The new AdMob includes smarter app promotion features. “Conversion Optimizer helps many AdWords advertisers increase conversions while decreasing cost per acquisition,” explains AdMob product manager Vishay Nihalani. “We’re now bringing Conversion Optimizer to app developers using AdMob to promote their apps, so they can get the best possible number of installs for their budget. Choose a target cost per acquisition for each download, and Conversion Optimizer will show ads when they are most likely to lead to an install.”

“Ensuring that your app is showing quality, relevant ads is important for app developers,” says Nihalani. “Now, developers will have more control over which ads appear in their apps, by blocking sensitive categories, so they can increase relevancy and protect their brand.”

Additionally, AdMob Mediation has a new simplified setup, and there’s new local currency payments.

Finally, there’s a new reporting interface that lets developers slice data in a variety of ways, and has multi-dimensional reports, which can be broken down over time by app, ad unit, platform, country, bid type, etc.

The new AdMob is rolling out to developers starting today. It will be available to all developers globally within the coming months.

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.

Of the surveys, she says:

It’s still too hard for brands to measure the impact of their display and video campaigns, beyond simple metrics like clicks and impressions. We’ve made a lot of headway in this area and we’re now starting to roll out surveys, to deliver a more effective way for marketers to easily measure the “brand lift” from their campaigns.

Advertisers will be able to run surveys to measure their display and video campaigns in AdWords, to better understand the impact of their ads in real-time. They can measure things like changes in the awareness of an upcoming movie, the recall of a new product name, intent to purchase a new cereal or the favorability of a particular brand. Businesses will be able to present consumers with an anonymous survey, to be shown days after they see an ad. Responses will be aggregated (and compared to a control group). With these results, brands can calibrate and optimize their online ad campaigns quickly and seamlessly. The rollout has started for marketers running video campaigns on YouTube and will be broadened to include display ad campaigns.

The surveys are powered by Google Consumer Surveys, which Google launched nearly a year ago.

Google is also bringing the skippable TruveView ad format to mobile apps in AdMob and to online games that utilize the Google Display Network. According to Wojcicki, the format has been very successful for YouTube.

Both the survey ads and the TrueView ads have already begun rolling out.

You can read more about the new formats and Wojcicki’s vision for where online advertising is headed in this Google+ post.

Earlier this year, Google integrated AdMob with AdWords.

There’s a new campaign type in AdWords called Display Network only (mobile apps):

Advertisers can launch mobile app campaigns from AdWords, and target specific devices or specific manufacturer brands, in addition to the already available targeting by operator, wifi or OS version. Another targeting option is by individual app. Google says it will soon provide an estimate on the number of devices reached and impressions targeted.

“It also helps AdMob developers and publishers increase their revenue by giving them access to a large number of new advertisers,” says Jonathan Alferness, Director of Product Management, Mobile Ads. “AdWords advertisers can now manage, measure and adjust search, display and video ads, reaching people on more than 2 million websites and hundreds of thousands of apps, across all screens.”

Google says the move complements DoubleClick Digital Marketing, which it announced earlier this week.

“As mobile usage continues to explode, businesses increasingly need to adapt their marketing strategies to mobile platforms and mobile-specific consumer trends,” says Alferness.

As far as developers are concerned, Google Mobile Ads product manager Vishay Nihalani says, “All filters you currently use for AdMob ads will be respected for AdWords ads as well. However, please be aware that your filters will still not apply to Google Certified Ad Networks. You will be able to opt out of showing ads from Google Certified Ad Networks if you require filters across all your inventory.”

AdMob’s network reaches 23 countries, each generating over one billion ad-requests last month, according to Google. That’s up from 11 countries in April 2011.

Meanwhile, Google has also been working on a redesign of the AdWords interface, and this is now available for preview.

“This refresh aims to get the interface out of the way, so that the important things – such as your data – stand out,” says Greg Rosenberg on the Inside AdWords blog. “We integrated the latest client side technologies to make the AdWords interface more visually appealing and scalable.”

Here are some screenshots:

Advertisers can now distribute mobile ads, in both standard media and rich media formats, from DoubleClick for Advertisers into the AdMob network with no beta restrictions. New tools for building mobile-rich ad content, as well as an improved conversion tracking functionality, have also been included. Interaction and click-through numbers can be tracked, and compared to existing ad formats, for easier integration of overall analytics workflow.

Below is a clip describing Google’s rich media designs for mobile:

Advertisers have been able to put together a desktop ad once, and then run it in multiple formats. Google seeks to better adapt this ability to mobile, and is actively performing initial testing on new mobile ad functionalities, and states, “As our reach grows, so will our ability to help advertisers manage their mobile display campaigns with accountability and ease.”

If that kind of tactic annoys you, you’re not alone. Google expressly prohibits developers from using such tactics in both of their ad program policies. A developer has a better chance of making money by using honest ad tactics. If they sink to using such dishonest tactics, people are likely to stop using the app. One click out of 500 users is better than one click per disgruntled user.

You may be a developer just starting out and don’t know any better. You might have placed the ad there because you thought it looked better in that position. You could have also just wanted to play the system because you totally knew better. Either way, Google has some suggestions to retain good will between yourselves, Google and the end user.

First things first, don’t put your ad somewhere near the interactive elements of an app. If you’re going to require the user to start touching buttons on your app, make sure the advertisement is far away from those elements. Let the user decide when they want to click the ad, don’t decide that for them with shady app tactics.

In a related note, don’t put ads anywhere near parts of the screen with heavy activity during games. Some games require the user to poke and prod the screen in a lot of different ways. Putting the ad in the way of those functions is only going to frustrate the user.

