Google is obviously serious about mobile advertising, and is filing patents left and right with one common theme- location.  We reported a while back that Google had developed a process — and filed a patent — for “sniffing” data packets sent and received by users utilizing location-based services in an attempt to come as close as possible to having what the carriers have- true user location data at all times for its subscribers.

Last Tuesday, Google was awarded a patent filed over six years ago related to using location for “targeting, setting a minimum price bid for an ad, offering performance analytics, and modifying the content of an ad,” as well.  While broad, it covers all basis for Google’s plan for mobile advertising, even though most of what they describe is already being implemented by the company.  Last week, for example, Google starting allowing users to modify their search results based on their location to show results nearby, and Google Buzz was launched using “location feeds” as well.  Here’s what the patent states as part of its abstract;

The location information used to target and/or score ads may be, include, or define an area. The area may be defined by at least one geographic reference point (e.g., defined by latitude and longitude coordinates) and perhaps additional information. Thus, the area may be a circle defined by a geographic reference point and a radius, an ellipse defined by two geographic reference points and a distance sum, or a polygon defined by three or more geographic reference points, for example.

Its just yet another pawn in the game by both Google and Apple to dominate in the mobile advertising market each want so badly.  When Google bought up AdMob, Apple fired right back with Quattro’s acquisition, and each are making move after move to help themselves compete stronger.  While one would think that Google has the undoubted upper-hand, Apple’s sheer reach with its iPhone and the lock it has on the device from hardware to software to now advertising gives it a stronger position than even Google would like to admit.

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APIs have become an important aspect of the Web, powering unique mashups, services and solutions that work with leading data providers such as Google, Twitter and Facebook.  For developers working with varying sets of APIs, however, there’s few resources available to help organize, analyze and create enhanced mashups in a centralized environment.

Apigee, an innovative startup out of Santa Clara, CA, entered the market last August with its free, self-service API management tool to fill the aforementioned gap, and is posting strong growth numbers in only a few short months.  Through adding robust functionality since its launch, Apigee is poised to gather never-before-seen insight into the state of API usage across the Web and mobile platforms.

Built on Sonoa’s industrial-strength cloud service and API infrastructure that powers the likes of MTV Networks and MySpace, among others, Apigee now features a revamped Web interface, animated API setup and rate limiting dialogues following its latest update.  These features allow users to easily get started, view detailed analytics on API requests over time and determine automatic responses to changes that can disrupt service.  Apigee has also added SSL support for APIs based on HTTPS protocols, opening up prominent APIs including PayPal to safe, efficient usage and deep visibility.

Through developers use of its platform, Apigee is quickly gaining valuable insight into how APIs are being used, and has identified a continued trend for location-based functionality and social media mashups.  Some apps that are already using Apigee include mLocal, which aggregates local classified advertising, Social Mention, which indicates social sentiment across varying social networks, as well as Flikr Photosets, a Facebook Flikr app that’s built using APIs from both Facebook and Flikr, proxied through Apigee.

“APIs are changing the face of Web and mobile for both big companies and individual developers alike, and Apigee is proving to be an ideal platform to create some pretty innovative apps and mash-ups,” says Brian Mulloy, co-creator of Apigee. “Additionally, with more and more users adopting Apigee, we have the potential to find out what that change looks like- how fast it’s growing, what platforms are being used, and what access and usage trends are developing – empowering our users to be smarter about managing and running their apps in today’s Web API economy.”

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When it comes to mobile apps, everyone is trying to create a development platform that encompasses all varying devices, OSs and so on, but the idea of “create once, deploy anywhere” is a concept that won’t truly be realized for quite some time.

During MWC, MoSync debuted its attempt to offer a cross-platform development tool as part of its roadmap to enable a cross platform App Store solution based on open source technology and industry standards.  Beyond the launch of its development platform, MoSync also has plans to offer an App Store client and a server solution which will enable any player to launch a complete cross platform App Store solution “within 24 hours and with close to zero start-up costs.”

