Google recently announced a new feature for its AdWords customers: click-to-call phone numbers in mobile ads. 

This feature lets end users engage directly with a business by phone, e.g. make a restaurant reservation.  It can automatically select the number of the nearest location if there are multiple listings.  Crisp has actually supported this click-to-call feature set for some time now, as well as universal device support, which ensures that the proper click-to-call protocol is used based on device detection.

While Google’s basic functionailty set is great for AdWords advertisers, it may not be sufficient for premium advertisers and brands.  Imagine if a national computer distributor launched a new line of products and launched an ad campaign which connected interested consumers directly with its call sales representatives.  How would the advertiser know if the campaign was successful or not?

For this reason, Crisp developed advanced call duration analytics in its rich media ad platform. Premium advertisers can measure exactly how long end users spent on the phone call.  They can filter out irrelevant data such as dropped calls and calls with minimal call times.  Brand advertisers who are familiar with rich media video completion metrics online will instantly be familiar with this new class of engagement measurement.  Publishers can also expect higher CPMs from ads that drive higher call times and ultimately more conversions.  Contact a Crisp Sales Reprensentative for more information.

While it remains to be seen if the iPad is a device game-changer, we do know that it requires a new approach to advertising.  iPad users will enjoy the full Internet browsing experience with the bandwidth, screen size, and input mechanisms to interact with the same websites as they do from their desktop PCs.  With one big exception – the iPad will not support Flash, at least not initially.

What does the lack of Flash support mean for advertising on the iPad?  Missed opportunity.  Online ad networks such as Tribal Fusion, Glam, and 24/7 Real Media, as well as publishers that sell direct, are not equipped to deal with non-Flash rich media ads.  So how will brand advertisers reach this potentially fertile audience? 

We’ve already solved this problem for other mobile devices and are rapidly extending these rich media formats to large format devices such as the iPad.  The Crisp Rich Media Ad Platform supports rich media JavaScript ads that can be rendered on both the iPhone and iPad.  Our platform integrates with online ad servers, such as DART and ATLAS, making it possible to integrate your mobile and desktop ad serving.  We also deliver the critical engagement reporting you expect from rich media advertising.

If you are an agency, ad network or publisher interested in advertising on the iPad, contact Crisp, we can support your rich media advertising needs on the iPad from day one.
 

I admit it. I decided to buy that darn Apple tablet before I even knew what it was priced at.  I’m as susceptible to Apple’s marketing tactics as the next guy.  But am I the ideal audience for this class of personal hardware?  As a software developer? As a business person?  Not really.

From what I can tell right now, the Apple iPad is the perfect device for those who have lighter computing needs, or will serve as a companion device that covers the majority of your needs outside of the office -- books, magazines, movies, music, email, web surfing, and games. It is a great lifestyle device and Steve Jobs’ pricing strategy makes it clear he wants this to be a device for everyone. The possible competing hardware has a narrower audience. Netbooks for instance, I see more as an economical and light laptop alternative for students and business travelers who need to run PC software. The Kindle and other eReaders are uni-taskers.  No, the iPad is in its own class right now. Finally, we have a device for the glossy, full page, magazine style ad experience. We don’t expect advertisers will want to run simple banners here.

Crisp Wireless has been anticipating new classes of devices -- and their new audiences -- as part of our product planning initiatives for Rich Media Ad Unit technology.  Our innovative ad unit design concepts and ad rendering scripts work great on Android, iPhone and many other devices.  And we’ve done this work to date to fit within the CPU constraints and screen limitations of these smaller super-smart phone devices.

Enter the Apple iPad: Mobile Safari + 1 GHz Apple 'A4' CPU + gorgeous 9.7-inch IPS LCD display.  It is a great device for rich media advertising. Both in apps and on the web, the device has what it needs to be fully compatible with our products.  Apple decided to leverage largely the same resource efficient operating system for the iPad as what runs on the iPhone. I believe this was necessary to get to the 10 hour battery life.  And because our products are well tested on the iPod Touch and iPhone, we can already make accurate predictions about the iPad compatibility. 

The following is a summary of the new products and capabilities Crisp Wireless will be offering on the iPad:

• Adhesion with expandable and animated rich media advertising for iPad
• A broad variety of rich media ad unit templates and components for iPad
• Bandwidth sensitive ad units for WiFi and 3G models of the iPad
• Great ad engagement metrics and reporting for iPad

Yes, that’s pretty much the same offering as for Android and iPhone, but that’s what we are all about. Our dynamic and cross platform approach to creating mobile software works across multiple devices.  We leverage Javascript and HTML5 to its fullest to detect, render and optimize a platform independent end-user experience.  And once the iPad ships (with the promising CPU specs of this device), we will be able to push the limit further than ever. 

Adobe Flash is still absent from this device and that's too bad. I don't think the argument about the device not having the CPU power to pull it off is going to stick any longer.  Without waiting for Apple, we are working to solve this. Stay tuned!

If you have questions about the advertising possibilities on this or any other device, feel free to contact us.