The previously announced $5.5 million of this Series C round was from Disney’s Steamboat Ventures, Incubic Venture Capital, and Monitor Ventures. The funds will be used towards increasing Greystripe‘s leadership in mobile rich media advertising formats. Greystripe’s product suite enables brand advertisers to communicate their brand message with a mobile audience, developers to gain advertising revenue by serving ads through their apps, and consumers to use apps and games for free.

“Greystripe consistently attracts larger advertising budgets because well-known brands consider the investment part of their digital buy and are no longer limited to their mobile budgets,” according to Michael Chang, CEO and Founder of Greystripe. “With this strategic alliance with NBCU, we plan to expand our sales team and roll out even more pioneering advertising solutions for our customers.”

Greystripe has raised a total of $17.6 million in funding since the company’s launch in 2006

Terms were not disclosed.  AdWhirl in June announced a $1 million seed round led by Foundation Capital and unnamed angel investors. Founded in April of 2009, AdWhirl offers advertisers and publishers the ability to leverage targeted and personalized advertising in more than 160 countries.

AdMob says that it will expand on AdWhirl’s mediation product to create enhanced developer tools that will be offered as an open source mobile ad mediation solution. This will provide a transparent and unbiased solution for developers to allocate their inventory among multiple mobile ad networks and maximize the fill rates and revenue potential of their applications. AdMob expects to make these offerings available in the coming weeks.

I have especially emphasized the advantages to advertisers of making use of mobile Internet ad networks to achieve high click-through and conversion rates with a reasonable budget. But as all marketers and media planning professionals know, there is more to a campaign than just planning and flipping the switch. In this article, I will address ways that advertisers can fine-tune mobile campaigns in order to ensure stellar results.

I take as an example an advertiser on the BuzzCity Global Mobile Advertising Network that ran a campaign offering a free downloadable sample. This advertiser’s experience left a number of key takeaways for mobile advertisers, both positive and negative. On the surface, the campaign appeared to be a success. It generated 150,000 views per day to the campaign landing page, with a click-through rate of 1.89 percent. However, when we dig a little deeper, it turns out that the campaign only generated about a 5 percent conversion rate. In other words, only about one out of every twenty people completed the click-through process and the free download.

Even though it ultimately resulted in a poor conversion rate, the campaign generated a notable amount of traffic, and the advertiser did a number of things right. First, they made use of both banner and text ads. This is good because some mobile web publishers only deliver text ads and some only banner ads, and others both banners and text. Running both types ensured that the ads would show up on as many relevant mobile web sites as possible. Second, the advertiser bid high, but not too high, for clicks. A lot of advertisers who have never used mobile before have a hard time envisioning what their ad buy looks like.

But mobile is not a mystery—with self-serve ad networks like the one BuzzCity runs, just think of Google Adwords or similar auction based systems. So, as is the case with most mobile campaigns, bidding high was definitely an advantage because it ensured that ads would be shown as frequently as possible and they would successfully bid for as much inventory as possible. On the other hand, not bidding too high was important for keeping the ROI as high as possible. The third positive takeaway is particularly important: they checked the campaign settings and their bids regularly. This is an absolute must as mobile advertising is a dynamic medium, and mobile ad campaigns must also be dynamic. Finally, ad text was straightforward and included a clear call-to-action—an absolute must for effectively driving traffic.

Even though this advertiser got good results on the front end of their campaign, not many of the click-throughs translated to conversions. An analysis of the tactical approach reveals the reason why. The ad text created the expectation that the free download could be completed right away. However, the user experience was just too unfriendly, with too many steps involved. Users were asked to answer a long series of questions. This is a big no-no when you are trying to hold peoples’ attention, particularly when they are surfing on their mobile phones.

After answering the questions, users were asked to download an application that would facilitate the download. Adding an extra download to the process is usually a big turnoff for users. Users then had to log off the Internet, launch the application, and then click on a link for the actual download—yet another barrier to users getting the payoff they were expecting.