Like similar cross-platform attempts, MoSync’s solution works across all major mobile platforms and devices in hopes of eliminating the problem of fragmentation within both development and publishing of mobile applications.  “MoSync identified the problem caused by lack of standards more than five years ago and has since worked to create a solution solving the problem within both development and distribution,” says Dusyant Patel, CEO at MoSync.  ”MoSync creates openness in this space and enables any small or large player to launch a complete cross platform App Store.  This revolutionizes the mobile application and App Store space and enables access to mobile applications for billions of end-users.“

One of the advantages I see to MoSync, is the fact that it’s completely open source and comes with lots of example code to get off the ground quickly.  The cross-platform SDK also allows for the development of applications for all the major mobile platforms using one single C/C++ codebase.  Whether it will be enough to entice developers remains to be seen, but MoSync has put a lot of thought into their platform.  This will definitely be one to keep an eye on in the near future.

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iVdopia is set to introduce its unique “pre-app” and in-app advertising solutions to Android developers, adding to its offerings of similar solutions for iPhone developers.

iVdopia incorporates elements of social networking, video and other aspects into its offering to provide developers a unique method for monetizing their apps.  Its “pre-app” ad-model utilizes short commercial-like videos that run when a user opens an app, before the actual app is presented.  Though it may turn off a large group of users, the company says response has been strong so far.

During the pre-app and in-app ads, a user has several options to interact and respond with the brand; by sharing via Facebook and Twitter, bringing up location and contact information via Google Maps, visiting the brand’s Website and more.  Developers will also have the option to add “Talk2Me” ads, which are rather self-explanatory.  iVdopia has already released its Android SDK for developers, so it should be interesting to see the response from a developers perspective.

The included elements iVdopia provides are pretty comprehensive, but again, I can’t help but wonder why a developer with Android or the iPhone would utilize a third-party solution like this over the inevitable built-in monetization tools both Google and Apple are planning.  During the interim, developers will likely utilize these types of solutions, but once Google and Apple define their strategies with their respective ad-network purchases, third-party providers will become obsolete.

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In two recently filed patent applications, RIM has detailed a proprietary method its developed to incorporate mobile advertising into the apps developers create for its App World.  The news comes months after RIM announced the “Blackberry Advertising Service” back in November of last year, though no formal plans have been announced since.

The first patent, dubbed a “System and Method for Incorporating Multimedia Content Into a Message Handled By a Mobile Device,” goes on to state that “multimedia content can be incorporated into a message handled by a mobile device with minimum invasiveness by utilizing linking mechanisms that are visually identifiable with certain content and can reveal the multimedia content, e.g. an advertisement, upon selection.”  The inventors go on to detail how it all comes together:

This (advertising) may be done by examining content in the message handled by a mobile device and matching portions of the message with predetermined criteria such as keywords or phrases. Upon finding matches, corresponding multimedia content is associated with a respective portion of the message content and access to the multimedia content is enabled through selection of a linking mechanism that is visually identifiable with the respective portion of the message. The message is modified to include such linking mechanisms such that upon viewing the modified message, a user may reveal the multimedia content by selecting the linking mechanism. It has also been recognized that multiple layers of multimedia content can be provided such that different types of user interaction can reveal different forms of multimedia content.

In a second patent application, RIM described a technology that will minimize occurrences of ad impression-inflation on part of app developers, by utilizing a “method of evaluating advertising metrics that may include, but does not require, receiving advertising metrics from an application handling advertisements, augmenting the advertising metrics with data from an advertising client, and validating the advertising metrics”  In other words, RIM wants to make sure metrics in terms of ad-impressions are as accurate as possible for developers.

Though details are still limited as to exactly what RIM has up its sleeve in terms of app-monetization for its App World, its clear that they mean business, and that they plan to go it alone.  Where the ads will come from is still up in the air, and a formal launch date is still a ways away, but RIM has an uphill battle to place itself in a prime position to take on the likes of Apple and Google in the mobile-ad wars.  Only time will tell if they have what it takes.

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