Deeplink.me, the new service from Cellogic making it possible for users to navigate through the apps on a smartphone the way you navigate the web, is today exiting from its beta period and launching an accompanying retargeting network. The network takes advantage of Deeplink.me’s knowledge of deep linking into apps to identify users who have a particular app installed on their phone, in order to show them personalized ad units which redirect them to a specific page within an app.
For background, the Deeplink.me service launched into beta this May as something of an offshoot of Cellogic’s development of Nextap, a content discovery network for mobile applications. App developers can build mobile app deeplinks (Deeplink.me links) which can automatically detect where end users are coming from (web or mobile) and then point them to the correct resource, whether that’s a website, mobile web page, or specific page within an installed mobile application. At the time, the company described this service as a “bit.ly for deep linking,” as these shortened Deeplink.me links could be promoted on social media or elsewhere on the web.
Since the initial launch, the service has been tweaked a bit to better fit into developers’ workflows. Before, developers would have to figure out their app’s URI was, what the corresponding web page was, then create an individual link to point there. Now, things are more rule-based. For instance, a social network’s URL may be domain.com/profile/user123, and the URI is profile://user123. A rule can be set up that explains how those two things are related, so each URL can be automatically translated.
According to Cellogic CEO Itamar Weisbrod, several thousand “medium to premium” app developers have signed up to use Deeplink.me so far, and a small handful are currently testing the retargeting capabilities.
The Deeplink.me service and basic analytics are free – similar to other efforts like Quixey’s open initiative with AppURL - but the retargeting service is how Deeplink.me plans to generate revenue.
With this, developers can choose to retarget to any users they want, but Deeplink.me will also help by providing suggestions based on what apps people are using, when they’re using them, and how they’re using them, based on the data it gleans from its network.
“Because it’s retargeting, we can take very user-specific data and say, ‘come back in because of reason X,’” explains Weisbrod. For example, a regular app user could be targeted to launch an e-commerce app in order to participate in a flash sale that was taking place or return to their recently abandoned shopping cart, while another less regular user might just be encouraged to open the app again via a coupon or offer of some sort.
Though the system itself is still new and the beta testing group is small, the company says that they’ve already had repeat customers for the retargeting network, and those marketers are seeing high conversions. Specifically, they’ve found some traction with e-commerce, travel and freemium utility-like apps, as well as in the payment and wallet space. The retargeting is a per-click, bidded system, and the minimum to really get going is around a couple thousand dollars.
“Longer term,” says Noah Klausman, Cellogic’s VP of Business Development, “we see an environment where instead of seeing ads for ‘click here to download’ all the time sending you to some app you may or may not have interest in, we see a system that’s seamlessly flowing you through the apps that are already on your phone.”
That could prove beneficial to mobile app developers who often have a hard time getting users to open their app after the first install. Unlike on the web, the only way to see most applications is to download the app and then launch it. But while download numbers are easier to come by, especially since they can be bought and paid for, getting repeat users is much tougher. The idea with Deeplink.me’s network is to personalize the ads shown to users in order to get them to return to the apps they have on their smartphone or iPad, and getting them re-engaged with the service.
App marketers can get started with Deeplink.me’s retargeting networking by using a provided 300×50 template or uploading their own creative, and can then keep track of their ads performance using the provided analytics which shows numbers of ads shown, clicks, geography, and more. (This can also be integrated with other third-party analytics providers, too). The ad units themselves will be improved over time as well, allow for more interactivity, and more customization possibilities with regards to their look-and-feel.
Those interested in participating in the new retargeting network can learn more or sign up here on the Deeplink.me website.
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