In general, we find that the following three factors are most important for advertisers to keep close tabs on: 1.) exposure; 2.) click-throughs; 3.) conversions. If an advertiser finds that their campaign is not getting good exposure, we’ve found that it is usually helpful to raise their cost-per-click bids, and revisit the audience they have chosen to target. Often the target audience is too narrow. With mobile, there are a number of parameters you can adjust and fine-tune to tap into your target audience. These include content channels, time targets and phone type. If the target is too selective, the advertisement could be severely limiting the number of interested prospective viewers.

What if an ad gets good exposure due to high bids and placement on a slew of mobile web sites, but a bad click-through rate? Just like other ad mediums, this is usually the result of ineffective copy. If this is the case, the first action an advertiser should take is to re-visit their messaging and ask the following questions: Is it concise? Does it appeal to the audiences they are trying to reach? Speaking of audiences, it also helps in this situation to once again examine the target audience. It may be too broad for what the advertiser is offering or what they want to accomplish. The advertiser may want to narrow their intended audience to better target and achieve an improved click-through rate.

Finally, I always advise advertisers to test, test, test. Do not be afraid to test multiple ad types and various approaches, especially early on in campaigns. You can never do enough testing, even after a campaign has begun. Remember that mobile advertising is a dynamic medium—which is part of its appeal—and part of the challenge is to constantly try new techniques that may improve results.

Mobile is probably the most targeted means of advertising ever devised. With creativity, planning, and by being versatile and willing to adjust your campaign in order the find the best fit to achieve the best results, you too can tap into the power of this medium.

Terms were not diclosed. Nor were any numbers made public on how many employees from Ad Infuse will stay. According to a spokeswoman, all “Ad Infuse employees will now be Velti employees; there will not be any layoffs. Ad Infuse has approximately 30 employees, which will be added to Velti’s existing 400 employees.”

Velti now has a presence in US, Europe, China, India and Middle East. The mobile advertising and marketing company has operations in 35 countries with a reach of over two billion consumers and some of the world’s major advertising and media agencies, brands, operators and publishers as its customers, including Microsoft, Disney, Unilever, Orange, Singtel, MasterCard and CBS.

According to the company, Velti had good 2008 revenue , up 164% on 2007, and profits growth: sales reached $70 million, with an EBITDA of $17 million. Revenues in the first quarter of 2009 are expected to be more than 50% higher than Q1 2008. Velti’s balance sheet continues to demonstrate strong cash and net assets positions and the company will fund the acquisition in cash using existing and pre-arranged resources. Management expects that following modest dilution in 2009, the transaction will be EPS enhancing in 2010, the first full year after closing.

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Medialets helps companies keep track of their audience and monetize applications built for the iPhone and Android, with other smartphones coming. The money will be used to build-out the platform further and “win market share.”

The company charges for ad serving and targeting technologies, analytics are free. According to MediaMemo, Medialets CEO Eric Litman figures that the market for mobile display ads tops out at perhaps $300 million and that ads for iPhone and Android apps can’t be more than $100 million. Litman believes the majority of future apps, and the apps downloaded, will be free and advertising-supported.

Below is a Medialets-produced ad for Dockers. You apparently shake your cell to make the character dance.

With tapMatch, brand and performance marketers bid on keywords and categories to run ads that appear on mobile web pages, above search results and in applications, like AdWords. It also combines it with the power of advanced search technology for contextual targeting, so advertisers can maximize performance by reaching consumers searching for or browsing content.

The advanced targeting intelligence that powers tapMatch, builds audience profiles from multiple sources including search queries, context, and click through history, to match the most relevant ad messages to each mobile consumer.

Advertisers maximize performance by targeting: keywords, categories, location, demographics, mobile carrier, publisher and mobile handsets including Blackberry and iPhone. Reaching qualified mobile audiences with highly targeted, relevant ads elicits strong consumer engagement, increased click thru rates and higher conversions according to early testers of the tool.

The intuitive interface makes it simple to start an ad campaign, upload text and graphical banner campaigns, configure and manage targeting options, track campaign performance and generate reports. Ads are priced and served by auction and advertisers only pay when consumers click on their messages.

