The new ad push marks a first for Tumblr – putting sponsored content in the same context as regular posts. First reported by AdAge, users will now see as many as four of the new ads per day. You’ll be able to tell the difference between the ads and the normal posts by a dollar sign that accompanies the sponsored content.

You may recall that this dollar sign is the same way that Tumblr identified its current ads – the decidedly less-intrusive “Radar” ads that Tumblr debuted in May of last year. These ads appear on the “Spotlight” page, which highlights editor-selected blogs, as well as the Radar, which is seen on the sidebar of Tumblr pages. Back in May, the starting bid for these “Radar” ads was reported to be around $25,000.

“This mobile advertising opportunity is native to how our consumers experience content on our apps; as a continuous stream,” said Tumblr sale head Lee Brown in a statement.

Tumblr is launching the new ads with a handful of high-profile partners, including ABC Entertainment and ABC Family, GE, Pepsi, and Warner Bros. You can expect to see heavy promotion from Warner Bros, who will be serving up ads for upcoming films to the Tumblr mobile community.

This is a mobile-only push, but only for now. Tumblr confirmed to AdAge that these new types of in-stream ads will eventually pop up on the desktop version of Tumblr, but they were unwilling to give a specific date.

Tumblr recently announced that they had crossed the 100 million blogs milestone. As of now, there are over 48.6 billion posts on the site.

According to All Things D, White will work closely with Instagram co-founder Kevin Systrom in an effort to “expand partnerships, improve user operations and, presumably, come up with ways to make some money.”

White has a history of working on monetization, both as head of Facebook’s mobile partnerships and as a Senior Director of Emerging Business in marketing and ads with Google. Facebook stole White from Google back in 2010.

Here’s what Systrom had to say about the move:

“I’m excited to bring Emily White onto the Instagram team. As we continue to scale our operation to support over 100 million active users, her experience with partnerships and business operations will play a major role in our future success.”

It’s no shock that Facebook is making moves to monetize Instagram, which it bought for close to $1 billion last year. Presumably, White will work on finally bringing ads to the service. As you may remember, that concept sparked quite a bit of controversy last year when Instagram changed its terms of service to allow for future use of user content in advertising.

The lead photo is from White’s personal Instagram account, on which she’s already changed her title to Director of Business Operations at Instagram.

The page has a calculator, which helps businesses consider online and offline conversions by rethinking conversion paths. The calculator lets you enter data manually or upload your Google Click Type report.

“We live in a world of constant connectivity, where mobility is bridging the digital and physical worlds,” says Johanna Werther, Head of Google’s Mobile Ads Marketing. “With smartphones in hand, people are taking a variety of online and offline actions, like calling a business, downloading an app, looking for directions to a store, or starting research that leads to a purchase on another device. We’re working hard to account for these new paths to purchase in AdWords, like the recent addition of calls as conversions to AdWords reporting. Still, with more work to be done to improve measurement tools, most marketers still account only for sales happening on a mobile site and aren’t seeing the full picture.”

“This new consumer behavior is now the norm, with a recent study showing that nearly three of ten mobile searches result in visiting a store, calling a business, or making a purchase online,” adds Werther. “Some smart marketers are already investing in understanding how mobile drives sales through these new customer paths. For example, adidas, in partnership with their agency iProspect, felt that mobile was converting in ways beyond their mobile website, so they created a simple yet powerful attribution model to understand how mobile is driving customers into stores. As a result, adidas found that each click on their store locator button was worth $3.20, which has changed the way they view their digital investment.”

You can look at that case study here, if you like.

In addition to the calculator, the Full Value of Mobile site includes videos that illustrate mobile conversion paths, case studies, which highlight proven mobile strategies, and tips for measurement. Google says the step-by-step wizard for uploading data with the calculator amounts to about a thirty-minute process.

As seen at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and Mobile World Congress, tech companies are focusing more than ever on smartphone and tablet devices. Companies such as Sony, LG, Asus, and even HP unveiled new devices that will enter a market already largely controlled by the likes of Apple, Samsung, and Amazon.

What mobile devices do you intend to acquire this year? Let us know in the comments.

