Mobile Insiders

Big news in the mobile advertising sector as we are starting to see more and more iphone and (of course) Android applications serving Google Adsense ads. Google has been quietly testing its first mobile app ads with some of the more well known developers, including Backgrounds, Sega, Shazam, and Urbanspoon are the only four at the moment. Google will soon be announcing its availability for more developers as long as they meet the company's "specific criteria", which includes a minimum of 100,000 daily pageviews, a willingness to go live with ads in four weeks. Developers also have to agree to a 3-month commitment. The AdSense for Apps is only available for Google’s Android and the iPhone, although there is not news about whether Adsense will be available for other OS platforms. Google as been testing its AdSense and AdWords system for mobile nearly two years ago. The site for developers is now live here.

AdSense is a little late in the game, considering shops such as AdMob and others have been out for quite some time and already offer in-app advertising. However, this its pretty easy for Adsense to jump up quickly, with such a huge backing. The new program coincides with Google’s overall plan for mobile ads, revealed last February. Much like its approach on the internet, Google has been focusing on two kinds of mobile ads - Contextual targeting and Image Ads, both of which which are variations on what they do on the desktop. In video promoting Google AdSense for Apps, Urbanspoon business development head Howard Steinberg sees ads in the app letting the food guide target ads according to geography and keyword.