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Lead investor takes charge of Jumptap as old CEO leaves

George Bell is leaving his position as managing director of General Catalyst to become CEO of Jumptap. Is one of the few remaining independent mobile ad networks priming itself for a sale?

With Google?s acquisition of AdMob and Apple?s purchase of Quattro Wireless, there are few major suitors left who can buy the remaining independent ad companies, after Google and Apple have satiated themselves.

?Relative to the lightning-fast pace of the mobile industry overall, Google and Apple?s respective acquisition of AdMob and Quattro happened quite some time ago,? said Elena Perez, director of marketing at Medialets, New York. ?And since those acquisitions, there are still a number of independent mobile ad networks, like Jumptap and Millennial, operating with significant reach in the industry.?

Jumptap did not respond in time for press.

The hire
Mr. Bell has been appointed CEO and member of the Board of Directors.

Former CEO Dan Olschwang will remain on the Jumptap Board.

Mr. Bell specializes in the creation and growth of technology-enabled media and marketing businesses.

Prior to his role at General Catalyst, Mr. Bell served as CEO of Upromise, a college savings platform, which was sold in 2006 to Sallie Mae.

Mr. Bell's hire may be a sign that Jumptap is priming itself for a sale.

Back in February, Jumptap announced its fourth mobile search and advertising patent. The patents make Jumptap more valuable to a potential suitor.

Mobile marketers speculated that the patents were Jumptap's way of wooing potential buys. The same hold true with the hire of Mr. Bell as CEO.  

Mobile issues
In May, the Federal Trade Commission approved Google?s proposed $750 million acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob.

Additionally, Apple bought Quattro ? AdMob?s rival ? for $275 million, slightly more than one-third of what Google paid.

Jumptap claims that independent ad networks that work across platforms are at a distinct advantage, especially as more companies migrate from PC to mobile to follow users.

But being bought buy a large company has its perks too. The industry never even heard of $10 million mobile ad buys until Apple bought Quattro and launched iAd.

The ad network challenge
Mobile ad networks experience issues similar to online ad networks.

While they bring greater efficiency to publishers and developers that are not staffed to sell their own inventory, any lack of transparency in where ads are delivered can undermine the value of their reach to buyers.

This becomes a greater challenge as premium publishers build up mobile audiences and inventory.

For those companies that were not bought out by Google or Apple, Ms. Perez said that there are advantages in being an independent ad network ? most obviously the ability to address and evolve with the broader market.

?It?s that autonomy and reach that may make independent ad networks attractive to companies other than Google or Apple,? Ms. Perez said. ?As mobile continues its ascent as a critical and far-reaching medium, there may be some surprises as to what types of companies pursue deeper involvement.?

Measurement also creates an issue in the mobile ad space.

Mobile is a relatively new medium, so the analytics and measurement will mature along with the channel.

?There?s a lot of uncertainty and lack of experience around measurement standards,? said Neil Strother, Kirkland, WA-based mobile practice director at ABI Research. ?There?s a lot of fragmentation and it?s still in the early learning stage, so there?s no consistent path." 

Now, with the entrance of demand-side platforms, mobile ad networks may be in danger.

Demand-side platforms give media buyers a platform providing visibility into ad inventory, letting them optimize campaigns on a real-time basis and buy into real-time inventory cross-publisher.

Agencies are really interested in DSPs because they can decide whether they want to buy the impression and for how much.

DSPs are new to mobile, but there are variances of them in other channels?they are huge in the online space, and this is a fairly significant shift in the mobile advertising world.

In addition, the DSP also let agencies and brands manage mobile buys more directly and allocate investments more efficiently.

?The question is, if you grow to a significant size and you get enough broad inventory, can you target a wide audience?? Mr. Strother said. ?At the end of it, most ad networks are trying to get the widest and highly targeted audience.?

Final Take