Velti Launches An Ad Network To Compete Against Google's AdMob And Millennial Media

Velti, one of the larger mobile ad companies, is filling a gap in its business by launching a new ad network, called Velti Media.

It will compete head-to-head for advertiser dollars with Google's AdMob and Millennial Media, the company tells us.

Velti took in $270 million in revenue in 2012, an increase of 43 percent from fiscal 2011. Of that, mobile advertising revenue was $54.3 million. The remainder came from Velti's various marketing services.

Heading up the sales side of Velti Media will be svp/sales Michael Hess, who was previously at SAY Media and Conde Nast.

Velti already has a "sell-side" platform, Mobclix, in which app developers and publishers can offer their inventory in a real-time bidding auction to advertisers who need to buy media.

Velti Media, by contrast, is a "buy side" platform, in which buyers can bid on real time on inventory being offered across an array of networks (including Mobclix). The company thus has a piece of both sides of the action, so to speak.

Velti Media's advantage is its size and depth in the business, according to Krishna Subramanian, Velti's Chief Marketing Officer. "We can bring a lot of marketing data [that other networks do not have], which is very valuable," he tells us.

The new network tightens the race for largest mobile ad business on the planet.

• Google is probably No.1 in that space, with a business booking billions in revenue.
• Pandora is probably No. 2, with $255.9 million in mobile ad revenues.
• Velti is probably No.3, with $270 million.
• Millennial Media booked $178 million in ad revenue last year, making it fourth.

Somewhere in that mix, however, is Twitter, which is privately held and does not disclose numbers.