What is somewhat surprising is that many of these companies might actually have a chance, considering how quickly the mobile industry is growing. On March 4, ABI research estimated that mobile users will download 14 billion tablet apps during 2013. Almost three-quarters of those apps will be running on a iPad device, but Android devices are now set to lead in the number of smartphone app downloads, which ABI predicts will reach 56 billion in 2013.

For consumers the proliferation of more devices with a wider variety of features could mean confusion and burnout. It also means that consumers have never had more choice, and more power, than they do now. The choices they make this year about the devices they purchase and the technologies they adopt will shape the technology landscape for years to come.

Apple stock has had a rough winter, in no small part to the Apple Maps debacle and the fact that the iPhone 5 failed to iterate significantly on the device’s past models. While Android devices are introducing larger smartphones, NFC technology, wireless charging, and features such as water resistance, Apple’s credibility as a innovator in the market segment it created is shrinking.

As Apple now begins to follow industry trends with the iPad mini and a less expensive version of the iPhone, Samsung is poised to become a market leader. The Korean company will unveil its latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S IV at an Apple-like announcement in New York on March 14. Samsung’s hefty manufacturing capabilities and willingness to mimic Apple have propelled it to the forefront of Android smartphones, but the company’s new marketing (another thing it has taken directly from Apple’s playbook) is also beginning to become part of the cultural zeitgeist.

The mobile market right now might be considered tablets and smartphones, but later this year Google will introduce a completely new type of mobile product with Google Glass. Though the device’s success is far from certain, it could introduce an entirely new mobile category, propelling the industry forward with even more constant connectivity. Glass’ ability to record on the fly also brings privacy concerns, meaning laws and social norms will be further tested by advancing technology.

With all of these changes coming to the mobile space, it’s worth considering how advertisers will adapt. While having consumers constantly connected and consuming content may seem preferable for advertisers, the abundance of that content can make it difficult for ad campaigns to target their audience. At the same time, the abundance of content and metrics can put consumers in control of much of the advertising they see.

As Susan Wojcicki, senior VP of advertising at Google, recently put it in a Google Plus post, “We are living in uncharted territory.”

Wojcicki argues that as always-connected devices continue to proliferate, advertising will quickly move into a “choice-based economy” where users will be able to control the content and ads that they see. She writes that “ads views will effectively become voluntary.”

It’s not hard to imagine how advertisers will have to adapt in that type of ad economy. Choice-based ad models will have to cater to consumers at an individual level with adaptability and engage customers in nearly the same way that content itself does. Wojcicki suggests that future technologies will provide more “interactive and beautiful” ads, but that’s only the beginning of how mobile advertising will change in the coming years.

Accepting that consumers are no longer a captive audience for ads may be a terrifying prospect for both advertisers and content creators, but consumer choice is only continuing to increase. This could make solid advertising opportunities more expensive, but also means that brands will have to adapt their ad techniques to grow a fan base or to provide upfront value to consumers.

How do you think advertising should adapt to consumer choice? Tell us your ideas in the comments.

As the nature of mobile advertising changes, how advertisers measure the impact of their campaigns will have to change as well. Wojcicki puts it bluntly by stating advertisers will have to develop “standards beyond the click.” However, it’s hard to predict just how those measurements will be made in the future, particularly in light of the growing backlash from privacy advocates.

Wojcicki stated that Google is beginning to to roll out surveys to provide advertisers with a way to measure the performance of their display and video campaigns. Google’s skippable “TrueView” ads are also now integrated into mobile AdMob apps, allowing consumers to decide for themselves what ads they will view.

As the future of the mobile industry finally begins to take shape this year, consumers have never had more choices with regards to hardware, software, and services. However, the plethora of choices thrown at consumers can also create confusion, and will inevitably lead to a few trusted brands leading the way. While advertisers attempt to pare down consumers’ choices for them, future technologies, such as Google Glass, will continue to continue to change the way people interact with technology and their environment.

“CBS is once again set to live-stream the game, and was almost completely sold-out of mobile inventory space in December, with prices ranging from high six to low seven figures,” Sephi Shapira, CEO of mobile marketing firm MassiveImpact tells WebProNews. “But, marketers aren’t just thinking about people live-streaming the game, they’re thinking about how to engage with traditional TV viewers via mobile.”

