Chartboost Expands Direct-Deal Marketplace to Android

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, Chartboost announced that it is opening the closed Beta for Android and making its platform available for all Android games, just in time for the holidays. High-volume games on Android can now sell their own inventory directly to other games, skipping the 50-percent cut that ad networks generally charge. Smaller developers can cross-promote their own games for free and plug into a new monetization option that uses customizable full-screen interstitials (click for an example).

Given the strong Android interest that Chartboost received from its game-publisher clients, the company accelerated the development of its Android SDK and Android Server-Side solutions. Chartboost ran a closed Android Beta with two of the biggest Android developers, Animoca and Storm8, and several large publishers already are integrating the solutions in the coming weeks.

According to Maria Alegre, co-founder and CEO of Chartboost, the holiday season represents a big opportunity for the company's Android marketplace. "With the Android Market topping 10 billion downloads earlier this year and Android phones outselling iPhones by a 2-to-1 margin in the last three months, and many people purchasing new mobile phones over the holidays, now is the perfect time to launch the platform for game publishers to maximize the revenue potential of their apps."

Industry reports indicate that the Android operating system has outpaced Apple's iOS by 18% to 28% of the total market share in the U.S. in 2011. However, they also indicate that revenues through the Android platform (downloads and in-app commerce) represent 7% of iOS's. Most developers are, therefore, looking for new ways to monetize their apps through advertising.

The Chartboost platform offers a new monetization alternative that uses customizable, white‑labeled full-screen interstitials to suggest other games that may interest users. Interstitials become an attractive game suggestion and are not perceived as if they were ads. When publishers do not use their inventory to promote their own games, they can sell it directly to other publishers and monetize their app. Publishers completely control the allocation of traffic between direct deals as well as the internal cross promotion within their network of apps.

About Chartboost

Started by early ex-Tapulous employees, Chartboost (www.chartboost.com) offers a way for mobile games to make a lot more money by selling their traffic directly to buyers instead of paying a 50% fee to an ad network. The company launched early this year and is working with top iPhone publishers like Tinyco, Pocket Gems, Storm8, Funzio, Disney Mobile, Gameview, Crowdstar and Animoca. The company recently closed $2 million Series A funding with Translink Capital, SKTVC and XG Ventures.

SOURCE Chartboost