Bango to track demographics for advertisers

Bango is the latest outfit to jump on the mobile advertising bandwagon, unveiling a service designed to track the effectiveness of wireless marketing campaigns.
The developer of direct-to-consumer infrastructure launched Bango Vision, an extension of its storefront technology that tracks users’ demographic information, browsing habits and spending history. The software identifies new and repeat visitors to mobile Internet sites, allowing businesses to deliver customized content, and can tweak advertising campaigns based on geographic markets.
“The way in which mobile data services are delivered and interacted with by consumers is becoming more mainstream; more like how online business is done,” said Anil Malhotra, Bango’s VP of marketing and alliances. “This can do everything from tracking what device is being used in which country and which language, the download capabilities of the handset, whether a user has bought from Bango before and what his preferred method of paying is.”
The move was a predictable one for Bango, which powers off-deck efforts for World Wrestling Entertainment, Hearst Publications and Maxim Magazine, as well as countless smaller customers. Bango Vision, which comes to market later this month, is targeted both at businesses looking to sell content and other mobile goodies as well as brands simply working to raise their profile.
The service will be available for roughly $1,000 a month, Malhotra said, and is targeted at content providers, media companies, advertising agencies and digital transaction technology providers.
With the announcement, Bango joins a crush of established outfits and newcomers looking to help advertisers optimize their wireless campaigns. Third Screen Media two weeks ago partnered with Telephia to launch a similar effort; other players include pure-play mobile marketing firms such as Enpocket and AdMob as well as wireless usage measurement firm M:Metrics.
The service is an attempt for Bango to leverage the “tens of millions of mobile user profiles” it has built through its direct-to-consumer business. And while the service can offer only limited information on users who’ve never strolled off-deck to buy content or learn about a product, it marks yet another step in what promises to be a long journey for advertisers looking to present their wares to consumers on their phones.
“I think there is more theory than practice, at the moment, in terms of how mobile advertising might work,” Malhotra opined. “It dawned on us that we had the capability in the Bango platform that we hadn’t packaged and offered up to people who could really benefit from it.”