“Prior to the start of the game, many brands are looking for viewers to interact with traditional television ads on their mobile devices,” Shapira adds. “That interaction is about more than increasing traffic to an app or mobile site; it’s about specific end-user targeting. Based on how the viewer reacts to the television ad on their mobile device, the content they receive for the rest of the game via mobile will be tailored to the individual’s initial mobile interaction.”

“This individualized content should mean large returns for advertisers, and will continue as a trend for interaction through the upcoming year,” Shapira notes.

“Mobile ad personalization is a focus for the industry moving into 2013,” Shapira says. “Some firms have already instituted the use of real-time performance analytics to increase end-user ad relevancy. These firms leverage past mobile purchases, past mobile browsing history, and geo-location to ensure that end-users only receive timely and relevant ads.”

A lot of Super Bowl viewers just got new tablets and smartphones for Christmas, and will no doubt be holding them through the game. Meanwhile, mobile apps are becoming as popular as TV itself.

According to recent data from Gartner, mobile ads are expected to rake in $11.4 billion in 2013.

Hulu’s AdZone is here if you want to check out the Super Bowl ads.

Microsoft Search Network GM, David Pann, tells WebProNews that we will also see a new ad format in the form of “Click To Call” (also much like Google’s offering). Bing’s take on the ad format will be the result of a partnership with Skype (which, of course, Microsoft acquired in 2011).

The ad format will be available on mobile, tablets and PCs, and Skype’s different types of calls “could be on the roadmap” he says.

Skype already has a click to call offering (pictured), but it doesn’t actually show an ad for the business. “Instead when the Skype plug-in is installed in the users’ browser on a PC, and the business listing is appearing organically on any web page, then it allows the user to click on the listing on the webpage to call that business for free using Skype,” explains Microsoft.

The click-to-call functionality for Bing Ads will show advertisers’ ads in search ads when the user is searching for info that’s relevant to the business or category. It will also offer call analytics functionality for search advertisers.

Bing appears to be paying attention to what is working with AdWords and trying to emulate, or improve upon it for the Bing Ads experience. Pann said of Bing’s sitelinks format, that advertisers come over with the mentality of “It performs well over there [Google], so it will here too.” Surely, they’re counting on a similar mentality with click to call and product listing ads (which have been paying off quite nicely for Google).

Pann says they’e adopted a philosophy of trying to do in 15 minutes for advertisers what AdWords can do in 45 minutes.

He also said we can expect Bing to launch Bing Ads Express within the first half of the year. It’s currently in beta. This is aimed at smaller advertisers, and will essentially figure everything out for them in the matter of a couple clicks.

Pann says Microsoft has been launching new mobile capabilities for Bing Ads somewhere in the world every week, and at least once a month in the U.S.

TrueView ads are cost-per-view. Advertisers only pay when viewers actively select their videos or choose to continue watching them, once they’re first loaded while they browse content. The content has to be hosted on YouTube, but they can appear on both YouTube and other publisher sites in the Google Display Network.

“With TrueView, we’ve developed a model where user engagement matters — people can skip ads they aren’t interested in after five seconds,” says YouTube group product manager Phil Farhi. “Giving viewers choice over ads they watch has led to a better, more engaged viewing experience, benefiting the entire YouTube community of users, advertisers, and content creators. Advertisers only pay when someone chooses to watch the ad, so their budgets go toward the people most interested in what they have to say. ”

“Hundreds of our advertisers are experiencing ‘buy one, get one free’ — for every view they pay for, they’re earning another one through sharing,” Farhi says. “This is because after a user watches a video ad, they can stick around to watch more content from that brand, visit their website, or share the video with friends. Many of you are seeing this in action today – TRX, for example, saw the greatest ROI from their TrueView campaign during their busy season promotions.”

Google says brand recall improves when ads are run across TV, PC, phone and tablet screens. With that in mind, Google says the new offering will enable easier creation and management of multi-screen campaigns.

Settings can be managed from AdWords for Video.

J.P. Morgan analyst Doug Anmuth predicts the boost in mobile ad revenue in a research note, saying that the company could soon be looking at $300 million+ per quarter:

As indicated in our June 27 initiation report, we are bullish on Facebook’s mobile monetization potential and we believe mobile ad revenue per user could exceed that of existing desktop levels, driving mobile ad revenue of $300M+ per quarter at some point within the next year as higher pricing and visit frequency offset fewer overall impressions. Beyond positive early returns on mobile Sponsored Stories in the News Feed, location-based advertising could also drive greater mobile ad traction.