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ESPN, AOL’s Platform-A, Millennial Media, and USA TODAY are all featuring PointRoll’s interactive rich media ads, creating over half a billion impressions each month on the iPhone.

“The growth of our advertising footprint on the iPhone enables leading brands to create interactive and targeted messages that can be served on some of the most popular mobile sites available,” said Jason Tafler, PointRoll CEO.

ESPN is one of the top five web sites accessed via mobile devices according to The Nielsen Company. Platform-A comprises more than 70 sites within Mediaglow, AOL’s newly launched publishing business, along with thousands of publisher sites in Advertising.com’s third-party networks. Millennial Media’s sites comprise the largest mobile ad audience in the United States, creating billions of impressions every month. The combined reach of these web pages including USA TODAY gives PointRoll the largest interactive advertising platform on the iPhone.

PointRoll launched the first rich media campaigns for the iPhone on USA TODAY last year featuring the Ford Flex and the Focus Features film “Burn After Reading.” Its technology permits advertisers to reach the end user with interactive content such as video, data collection, send to a friend, tap to call and more without the use of flash, which hasn’t been integrated into advertising on the iPhone.

Marketers are now able to utilize interactive rich media formats in the third screen, all without requiring the iPhone user to download any applications. The advertisements have the same features as those that run on computers, showcasing expandable, multiple panel, video, click-to-call, coupon downloads, data collects, click-to-maps, and links to the App Store and Google Maps.

PointRoll serves more than 70 billion rich media impressions each year.

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AdOn Network clients are now able to reach their target audience via text and multimedia messaging, mobile banner ads, video and downloadable applications. AdOn Network’s mobile advertising platform offers full-service and self-service solutions designed to meet a full spectrum of marketing objectives – both brand and direct-response.

AdOn Network’s mobile ad platform features advanced targeting capabilities including: Geo (Country, region, ZIP code), demographic, daypart, andset (sceen size, resolution, multimedia capabilities), channels (entertainment, health and fitness, finance and others), carrier (all carriers and platforms)

“While mobile advertising has been growing steadily in recent years, it has become evident that it is beginning to fulfill its potential as a viable marketing and advertising platform,” said Steve Armstrong, CEO of AdOn Network. “With usage trends showing that users are increasingly shifting to the mobile web along with the technology advances in handsets and network speeds, the time is right for AdOn Network to add a robust mobile advertising solution for our advertisers.”

AdOn Network has also launched background ads. The background ad unit is an innovative platform that places large-format ads in the unused spaces that surround the content of a website to create a fully integrated presence on a publisher’s website. Background ads include scalable distribution, dynamic resolution detection, a sync engine, background ad tag, ad rotation that allows multiple campaigns to be displayed in a refreshable rotation across an entire network of sites, and a fully-featured API that can be integrated into clients’ proprietary ad managers.
and left.

AdOn Network has also added expandable banners to their selection of banner ad formats.

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His campaign fully utilized the Internet for fund raising, communications, as a key component to what was arguably one of the most successful campaigns (as measured by the popular vote and Electoral College totals) of the last few decades. During the transition, the president-elect has not only made use of well-established technologies like You Tube to communicate with the American public, but he has made clear his intention to make a real and substantive commitment to nurturing the growth of technology and innovation by announcing his intention to appoint a national CTO.

But perhaps the most impressive aspect of Obama’s embrace of technology has been his use of mobile technology, which has not just been limited to his beloved Blackberry. His campaign’s use of the mobile Internet demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the power of the mobile medium that many in both the technology and marketing worlds have not yet fully grasped.

This embrace of mobile has continued after his Election Day victory—leading up to the inauguration, in fact, the Obama transition team sent emails to supporters encouraging them to send text messages to get information about inaugural events, both in D.C. and in their local area (in case you’re interested, you can text OPEN to 56333). But the Obama team’s embrace of mobile marketing began long before his election, with what can only be described as a brilliantly executed mobile campaign.

Capitalizing on the buzz generated by the lead-up to his vice-presidential running mate pick, the Obama team asked supporters, and those who were simply curious, to text a short code message to the campaign, with the promise that they would be the first to find out the name of the running mate—via text message, of course.

