Affiliate Summit is one of the best events out there for affiliate marketing professionals, and we are looking forward to taking part in it again next year. Affiliate Summit West 2012 will be held in Las Vegas at Caesar’s Palace. The event has grown each year, and next year is sure to be another great year, with thousands of visitors and numerous companies exhibiting.

Although we will not be exhibiting at this year’s event as we have in the past, both of our directors (Peter Glaeser and Jet Patel) will be on hand to meet with anyone interested in working with Sponsormob. There is still time to set up a meeting with Jet and/or Peter, so please send me an email if you would like to meet them at Affiliate Summit.

Our COO and Co-Founder, Jet Patel, is headed to Sofia, Bulgaria this week for the Webit Congress. Over 5,000 visitors from 45 countries are expected to attend the event, which includes seven conference tracks, an exhibition, and networking parties (of course!). The event takes place at the Inter Expo Center in Sofia October 26 & 27. Jet will be attending the exhibition both days and will be meeting with partners. Since this is another new event for us, we are excited to get to check it out and learn more about what is happening in the online marketing industry in Central and Eastern Europe.

This past week we were a part of OMCap, a conference and networking event for online marketers that took place here in Berlin. We were also sponsors of the event and are pleased to have been a part of it, as it was a great event. Three of us from Sponsormob attended the day-long conferece, and a couple others joined us later in the evening for the event’s networking party.

OMCap was very well-organized and lovely. The location – Kosmos, formerly a famous cinema, was a fantastic location. The conference sessions were interesting. but I would also say that a couple of them were on the rather technical side. I also have to say that the comfortable, cushioned movie-theater seating also made it a bit difficult to concentrate, as they were perhaps too comfortable!

Networking was a main focus of the event, which we really enjoyed. There were lunch and dinner buffets, as well as coffee and cake in the afternoon, and even popcorn in between, so there was more than enough time to stop and mingle and no one went hungry. There was also a party after the dinner, with an open bar and a dj, so the event was one of the most fun we have been to recently. I would say the only problem with the event was not being able to get anyone to join us on the dance floor … Next year we will have to try harder!

Also – pictures of the event can be see on our Facebook page and on Flickr.

This past week was an eventful one for Apple. In an official announcement on Tuesday, the company introduced its latest and greatest device, the iPhone 4S (TechCrunch). And this was probably a surprise to the many Apple fans who were waiting for what was expected to be the iPhone 5.

Apparently, the phone looks no different than the iPhone 4, but there are several features unique to the new version, including:

• an 8 megapixel camera (with face detection)
• dual-core graphics, which are supposed to be seven times faster than the previos phone
• download speeds roughly double that of the iPhone 4
• a voice-controlled personal assistant (from Siri, which is now a feature on the new phoneand no longer an app – which is highly disappointing to many owners of other iPhone models, to whom Siri is no longer accessible)
• the phone is also a “world phone,” meaning it should be able to be used in most countries around the world

Interestingly, the iPhone 4S does not contain NFC (near field communication). NFC, a sort of short range wireless technology which is expected to enable the expansion of mobile payment systems, was another feature many were expecting to see in the newest Apple creation. However, this is something that may end up being added to the next iPhone. With the growing popularity of mobile payments, the company will more than likely add the feature, and we expect it to be sooner rather than later.

Of course, Apple also lost its Co-Founder and former CEO, Steve Jobs, this week. The official cause of death was unknown, but he had battled cancer for years and had also stepped down as CEO earlier this year after a medical leave-of-absense.The death of Steve Jobs is being mourned around the world, and many are rightly calling him the Thomas Edison or Henry Ford of our day. Indeed, with over 300 patents and the world’s most valuable company, he was a brilliant inventor and businessman. His philosphy was to create products that were “the intersection of art and technology,” and in this he was successful indeed.

He will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved him, of course, but also the millions of people worldwide who have been impacted by his life and work. He was a truly unique, prolific person who had a vision and did what it took to see that realized, revolutionizing an entire industry. In keeping with the simple, impacting style which made Apple the success story it is, the company has a memorial page in honor of Steve Jobs.

As we’ve mentioned before, this year’s super-busy event season has officially begun, and we are right in the middle of it. Last week, Sponsormob was in two places at once: Dmexco, in Köln, and ad:tech London. We did not exhibit at Dmexco as we did in 2010, but we visited the event and had meetings there with several partners. The event was busy and buzzing with companies from Europe, the US, Israel, and beyond.

We did actually exhibit at ad:tech London. This included a few long days with a busy exhibition and networking parties at night. We always enjoy ad:tech events, and this year in London was no exception. It was great, and we are already making plans for next year’s event, as well as looking forward to ad:tech New York in November.

