GetMobile aims to be ‘AdWords’ of mobile

Mobile content and advertising vendor Quattro Wireless this week unveiled the new GetMobile mobile advertising network, designed to mirror the success of Google’s AdSense online auction format.

Quattro has worked with content providers to build a network of more than 50 mobile sites -– from content providers including the NFL, Playboy.com and TheStreet.com. Now, it is providing the same tools it used to mobilize those sites -– dubbed the GetMobile Juicer -- to any publisher that wants to create its own mobile site. Quattro is providing the mobile tools at no cost to publishers.

While that effort aims to drive up the number of mobile sites –- and available locations in which to place ads –- Quattro is also introducing the GetMobile exchange, a marketplace where mobile advertisers can bid for keywords for targeted mobile ads.

The approach will target “the long tail of mobile ads,” said Quattro CTO Eswar Priyadarshan –- a formula that Google mined online to great success.

In total, the GetMobile network will offer a range of mobile ad opportunities, from CPM-driven banner ads place on the sites of its “premier publishers” to pay-per-click ads on sites that use the Juicer to make their site content mobile, Priyadarshan said.

Both publishers and advertisers can use GetMobile's online tools for aggregating mobile audiences, accessing reports, and optimizing performance, the company said. Reports include standard metrics such as visitor traffic and ad performance, and can be further refined by geography, carrier, device and capabilities.

GetMobile isn’t the first mobile cost-per-click player. Pure-play mobile ad vendors including AdMob and Ads-Click offer mobile advertisers and operators CPC options, while Google and Yahoo have begun to move their Web-based pay-per-click program onto the mobile Web as well.

Auction-based pay-per-click would seem particularly suited for mobile ads, which are delivered to small devices with limited display capabilities. But CPC ad networks also require huge inventory to really make sense. While there’s clearly potential for mobile to deliver the billions of ad impressions required for CPC to soar, the market is nowhere near those numbers yet –- and it remains to be seen whether consumers will accept ubiquitous advertising on their mobile devices and content.