OneRiot’s Behavioral Targeting Twist

The type of behavioral targeting common on the web is rare in mobile. OneRiot is trying a new way to target that it hopes will crack the code on using social data to categorize users for ad-targeting purposes.

A recently released tool by OneRiot allows for agencies to understand exactly what its service offers. Entering in any Twitter user name pulls up a page that lists detailed information about the user. With OneRiot’s use of licensed Twitter data, it’s able to lump users into categories based on who they follow and what topics that individual broadcasts the most about. Each user helps define the categories that users who follow them are placed in, which focuses on interaction and influence over individual action.

“A lot of the cookie-based technology that works on the web doesn’t really translate that well to mobile,” said Tobias Peggs, CEO of OneRiot. “So we looked at mobile another way. What are people using their apps for and can we target that.”

Microsoft Tag recently released a report stating that 91 percent of mobile Internet usage is social. It’s clearly driving the explosive growth of mobile and will help it overcome standard web use. However, the majority of mobile advertisement seems to be focused just on mobile and not mobile social.

OneRiot currently serves ads using its data in Uber Social for BlackBerry and Echofone for iPhone, along with several other Twitter apps. Across its network, it serves 2 billion impression per month. The other side of the business is the audience data, which can be leveraged in any app or service that interacts with Twitter. The company plans to move forward building relationships with ad networks and platforms to leverage its capabilities. But in the meantime, it’ll have to do with serving highly targeted ads for Chevy, GAP, and AT&T.