This week our event schedule continued in Bucharest. I visited Romania to attend the Eastern European Mobile Monday Developers Summit (yes, that’s a mouthful!). It was Sponsormob’s first event in Romania, and my first time visiting the country, so it was most definitely interesting. Although the event was on the small side, there were attendees from across Eastern Europe and Israel, making for a very interesting mix.

View photos from the events on Flickr, and keep an eye out here and we will keep you posted on future events in mobile and digital marketing!

It is no secret that the mobile internet is growing in regions all around the world at a pretty amazing rate. But sometimes it’s interesting to see numbers that show us just how massive mobile advertising is becoming, especially when compared to other forms of advertising. Recent studies on mobile advertising spend show that mobile marketing is on its way to take over traditional online spend and possibly even TV ad spend.

A report published by Flurry shows that in-app mobile advertising inventory is set to take over the entire online display ad spend by the end of 2011 (MobileMarketingWatch). According to the article by Mobile Marketing Watch, over 600 thousand apps are available worldwide for more than 350 million Android and iOS devices. The average number of apps per user turns out to be roughly sixty-five, and the number of ads per app-session were shown to be right around 4.3,  according to the apps tracked in the study.

Not only is the mobile internet swamping online ad spend, but it is catching up with  TV advertising as well. Just to clarify, mobile advertising alone isn’t taking over television ad spend – at least, not yet. However, interactive marketing (including online and mobile display advertising) is set to surpass TV marketing spend in the United States within the next five years, according to Forrester Research (Business2Community.com). The same study by Forrester Research also shows that mobile paid advertising and search will continue to skyrocket and are even expected to surpass email advertising as well as social ads this year, which proves what we have been seeing – expansive growth in mobile across all sectors. Companies who have not yet started advertising on the mobile internet should consider doing so in 2012, as the industry will only continue to grow.

An interesting quote in Millenial Media’s Q2 SMART Report caught my eye recently. In it, Paul Gelb of marketing agency Razorfish, says:

“Mobile is the first truly mass media. There are over three times the number of mobile subscribers as there are TV subscribers. Globally, it’s the most adopted technology and media channel in history. The engagement rates are higher. And inventory, thanks to a 24-hour access to users, is unmatched.”

Whether he is actually right about mobile being the first true form of “mass media” is debatable, but he makes a very good point. Mobile has brought more media engagement with it than ever before, and with the seemingly endless growth of the mobile web which we talk about frequently, this interaction is certain to grow. He is also right about the inventory on the mobile web. And apparently, as display ad spend is set to surpass that of TV ad spend, he may really be on to something.

If nothing else, the fact that mobile may be the first real form of mass media is food for thought. We would love to hear your opinions. Is mobile truly the first form of mass media?

Mobile internet agency M47 Interactive has now made its free Flirtalike app available to the European market. The app, which was launched in the US in 2010 Sponsormob, is now accessible to German customers in the App Store. The app is available for iOS devices, including the iPhone, iPod Touch, and the iPod.

Georg Gajewski, managing director at M47 Interactive, says, “In Germany we are seeing rapid changes in the habits of dating and flirt site users. Up to now, traditional online dating and flirt portals have been overlooking the opportunities in mobile, so we are happy to fill that gap.”

Flirtalike is the first free flirt community app developed exclusively for the mobile internet. It gives users the opportunity to connect and flirt via their mobile devices simply for fun. Future plans for the Flirtalike app include launches in other European nations.

Sponsormob is the exclusive promoter of Flirtalike and looks forward to offering the iPad app to the German market. Regarding partnership with Sponsormob, Gajewski says “We are excited about the expansion of Flirtalike throughout Europe and for continued cooperation with Sponsormob. We are hoping to see a repeat of the success with Flirtalike in the USA through our partnership.”



We have some exciting news for our Affiliates -  Sponsormob will now be offering additional payment options. For those Affiliates who are generating high revenues, it is now possible to be paid not only once per month but three times: on the 1st, 11th, and 21st of each month! This helps our publishers get their commissions faster and gives them the opportunity to boost their traffic and performance.

Affiliates will need to generate a minimum of 1k in commissions per week to qualify and take advantage of our new payment terms. Simply get in touch with your Account Manager, Jenny Ibsch, to discuss which payment plan works best for you and your goals. We are happy to make this available to our Affiliates!

Our company move was completed this past weekend, and we are now in the process of getting settled into our new office space. We haven’t moved very far, but the new location gives us more room to work and grow. Here we are enjoying our first team lunch in the new office on moving day, and we are looking forward to many more!