Arguing for training resource is something that we really shouldn’t have to spend too much time doing. This is a fast moving industry with new technologies, concepts and business practices seemingly emerging every other week. If we don’t keep ourselves abreast of these changes and their potential impact on our business operations then who else will? But, the realities are that new technology will get released after training budgets have been agreed and then we find ourselves spending valuable time on the cost-benefits rather than concentrating on educating and equipping our staff/teams and bringing insights & knowledge to the wider business.

Now, you’re probably asking yourselves what learning iPhone programming has to do with Advertising Operations, after all it’s not like you’re looking for seasoned C++ developers when recruiting a new Trafficker or requiring your Campaign Managers to have a Degree in statistical methodologies. But my argument has always been that AdOps lies at that intersection of Technology/Development, Advertising Theory, Statistics/Analytics and Business Development. When new technology rears and the business want to know how to leverage advertising on it then we’re the ‘go-to’ people. When there is no-one else in the company who can give a view on some latest gadget or have an opinion on how such technologies can be brought under the wider advertising strategies… you need to speak to AdOps. Keeping abreast of technological change is second nature for AdOps people, if your business doesn’t have someone with AdOps experience who is consulting with your Business Development group then you’re missing a trick.

This isn’t about getting your staff to become iOS developers, it’s about educating them to understand how these devices work in order that they are then able to advise how best to implement advertising technologies.
The more your staff are empowered by this knowledge and understand how such systems work, then the easier it will be when managing the impact of their uptake by your customers. Ultimately this should feed into the overall approach your company takes in reacting rapidly to such huge changes in the technology landcape.

All of the following courses contain between 10 and 13 videos each of which last approx 1-2hrs and will require access to a Mac running Xcode.

iPhone Application Development [Stanford]
http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/iphone-application-development/id384233225#ls=1

Developing Apps for iOS [Stanford]
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=395631522

iPhone Application programming [RWTH Aachen]
http://itunes.apple.com/itunes-u/iphone-application-programming/id390395304

Advanced iPhone Development [Madison Area Technical College]
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=407243032

I’ve got to be honest and say we’ve never run a Flash based mobile ad, so part of me is thinking that this isn’t going to affect us that much, however, it does mean those developers who were developing products across all three platforms now only have to worry about two. This, we can only hope equates to better time-to-market, reduced testing times and hopefully less complex development cycles.

Importantly it now signifies to us where we need to focus our product attention on development. So, the question is, do you have the requisite skills in your team (and personally) to support these technologies? If you don’t are there others in your wider organisation who do and if they’re not there either how will you ensure you meet these future requirements & needs of your advertisers & agencies?

CNet have a video article covering the news:

Here’s some stories (apologies if some of them are a bit sycophantic about Apple).
Wired: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/11/adobe-mobile-flash-dead/
Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/09/adobe-flash-mobile-dead
LA Times: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/11/adobe-to-end-mobile-flash-plug-in-development.html

I’m keen to have a mooch/play around under the hood, hopefully I’ll be proved wrong. The current Apple App submission process is far from being a smooth and easy process, it’s slow and cumbersome and communication is poor. Now add in iAds to the mix… and what if Apple don’t like the ads we’ve submitted, what if they don;t meet their exacting criteria? Only time will tell. And lastly…

And lastly, Apple are demanding 40% of revenues, which seems rather high.

Update: 2010-04-13 17:18pm – Here’s some links to related articles as the story unfolds.
Apple to Lend Hand to iAd Producers [AdAge]
Apple iAd Platform: A Case of the Rich Getting Richer [PCMag]
iAd for the Win as iPhone 4′s Biggest Blockbuster [Macnewsworld]
Is Apple Trying to Create a Mobile Ad Monopoly on the iPhone? [148apps]

The latter article deals with a clause in the Developers agreement that states:
Section 3.3.9:
…the use of third party software in Your Application to collect and send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis is expressly prohibited.

“If you build your application with features based on a user’s location, make sure these features provide beneficial information, if your app uses location-based information primarily to enable mobile advertisers to deliver targeted ads based on a user’s location, your app will be returned to you by the App Store Review Team for modification before it can be posted to the App Store.”

Original article: developer.apple.com
I’m not too sure how this will affect existing applications or whether they’ll be pulled from the Appstore. But if you’re building mobile apps for the iPhone bear this in mind.