While we do hear of word that the mobile ad business is a growing industry, that does not mean that it is a bed of roses. No sir, even a relative “giant” such as AT&T has already shut down certain notable parts of their AdWorks advertising division after the business did not manage to gain the kind of traction required when it comes to placing mobile ads. In fact, AT&T will be dumping the online as well as mobile advertising networks, not to mention the rather hard hitting news that some more folks would be laid off.
The original plan for AdWorks was to make use of its rather sizeable amount of customer data in order to help guide ad placements while offering a one-stop shop for television, online and mobile ads. Unfortunately for AT&T, they did not manage to figure out just how they were going to make use of such data in an effective manner, at least according to sources who were close to the matter. This just goes to show that the main stars of the mobile ad business remain under the purview of Google and Facebook, two companies that have successfully “captured” the majority of users’ mobile time.
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