As a result, the campaign collected millions of mobile phone numbers (according to an official statement)—a rousing success by any measure—while continuing to solicit phone numbers through its other campaign activities. According to Nielsen Mobile, the announcement via text message was the single largest mobile marketing event ever, with more than 2.9 million text messages sent. But this was just the tip of the iceberg.

The campaign didn’t stop at text messaging, although that was perhaps the most striking example of its embrace of mobile. The Obama team also put together a mobile Internet site. And notably, the campaign supplemented that with an iPhone “Obama” application—to the almost audible applause of techies—where iPhone and iPod Touch users could have one-button access to campaign information, volunteer, and donate time or money, among other things.

Unlike collecting lists of email addresses, landline phone numbers or the old standard—direct mail marketing, or PC-based Internet marketing, the mobile Internet is perhaps the most effective way of connecting with new supporters (or customers) and keeping in touch.

For one thing, mobile technologies like text messaging and the mobile web represent an immediate call to action—avoiding the need to boot up a PC and often even eliminating the need for log-ins or other impediments to successful engagement. Mobile also represents a personal, nearly instant, way to reach people since most people carry their phone with them all the time, and consider it an integral part of their daily lives.

Finally, the Obama campaign’s mobile strategy is an example of the fact that collecting mobile numbers and information via smart marketing tactics is instantly opt-in, avoiding many of the pitfalls of traditional email or direct marketing—most notably privacy concerns and incorrect email addresses or phone numbers.

The Obama campaign’s mobile marketing tactics allowed it to capitalize on the energy generated at campaign events—with mobile providing a perfect channel for motivated attendees to instantly connect with the campaign via the mobile Internet. They even implored attendees to text message three acquaintances directly from campaign events to encourage family and friends to join the Obama movement. Once it had collected millions of active mobile numbers during and after the running mate announcement, the campaign continued to use text messages and its other mobile Internet properties to fundraise, mobilize volunteers, and alert supporters about events in their local areas—even solicit Red Cross donations for victims of hurricane Ike.

And perhaps most importantly, the campaign used its mobile Internet presence to activate supporters on Election Day, reminding them to vote and to encourage friends and family to do the same.

So, as Barack Obama takes the presidential oath of office, it is likely that most marketers and advertising executives will not be thinking (too much at least) about what lessons they can learn from his campaign. However, when it comes to its use of mobile technology, there are many potential takeaways from the Obama approach. If nothing else, the Obama campaign showed, for all to see, that mobile marketing works.

There are numerous examples that corroborate this assertion, but the Obama example may be the most striking and, no doubt, the most well-documented and transparent. The mobile Internet strategy didn’t win the election, but it helped mobilize supporters with unprecedented effectiveness and tapped into word of mouth and buzz, and the ability to capitalize on that buzz.

For the most part, the tactics employed by the Obama campaign’s mobile strategists can be easily translated to business. But, as I’ve always said, success marketing on the mobile Internet takes experimentation and innovative thinking. It’s about finding the right mix of techniques and tactics.

For the Obama campaign, text messaging combined with an easily navigable mobile web site supported by mobile banner advertisements was most effective. For most brands, the best mix will likely ultimately be a mobile Internet site with traffic driven by mobile banner ads. But one thing is for sure—mobile marketing works—just ask President Obama.

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Niche marketing is one of the areas that marketers and advertisers are moving toward as they contiue to bore down to better target their demographics.  Kraft foods is proving that not only are foodies fanatics but their pay as well. The company has a popular iPhone app that allows users to see recipes and shopping lists for Kraft singles, Jell-O gelatin and Minute Rice.

Special interest and niche sites allow advertisers and brands to engage with their target demographic without worry that annoying people who don’t want to be there.

And as AdAge points out, Kraft Foodies are paying to be marketed to, with the iFood Assistant one of the iPhone’s top 100 popular paid aps, and no. 2, in the lifestyle category.

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As your cell phone becomes more computer, interactive television, niche targeting for people who opt in is the likely future.