RIM Launches Mobile Ad Service for BlackBerry Developers

BlackBerry manufacturer Research In Motion today announced the launch of a mobile ad platform for developers, which will pool in-app ad inventory for sale to partner ad networks, including Millennial Media and Jumptap.

RIM says the platform – dubbed the BlackBerry Application Platform – will allow developers to monetize their software more effectively by eliminating the need to manage relationships with multiple networks. Instead, the service will optimize their inventory to maximize yield, with the developer receiving 60 percent of the resulting ad revenue. “The service reduces the commercial and technical complexity of enabling ads within an application and offers developers a new avenue of monetization,” said Alan Brenner, senior vice president of BlackBerry Platform at RIM.

Apple’s recently launched iAd product provides developers on its platform with a similar service, and offers them the same chunk of ad revenue. However, Apple sells the inventory itself, rather than passing it on to a network to sell.

At launch, RIM’s platform will aggregate ads from networks, including Amobee, Jumptap, Lat49, Millennial Media and Mojiva. RIM says it expects to integrate other networks, including Buzzcity, NavTeq, Placecast, Sympatico, Transpera, Where, and xAD, in coming months.

At launch, supported ad formats will include standard Mobile Marketing Association mobile banner ads, as well as HTML 5-based rich media ads. RIM says it will also be integrating mobile rich media technology from third-party vendors, including Medialets.