XAd Brings 'Cost-Per-Visit' Ads: A Search-Like Performance To Its Mobile Advertising

xAd

Location-based marketing platform xAd is doing something radical from its competitors. The mobile advertising company is offering a new "cost-per-visit" (CPV) mobile ad model that is supported by third-party validation from Placed.

xAd is known to leverage user mobile devices' current or past location data in order to provide insights by market, brand and even competitors. Using data and intelligence, xAd can interpret the most relevant moment to show ads to potential customers. This way, xAd is able to create a more personalized mobile ad experience that can impact the point of decision.

Using its CPV ad model, mobile marketers will be asked to pay for the number of visitors that land on their stores or locations, not from impressions or clicks. This CPV approach simplifies the marketers' buying and planning process.

The ad model uses offline store visitation and also attribution tracking. This enables xAd to deliver ads to mobile users that visit certain business locations, for example.

Chief Product Officer Shashi Seth, a former search executive at Google and Yahoo!, said that one of the objectives was to take the guesswork out of targeting for advertisers. "They can now just tell us how many visitors they need in what locations."

Using third-pary location analytics Placed, xAd can provide validation and also verification. Placed is working closely with xAd to finalize the methodology to deliver an independent validation of visitation for the CPV ad model.

Mobile targeting ads

According to Shashi Seth, xAd has started testing its CPV ad model with some customers in December 2016. He added that there has been a positive response from customers that were using it.

As for the pricing, xAd is aiming to charge different prices for each visitors in different verticals. But initially at the launch, the price is fixed.

Seth believes that after marketers see the benefit of the CPV ad model, it will become a bidded marketplace like search.

"Performance driven marketers are going to get attracted to this model, said Seth as he pointed out that most of the transaction involving major categories, such as retail, QSR, automotive and CPG, among others, happen offline. According to him, businesses in these categories should be attracted to this CPV model.

To marketers, this ad model is new. While there are plenty of transaction-based marketing models before, CPV can deliver a new experience for potential customers and also for brands and marketers. The downside of this type of ads is because of its location-based model that makes its reach more limited.