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21 Jan 2010

Opera announced today that it has acquired mobile advertising firm AdMarvel. Opera says the acquisition will enable it to expand its portfolio of products and services to include "highly scalable ad monetization services" for Opera branded mobile products and services.

"In our fast-growing industry, mobile advertising represents an interesting long-term revenue opportunity. Every month, nearly 50 million people access the Web using Opera on their mobile phones and together with AdMarvel, we think we can play an important role in the evolution of mobile advertising," says Opera CEO Lars Boilesen.

AdMarvel is based in San Mateo, California. It was founded in 2006, and works with a lot of different advertising firms around the world. It’s official description says:

AdMarvel makes mobile advertising work by enabling mobile publishers and operators to easily source, provision, manage and track advertising from virtually any ad network or direct sourced advertising inventory. As the leading trusted third party in mobile advertising, AdMarvel works with mobile publishers, developers, carriers, ad networks, agencies and advertisers to optimize advertising inventory and revenue. AdMarvel services work across mobile web, WAP, SMS and in-application modalities.

"We are very excited about joining forces with Opera," says AdMarvel CEO Mahi de Silva. "What started as a commercial relationship has blossomed into a wonderful partnership to serve the global mobile marketplace. Combining our monetization and analytics platform with the Opera browser and widget platform will create a new intelligent platform, where local and global advertisers can interact with a highly instrumented mobile audience."

Mobile advertising firms are being bought up like hotcakes. Other recent deals include Google acquiring AdMob and Apple acquiring Quattro. The Opera AdMarvel deal is reportedly for $8 million in cash plus a $15 million earnout.

Related Articles:

> Apple Acquiring AdMob Competitor Quattro Wireless

> Google Provides an Update on the AdMob Acquisition

> Google Buys Mobile Ad Firm For $750 Million In Stock

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Tags: AdMarvel, advertising, Apple Acquiring, California, CEO Lars Boilesen, CEO Mahi de Silva, global advertisers, Mateo, mobile marketplace, Opera, opera browser, opera ceo, Platform, quot, San, san mateo california

Opera Buys Mobile Ad Startup AdMarvel For $8M In Cash Plus A $15M Earnout

In: web resources

20 Jan 2010

This morning, Norwegian browser maker Opera Software announced that it has agreed to acquire AdMarvel, a small privately-held mobile advertising company based in San Mateo, California.

Opera is buying the startup for approx. $8 million in cash plus a $15 million earnout, which will be paid in cash only if “certain aggressive financial targets” are met over the next 24 months, TechCrunch has learned.

AdMarvel, founded in 2006, enables publishers and operators to source, manage and track advertising from virtually any ad network. The company works with a wide range of mobile publishers, developers, carriers, ad networks, agencies and advertisers to optimize advertising inventory and revenue. Its services work across mobile web, WAP, SMS and in-application modalities.

Formerly named Frengo, the startup was founded by CEO Mahi de Silva (ex-VeriSign and Apple) and a number of other former VeriSign executives. According to our records in CrunchBase, Frengo raised a total of $8 million over the years from investors like Index Ventures, Khosla Ventures and Trilogy Equity Partnership.

“In our fast-growing industry, mobile advertising represents an interesting long-term revenue opportunity. Every month, nearly 50 million people access the Web using Opera on their mobile phones and together with AdMarvel, we think we can play an important role in the evolution of mobile advertising,” says Lars Boilesen, who was recently promoted to Chief Executive Officer at Opera.

Opera says that the acquisition of AdMarvel will enable it to expand its portfolio of products and services to include ad monetization services for Opera-branded mobile products offered by operators and content partners.

This is the latest in a series of acquisitions in the mobile advertising space, although this is a minor one in comparison to Google’s purchase of AdMob ($750 million) and Apple’s acquisition of Quattro Wireless ($275 million).

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Tags: AdMarvel, advertising, California, CEO Mahi de Silva, company, de silva, equity partnership, financial targets, index ventures, Lars Boilesen, Mateo, Opera, San, san mateo california, startup

BarMax iPhone App Might Actually Be a Bargain at $1000 [App Store]

In: gadgets

19 Jan 2010

Remember the $1000 “I Am Rich” iPhone application? Well, here is another $1000 app that actually does something. If you are an aspiring lawyer, it might actually be a bargain.

How could a $1000 iPhone app be a bargain you ask? Well, BarMax CA was designed by Harvard lawyers, and it’s designed to help law students pass the bar exam—so you know the information comes from a credible source . Plus, BarBri, a company that is well known in the industry for offering in-class test prep combined with a free iPhone app, typically charges between $3000 and $4000 for enrollment (they have also been involved in multiple class action lawsuits regarding monopolistic business practices).

The app is huge at 1GB—offering audio lectures, practice tests, flash cards and more—in short, everything you would need from a 2-month course. Obviously, the current offering is meant for the California bar, but there are plans to roll out versions for New York and five other popular states by the end of the year. There will also be a $500 version that features only multiple choice preparation. [iTunes and Barmax via TechCrunch]