The service will allow Android and app developers to be able to fill ad requests with an ad from the Google network if an AdMob ad is not available at the time.The update means Google-approved ad networks will be able to compete for mobile app developers’ ad inventory, which normally would have been available via Google’s AdMob network.

The move has been made to raise the value of the in-app mobile advertising market and means that ad networks will be able to bid alongside AdWords advertisers for the available inventory.

The service is initially available to app developers and advertisers in the UK. The announcement was made by Vishay Nihalani, Google’s mobile ads product manager, via a post on an official Google blog.

“More buyers, like demand-side platforms and agency trading desks, will help increase demand for ad inventory and help developers and publishers make more money,” read the post. The benefits, he added, will be “for publishers currently using AdSense to improve fill rate.”

Chip Hall, director of DoubleClick Ad Exchange, said the service will be rolled out more comprehensively following an initial soft launch with pre-qualified buyers. “Ultimately, this will give app developers and publishers access to a wider pool of buyers like demand-side platforms and agency trading desks, improving their potential returns,” he said in a blog post. “Marketers on our exchange will be able to buy, in real time, ads that run inside people’s favourite mobile games, news apps and more.”

Publicis Groupe’s Vivaki has already been lined up to begin trading media via the exchange in a drive to further its ability to buy ads in real time. Kurt Unkel, senior VP of Vivaki Nerve Center, said, “We anticipate this experience will help us bring mobile to scale to our partners, and will provide insight into the operational elements and the creative assets that work best in this environment.”  

Nick Ellsom, head of digital at OMG’s PHD Media, told new media age that such developments will be key to driving the value of the mobile display market.

“Developments such as this are likely to improve how much media agencies spend [on mobile] as it will improve efficiency [of how long it takes to buy mobile media],” he said.

Ellsom also said that ad exchanges will make mobile display ad campaigns more comparable with online, therefore likely to increase its popularity with advertisers.

“Mobile has always been difficult to measure and compare to other digital channels but when its sold like this alongside online its easier to measure the value,” he said.