He also mentions reports that Facebook is planning a new ad product centered around targeted mobile ads based on app usage as evidence for the projected swing:

Advertisers will be able to display ads for other mobile apps that users may be interested in based on their current mobile app usage, in contrast to Sponsored Stories that enable advertisers to amplify user preferences and activities. Facebook could potentially charge advertisers every time an app is installed on a user’s mobile phone, and the eCPMs could be well ahead of existing advertising.

Facebook generated $872 million in total advertising revenue in 2012, up 37% from 2011. A projection of $300 million+ per quarter in mobile ad revenue alone suggests that those figures could increase well beyond 37% in the next year.

Although some recent reports suggest that advertisers are souring on paying for Facebook ads, new information regarding click-through-rates show that mobile ads are actually much more successful than desktop ads. Facebook just recently allowed advertisers to purchase mobile-only ad packages.

[via Business Insider]

Tom Rikert, the Director of Product Development at Wildfire, which is a company that works closely with Facebook and provides a social media marketing software suite, is familiar with the position that Facebook is up against. You see, Rikert used to work at YouTube and, of course, also faced the challenge of monetizing a massive amount of users through advertising.

According to him, Facebook is the centerpiece of the majority of brands’ social media efforts. Through Wildfire’s close relationship with the company, it understands that Facebok has a huge audience, a global reach, and that it allows for rich forms of engagement for brands through the use of images, video, and more.

“We find brands are finding Facebook… to have a lot of staying power, and ultimately… they’ve built an audience [and] they’ve accumulated a lot of fans,” said Rikert.

“The question is now,” he continued, “what do I do with them to really engage them and to enlist them as advocates for word-of-mouth marketing and to also help them become customers, not just fans or conversation partners?”

While this is a challenge, Rikert is confident that Facebook can succeed in its advertising efforts. As he explained to us, Facebook has a “treasure trove” of data. This, combined with its user base, could potentially give the social giant a lot of leverage on the advertising front.

“I do believe, in the long run, that Facebook is sitting on a mound of amazing data on one of the largest audiences in mankind’s history,” said Rikert. “I think if they are smart about how they turn that into dollars through a strategic ad product – mobile [and] ads that could reach across the whole Internet beyond Facebook.com – I think they have incredible legs for long-term growth.”

Rikert believes that Facebook is being aggressive in its advertising approach but that it has an advantage given all the information it has on users. The social network knows that users can get “ad fatigue” really quickly, which could completely turn them away from the service. But, he thinks Facebook is being smart in its strategy by providing relevant ads based on user’s activities and interests.

“When done right, ads are actually value add,” Rikert said. “They are connecting people to information they care about and entertainment they care about.”

“It allows a lot more advertisers to reach the users and gives them the higher comfort level that their ads are gonna be worthwhile and well-received by the users,” he added.

He, along with Wildfire, feels so strongly about Facebook and its ability to be successful in advertising that he thinks its ad platform will become a critical factor in all online advertising going forward. Specifically, he envisions Facebook having a universal log-in system that could essentially be an open door for all things on the Internet and mobile devices.

And, to answer the questions about Facebook developing its own version of Google AdSense, Rikert said he could “definitely foresee that” since it already has a “huge footprint of their social plug-ins on hundreds of thousands, if not millions now, of publisher sites.”

Facebook has also been questioned for its mobile advertising efforts, especially since the company openly admitted in its S-1 filing that its monetization efforts for mobile were yet to be proven:

“Growth in use of Facebook through our mobile products, where our ability to monetize is unproven, as a substitute for use on personal computers may negatively affect our revenue and financial results.”

Still, Rikert has no doubts about Facebook’s mobile strategy either. The company has, of course, started out slowly in mobile, but he expects it to pick up its efforts in the near future.

“What’s gonna be more interesting is when Facebook can take the mobile experience and really tailor ads based on where a user is and what they’re doing [and] who they’re with,” he said. “That’s when the ad becomes super relevant and much more interesting, and I think it will generate greater click-through rates and better results for advertisers, and more revenue for Facebook.”

Overall, Rikert is confident in Facebook’s advertising efforts and believes the company’s new real-time exchange ads will further its goals of being profitable.