Yahoo partners Vserv.mobi for Southeast Asia targeted mobile ads
Yahoo has teamed up with mobile ad network Vserv.mobi in an alliance to help the former monetize its mobile efforts throughout Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
Vserv.mobi's vice president Vikas Gulati said in a blog post on Sunday the deal will rake in "lucrative benefits" for both Yahoo and the advertiser ecosystem.
“Being a premium digital publisher with a phenomenal number of loyal viewers, Yahoo will be able to effectively offer their mobile inventory to our wide advertiser base across Southeast Asia, while being able to monetise it with optimal yields within the region,” he said.
In Yahoo's latest fourth quarter earnings call, Yahoo president and CEO Marissa Mayer, expressed her focus on beefing up the company’s mobile strategy. "We intend to participate fully in the innovation and experimentation required to make mobile a material part of our business," she said, adding Yahoo's mobile services now attracted about 300 million monthly visitors worldwide.
Previously, Tommaso Del Re, Yahoo's head of mobile and business development for Southeast Asia, told ZDNet Asia that advertisers in the region have not yet fully embraced the mobile platform, but this will change in the near future as the region presents compelling opportunities for mobile advertising to take off through 3G infrastructure buildouts, falling data costs and more Web-enabled devices.
Vserv.mobi started out in India in 2010 and has built two main products: AppWrapper and Audience Pro. AppWrapper provides one-click monetization for over 20,000 apps, while AudiencePro taps into operator data for its targeted mobile ad network. The company also has partnerships with a number of regional publishers, including Okezone, Kompas, Viva News, Antara News, Metro TV News, Utusan Malaysia, Cosmopolitan Indonesia, 9X Media, Sony Music, India Today and Mid Day," Gulati said in the blog post.
After opening up its Southeast Asia operations last April, Vserv.mobi announced a six-fold growth in the region in a press statement on February 2013.