The World's Top 10 Mobile Ad Companies

So you've developed a mobile app and you need to figure out how to monetize your product. Sure, you can sell it through the App Store, but if nobody really knows what it is or how it works, few will pay $0.99 for it. The vast majority of app developers use mobile ads to help offset the costs of developing and maintaining their products. There are many mobile ad companies ready to help with your ads for a cut of your income. Here are 10 mobile ad companies with the soundest platforms and highest ratings.

Adfonic is quickly moving up the ranks as one of the top providers of mobile ads. The company boasts a 95% average fill rate. This means fewer instances without an ad being shown plus a guarantee that users have higher eCPMs, or effective cost per thousand, which is the amount of revenue generated per 1,000 views. Fully customizable, Adfonic works with whatever users have created. However, the flexibility may present so many technical difficulties that users miss out on revenue.

Naturally, the Google (GOOG)-owned company AdMob comes at the top of the list. AdMob has superior coding and algorithms that cannot be beat. Its biggest feature is the software development kit (SDK) that allows users to connect across platforms. AdMob is easy to use and offers recommendations for best practices. The biggest pitfall: It’s tough to reach customer support when users need it most.

Amobee has taken a few twists and turns, but after being acquired by Singtel, a Singapore-based cell phone carrier, it has focused on the Asian market.  The company devotes its efforts to companies that have millions of dollars to spend every year. Amobee boasts that it will bring in several hundred million dollars annually as it continue to focus on the Asian market, although the company is not ignoring the United States.

Chartboost is designed by gamers for gamers. This is a platform that developers want to include in their games due to its targeted marketing. Chartboost is easy to use and shows ads that are essentially downloads for other games, which appeals to gamers who are always looking for the next big thing.

Flurry is all analytics. The company uses data collected from over 700 million smartphones and tablets to build its data set. The result is targeted advertising that specifically appeals to a developer’s market. Like Google, Flurry has various subsectors, but it wraps them all into a neat package.

HasOffers sets itself apart from competitors by offering tracking abilities on the success of its clients’ ads. The client can monitor installs and purchases as long as they are customers with HasOffers. Clients can then see where they need to change their focus based on what is working and what is not.

Hunt boasts one of the largest mobile ad networks with over 15 billion ad impressions. The idea is that by using its software development kit, users can hunt down the best ads for their mobile app or website. While many of the other ad companies target English-speaking markets, Hunt tackles Spanish-speaking consumers, which can easily bring a company into a new market.

Since launching in 2007, InMobi has become one of the biggest mobile ad companies in the world. It boasts a reach of nearly 700 million users in 165 countries. InMobi’s ads are seen over 100 times per user per month, allowing developers to expand their reach beyond countless borders. Keep in mind that statistics given by the company can be “creatively enhanced.”

Millennial Media is one of the biggest threats to Google’s AdMob.  The company’s selling point is that it doesn’t dabble with programmatic buying – meaning automated ad displays with little human interaction – but rather serves premium ads. This raises the company’s costs, but it also ensures the creation of a highly targeted, customized ad that will bring in more customers.

Most people avoid in-app purchases, and they become annoyed when you have to make a purchase in order to pass a level. Tapjoy offers a way around that by allowing the user to download a different game in order to earn in-app rewards. With a network of over 1 billion devices, Tapjoy has built a strong company.

Monetizing your app can be a difficult process.  Fortunately, there are dozens of companies that are eager to help you with that problem, and all it will cost is a portion of the ad revenue that you receive.  Your needs will vary, but if you’re looking for a mobile ad company, these are the 10 biggest players in the business.