The formats in question were developed by the MMA Mobile Native Advertising Committee.

According to a public statement from the MMA, this effort resulted in a “practical set of ad formats, which address both form and function,” and is “intended to eliminate confusion in the marketplace.”

The new format guidelines should also help advertisers, agencies and publishers “more efficiently and effectively deploy mobile native advertising campaigns across the entire market,” says the MMA.

The Committee reviewed and categorized each type of native ad on mobile to address the unique attributes of mobile and to provide increased opportunity for marketers. More specifically, because of mobile’s distinctive device capabilities, the MMA mobile native ad formats are designed squarely for the mobile marketing channel and include: in-feed social, in-feed content, in-feed commerce, in-map, in-game, paid search, recommendation widgets and custom. MMA committee member companies will provide quarterly reports to the MMA on the adoption of these formats to track, measure and provide further guidance.

We’re told that these guidelines are the first in a series of reports on mobile native to be released by the Mobile Native Advertising Committee.

“In the wake of the MMA’s recently released Cross Marketing Effectiveness Research (SMoX), which uncovered that mobile native performed significantly better than mobile display, it’s very clear that native advertising will continue to evolve as one of the more effective mobile strategies for marketers,” said Sheryl Daija, chief strategy officer at the MMA. “By adopting a set of ad formats, the mobile advertising marketplace can more efficiently implement mobile native ads, enabling marketers and their agencies to take full advantage of this powerful opportunity to enrich and improve their mobile campaigns.”

To check out the full MMA Mobile Native Ad Format Recommendation report, click here.

The post The MMA Touts New Guidelines for Mobile Native Ad Formats appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

So far, the IAB has dropped part one of the guidelines, which are designed to help the marketing industry provide more transparency to consumers around ‘native’ advertising.

“The guidelines provide advertisers, publishers, agencies and advertising technology companies with clear and practical steps to make it easier for consumers to spot native advertising – digital ad formats designed to look and feel like editorial content,” the IAB UK said in a news release.

Supported by ISBA, the Association for Online Publishers (AOP) and the Content Marketing Association (CMA), the guidelines meet the UK advertising industry’s CAP code, which is enforced by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

Although the guidelines are quite comprehensive, two of the key guidelines for native advertising formats are:

1. Provide consumers with prominently visible visual cues enabling them to immediately understand they are engaging with marketing content compiled by a third party in a native ad format which isn’t editorially independent (e.g. brand logos or design, such as fonts or shading, clearly differentiating it from surrounding editorial content)
2. It must be labeled using wording that demonstrates a commercial arrangement is in place (e.g. ‘paid promotion’ or ‘brought to you by’).

To review the guidelines in full, download the document from the IAB here.

The post Native Ad Guidelines Enter the Global Spotlight appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“With mobile in constant state of evolution and iteration, it is imperative that we provide clarity on how to effectively and strategically integrate mobile into the marketing mix,” says Michael Becker, Managing Director at MMA North America.

With the rapid evolution of the mobile marketplace, there is a demand for standards and guidelines to unify the advertising industry, the partners announced in a public statement today.

In short, the guidelines provide additional directives necessary to empower creative shops and publishers to use mobile “for more dynamic, rich consumer experiences.” They address smartphone and feature phone devices and are relevant for both mobile web and in-app inventory. Additionally, they include ad specifications for both basic and rich media units.

“IAB members have long requested that we integrate mobile into our ‘Display Advertising Guidelines’,” said Anna Bager, Vice President and General Manager at IAB. “With these new guidelines we’re giving marketers a direct pathway to consistently creating mobile ads that can produce strong results. This is the type of vital joint industry effort that is sure to drive mobile’s future growth.”

The post MMA and IAB Seek Public Comment on ‘Mobile Phone Creative Guidelines’ appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Goals of the guidelines are to reduce the effort required to produce creative material, ensure advertisements display effectively on most mobile phones, and that they provide an engaging, non-intrusive consumer experience (ie – don’t upset customers and make them hate mobile marketers as a whole.)

Released every six months since 2005, the guidelines were globalized in April 2008. “The updated guidelines reinforce the MMA’s longstanding pledge to provide its members and the wider industry with reliable standards and increased awareness of mobile advertising globally,” said Mike Wehrs, MMW President and CEO in a statement.

The latest guidelines’ key revisions include:

• Global requirements for Mobile Application ad units
• New advertising units and definitions across channels
• New length requirements for Mobile Video & TV ad units
• Recommended future mobile web banner ad requirements

The post MMA Global Publishes New Mobile Ad Guidelines appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.