Mobile Groove

Editor’s Note: This blog post originally appeared on the Optism blog, a home for engagement marketing. You can follow Optism on Twitter (@optismww) and sign up here for the latest news.

Hulu, the U.S. online video service announced a stream of changes to its offering a few days back. Our favorite was the ‘Ad Tailor’. As Hulu puts it, “The goal of Ad Tailor is to increase the relevance of ads for our viewers.” It’s very simple. When a viewer watches a program on Hulu, during the ad break, the user is asked how relevant the ad was to them. This helps Hulu overtime to display more relevant ads to that viewer.

The advertising industry is so often caught up in clever technology that involves complex behavioral or contextual algorithms that they forget that ‘users’ are actually ‘humans’. What better way to find out what is relevant than to ask?

Editor’s note: This provocative guest column from Andy Bovingdon, Bango VP Product Marketing, takes a hard look at the critical questions publishers, developers and advertisers need to ask themselves as they architect truly effective mobile strategies. Should the Apple iPad, just now coming to Europe, be considered a mobile device (and therefore take a central role in mobile strategy)? Or do other factors beyond technology play a deciding role?

In the run up to launch of the iconic iPad device it’s no wonder that the topic has come up in several recent mobile marketing meetings with clients and colleagues alike. The emotional bond – even obsession – with this device is understandable. But the need for hard-nosed business realism (particularly if you are a publisher or marketer aiming to delight your particular customer base or target demographic) is much greater.

In brief: An exclusive interview with JumpTap CMO Paran Johar connects the dots in this week’s announcement to support permission-based advertising with a new feature that lets consumers choose mobile display ads they will accept. PLUS a wider discussion of the value of

In brief: Recounting my briefing in London with Amdocs prior to the CES 8 launch, the results of a recent service provider survey and the wider implications of both as operators move from selling access to selling value.

What happens when the Internet of Things – trillions of devices,

Editor’s note: A range of content discovery issues continue to plague mobile operators and content companies on-portal. Add the explosion of content off-portal and the advance of applications stores and finding (and buying) what we like can be like looking for a proverbial needle in hay stack.

TWO-THIRDS OF MOBILE AD IMPRESSIONS ARE DELIVERED TO FEATUREPHONES, according to the latest Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting (SMART) from ad network Millenial Media.

While the iPhone OS was the leading smartphone platform on