Google and the user understands that not all phones are created equal. Some phones are smaller than others and their screen sizes must be accommodated. If you find yourself developing for a smaller screen, make sure there is a visible border between the app and the ad. It helps no one if the ad is indistinguishable from the rest of the app.

If you need a good example that encompasses all the above suggestions into one, look no further than the piano example in the blog post:

Here you have some bad placement with the ad resting underneath the piano keys. A user is obviously going to start clicking the ad because they’re too busy rocking out to notice where they’re tapping.

It’s a much better idea to put the ad above the app. Sure, it might not be as noticeable, but at least you aren’t enraging the user by interrupting their impromptu iPhone piano rock session.

So now you see that good ad placement boils down to one simple rule – don’t be a jerk. Treat your users with respect and they’ll treat you and your app with the respect it deserves.

To help explain this new AdMob ID, the company has dedicated a post to the differences between the new mediation ID and the older publisher ID. It should help advertisers and developers better take advantage of both IDs to get the most out of AdMob.

A publisher ID comes about when you add a site/app to your account. The ID is used to request ads from the AdMob network. You can use a publisher ID to request banners and interstitials as well. While you can also use the same publisher ID throughout an application to get ads, Google suggests you use a different ID for each ad placement.

The mediation ID on the other hand is used for, what else, creating a mediation placement. It’s used to retrieve the mediation configuration from the server so AdMob can get ads from other networks on your behalf. This ties into the big new feature of the AdMob 6.0 SDK that lets users pull ads from other networks into AdMob proper.

Mediation placements are very particular about the ads you place. You have to define the ad format or else the app will return an error. Even if the ads are the same size, you have to create multiple mediation placements for each banner and interstitial ad that you place.

Hopefully these tips will help those still working out all the new features in AdMob SDK 6.0. It’s not that confusing once you get the hand of it. The new mediation IDs might throw you for a loop, but the simple tricks that Google supplied us with are sure to help.

If you find yourself still struggling with the new AdMob SDK, Google will be hosting a live Office Hours Hangout on the subject. These Hangouts are usually pretty enlightening. If you want to join the Hangout, it will be taking place on Wednesday, May 2, at 11 a.m. PDT (2 p.m. EST).

Google starts by saying what should be common sense with advertising – keep the focus on delivering the best possible user experience. The company says that developers should make ads an integral part of the design process instead of just throwing them in as an afterthought.

To make this possible, you should increase your coverage. But Google, AdMob’s rules state that you can only have one ad visible on screen at any time. Well, that’s true, but there are ways to make your ads more attractive and appealing to the user. They use the example of putting your ad at the top of the page if the application is a game with the controls at the bottom. It ensures that the ad will be seen instead of being forgotten as the player focuses on the controls.

Another thing is to take advantage of the ad networks feature within an AdMob account. This plus opting in to AdSense Backfill may help improve your fill rate which means more earnings. The newest version of the AdMob SDK allows you to access more ad inventory from the Google Ad Network. It’s important to remember, however, that the backfill feature is enabled per site ID and that Google Ad Network ads will not obey filter rules set by your site ID just yet.

Another tip is to not have a large filter list. A small filter list ensures that more ads can come through and potentially increase your earnings. Blocking ad groups causes less competition in auction for your site.

Set your refresh rate to 45 to 60 seconds to ensure that you get a high enough click-through-rate. If the refresh rate is too fast, potential users won’t have enough time to interact with the ads.

Finally, Google offers these tips on how to get into the top 50 rankings on the app marketplace using advertising. First is to just use advertising as they’ve found a successful ad campaign can drive up your place in the app store. Another would be getting featured either on the app store or any of the various sites that review apps.

Finally, don’t count out the power of social sharing and cross-promotion. These will get your app noticed and driver consumers to your product. The more people who see your product, the more ads get clicked. If enough people click those ads, you get a nice paycheck. It all works out.

A lot of this stuff is basic common sense when it comes to advertising online. It’s just important to be reminded from time to time on how to really take advantage of the tools laid before you. While this applies to AdMob, it’s equally important in any advertising campaign.

To that end, Google has released version 6.0 of the AdMob SDK today for Android and iOS. The goal is to “reduce the complexity that app devs are managing, freeing them up to focus on continuing to grow their great app into a great app business.”

Those aren’t empty words either as the features showing up in this new version seem to really do the trick when it comes to creating better ads for both creators and consumers. The first of which is the new ability to use multiple ad networks with AdMob. The best part about the AdMob Ad Network Mediation is that its free. Any developer can “allocate inventory across many top 3rd party ad networks on a country-by-country basis.”

The next feature will certainly be helpful for developers, but it will also be a great improvement for end users like me who demand that ad banners fill in the whole space they occupy. It’s annoying to have ads pop up in the Cracked Lite reader that don’t fill the entire space. This new application makes sure that ad banners automatically fill the space they’ve been assigned to regardless of the screen’s size. Check out the AdMob dev site for the knowledge needed to utilize these new ad banners.

In what perhaps may be the best news for developers is that AdMob SDK 6.0 is MRAID (Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions) compliant. MRAID is a “common API for mobile rich media ads running in mobile apps.” This will introduce a standard set of commands for developers who want to create media ads. It also makes it so that these type of ads can be displayed on the same app across platforms, regardless of network.

As a final aside, the iOS version of AdMob SDK no longer supports the universal device identifier. Google is working on a solution for the time being that will “benefit users, app developers and advertisers.”

You can hit up the official site for AdMob to download the newest version right now for Android and iOS. Unfortunately, the Windows Phone 7 version of AdMob is still at version 4.0.4. Who knows when it will catch up, but I’m sure Google is working on a solution.