Where, a geo-enabled local search and recommendation service by Boston-based uLocate Communications, has launched Where Ads, a hyper-local advertising network. The company is launching the new network because it believes that its access to carrier infrastructure gives it an ability to deliver hyper-local and contextually relevant content — and by extension, highly targeted local advertising.
According to Dan Gilmartin, uLocate’s VP of marketing, the company has decided to scrap running generic ads (such as ones for ringtones and chat) on its app and replace them with local ads (for local merchants that also includes special offers and deals) aggregated from partners such as Quattro Wireless, which was recently acquired by Apple (s aapl). Upon launching these new ads, the company saw clickthroughs almost triple and a boost to its CPMs.
“About 30 days ago, we reached to some other mobile content publishers assuming they were dealing with the same issues we had, poor ads that degraded the app experience and low revenue,” he said. The company launched Where Ads with 10 publishers that will run ads from Where’s ad network.
I like this move by the company: It’s not only solving the problem of low relevance of mobile ads, it is doing so by building what could potentially be a sizable business. Where offers its app on multiple mobile platforms including the iPhone and has seen its app downloaded over 10 million times.
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