This year, the mobile advertising business will grow to an estimated $7.29 billion, according to eMarketer.
So who are the executives that control this market?
Go straight to Business Insider's Mobile Power List 2013 >
Sure, the usual suspects make our list (folks at Apple, Google, and Facebook, etc.). But you'll be surprised at some of names on our ranking.
Some of the most powerful players in the game are at companies you've never heard of.
Business Insider's Mobile Power List 2013 also contains these surprises:
- The youngest person on the list is just 22 years old.
- Despite redefining the category with the iPhone, Apple is still regarded as a laggard in mobile advertising.
- Two companies have mobile ad businesses bigger than Facebook's.
- Depressingly, only one women made our list this year. The business remains dominated by engineers and tech-side executives, who have traditionally been male.
The factors we considered in ranking our list are discussed in the "methodology" section at the end. (You can also see the 2012 Mobile Power List here.)
29. Philippe Browning, VP Monetization at SnapChat (new to the list)
Right now, SnapChat has no ad revenue. But the company planned to bolt on a revenue stream right from the beginning, the founders have said, and advertisers will be hugely interested when it becomes available.
Browning was hired from CBS, where he was Vice President, Advertising & Operations, Mobile, in May. So clearly, advertising is on its way to SnapChat. The company is already hiring a large sales team.
The self-deleting photo messaging service will likely be used for product discovery and launch teases.
It has received $13.5 in venture capital so far, but is currently raising a round said to be worth $100 million.
28. Brian O'Kelley, CEO of AppNexus
This will be a big year for AppNexus to prove whether it can go mobile.
AppNexus is a giant in web advertising — it employs 500 people. Only recently, however, did CEO Brian O'Kelley announce he was going to go "all in" on mobile.
We understand the spend on AppNexus' mobile platform is still modest, but because of Appnexus' size and track record — it's backed by Microsoft and its largest client is WPP — we have to include O'Kelley on the list.
27. Jeff Plaisted, director of sales and strategy, mobile and Skype advertising at Microsoft (No. 14 last year)
First the bad news: Last year, Microsoft completely eliminated Plaisted's entire department as part of a larger move to get out of the advertising business.
But Microsoft kept Plaisted on.
Since then, Windows Phone platforms have overtaken Blackberry, growing both units shipped and market share. There's still a long way to go to catch Android or iPhone, of course.
Plaisted stays on the list because we're wondering what his — and Microsoft's — next mobile ad play is going to be.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider