dashboard, another Adjust feature that allows advertisers to automate their mobile marketing campaigns. From there, advertisers can generate cross-app, cross-partner, and cross-network reports. 

“Finding and retaining the right users is critical, as many drop off after the first days of installing the app and competition for users’ eyeballs is fierce. That is why it is imperative for mobile advertisers to push the right messaging to the right audience at the right point in the marketing funnel,” said Andrey Kazakov, vice president of partnerships at Adjust. 

“We are excited to partner with TikTok to give marketers a simpler, more seamless way to segment their desired audiences, automate their campaigns, measure ad spend, and grow their apps,” Kazakov added.

In November last year, Adjust also joined Adobe’s Exchange Partner Program to boost its customer experience (CX) analytics.