<p>In the science fiction blockbuster, StarWars, the Dark Star is a loathed spacecraft that has the power to destroy planets. Its conquest of space is halted by a band of rebels who believe that the universe has to be freed from the wrath of dictatorship. Such is the scene that one witnesses, in the consumer internet world, that it is a battle royale for the mobile universe and advertising 'space'. The adversaries are Google and Facebook, on one side, versus a "federation" of smaller adtechnology companies. These wars often go unnoticed and need to be looked at from the context of opportuntiy. Publicis, the advertising giant, says that mobile ad spends will grow to $45 billion in 2016 from a mere $13.5 billion in 2013.<br><br><strong>Giant Killers</strong><br>These adtech companies or startups represent the little guys, millions of app developers and media houses, who cannot afford to advertise on Google or Facebook. There is new hope seeding in the industry. It has taken root in the form of mobile app advertising; a 3.0 version powered by InMobi. Its platform called Miip is going to make publishers not just access advertising, but it also enables advertisers to get personal with their target audience, by engaging them with creative pop-ups, and will ultimately make them buy services. The platform is breath of fresh air to the already struggling adtech ecosystem.<br><br>However, one must be aware that Google and Facebook have begun offering micro stores, of retailers, within their apps. The only problem is that neither Google nor Facebook have invested in tracking consumer habits and have no way of telling what happens when consumers move from one app to the other, which is InMobi's big bet on taking on these internet giants. The two years of hard work has taken shape in the form of the Death Star destroyer. The timing, of this platform, is a perfect media run for InMobi.<br><br>It also believes that Miip can bring 1 billion consumers worldwide which will create a substantial business for InMobi, which is a direct $300 million business that can go in to its top line in 2 years. The company does not confirm this number, it obviously has a billion dollar business in its mind. But just when some of us wrote off adtechnology, as a business, it seems that there is a force out there, after all, that can stop the oligopoly of the mobile app economy.<br><br>Unfortunately, for these startups, today Google and Facebook have, along with Twitter and LinkedIn, captured 80 percent of the mobile ad-space. There are a clutch of Indian startups like Adnear, InMobi, VServ and Vizury that believe personal and engaging advertisements are the future of the mobile app economy. Like all small companies they have made their fair share of mistakes and are now becoming data-led companies.<br><br>Advertisers first wanted something that could measure consumer intent and there began the creation of adtechnology 2.0, which offered data analytics on user habits in apps. These platforms helped app developers understand their users and in the process offered personal banner ads to consumers. There was an intrinsic problem in this model for adtech companies. While there was a revelation that a data oriented approach could be the next best thing, it was not inducing customers to close transactions. Companies were placing ads on real time bidding platforms with intelligence and advertisers began forcing their hand and doubting the merits of the 2.0 technology.<br><br>But what is the use of measuring when there is no incentive provided to transact. There was speculation that the adtechnology industry would eventually collapse or merge into one or two entities. This is precisely why InMobi's Miip is going to be a game changer for publishers and advertisers. The platform itself promises to create multiple business models beyond just impression-based payments. For retailers it will allow them to target users even when they move from one app to the other. Say a customer is browsing between a grocery shopping app and a movie app, the platform can help advertisers, in this case the movie and the grocery app, to make an offer to the customer for product gratification. This will change mobile app advertising forever, which means the Miip platform is open to anyone with an intention of capturing and converting an audience. People have called this phenomenon of tracking customers between apps deep linking. Flipkart and Snapdeal are working on a similar model to target consumers. Who knows they may make a splash with InMobi in the months to come.<br><br>The question is will this 3.0 version of adtech companies work? BW Businessworld observes that this platform can be used by the likes of Walmart, Ford, General Motors, Fox News and the like. These are companies that have missed the consumer mobile internet revolution and are in serious need of engaging their consumers on the mobile. By the way Miip also reminds us of the "road runner" cartoon, courtesy Warner Brothers, where the bird, which outwits the wily Coyote every time he plans to trap it, announces its arrival and getaway with the famous call "meep-meep". But are these adtech companies fast enough to catch the Dark Star? Over the next 18 months we will either see adtechnology companies collapse or they will rise as the new Republic of the ad-space with several private equity and venture capital funds backing them to battle Google or a Facebook.</p>
