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UberAds: Targeting Smartphone Users Through Social Media

May 20, 2013

As the amount of smartphone users skyrocketed over the past few years, advertisers saw this as an advantage. With internet usage on the go, ads out in the world on billboards, posters and subways are ignored as people have constantly been staring down at their phones and tablets. This is a disadvantage to brands that haven’t transitioned into mobile ads but for those who have, users are bound to come across their ads as they can be anywhere on any application, social media network or the mobile browser itself.

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Mobile ad firm UberAds is launching a new ad product coming this summer of 2013, which targets app users based on their social media data and location. By having ads that are relevant and useful to users, people see them as helpful prompts rather than annoying  ads. This tactic allows better performance and effectiveness.

“So if you follow Tom Cruise on Twitter and are near a theater, you could see an ad for movie tickets,” explained Bill Gross, UberAds CEO.

NBC Universal tested this app recently on Tom Cruise’s new science-fiction movie “Oblivion” by creating 2 million mobile impressions specifically targeting audiences including Cruise’s 3.9 million Twitter followers. The positive feedback increased significantly with a 4% mobile click-through rate compared to the average 1% click-through rate of mobile ads. With the successful trial run, NBC Universal will continue to use this method on Cruise’s new movie “Purge,” which is coming out this summer. They will also use expand to other social media networks including Instagram and Pinterest to pull interest from users.

As other advertisers saw the increasing effectiveness of these targeted mobile ads, they too have decided to join in.

“We see long-weekend types of trips in the summer months,” said Elizabeth Dorrance, director of media and analytics at Expedia. “So people‚ while driving, are more likely to book hotels last minute on their phones.”

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These UberAds will revolutionize the mobile advertising industry using this social signal targeting system. The real-time data will deliver increasing positive feedback rates for advertisers as people will be more inclined to respond to the helpful notifications. With the usage of intent, location and time, the mobile ads made for the right audience will be presented and both advertisers and the people will be satisfied with the outcome.