Reply.com Buys AdHubs, Will Add Mobile App Strategy

Reply.com has carved out a niche among online marketing companies by offering an auction marketplace for locally targeted consumer traffic for various verticals (home improvement, autos, real estate, insurance, etc.). Now, it is set on building a mobile strategy. The company recently announced that it has acquired AdHubs, a mobile app developer that sees vertical apps as a major new source of lead generation and advertising.

The small start-up, cofounded by former Yahoo Infrastructure Technologies head Reza Hajebi, focuses on “commuter apps,” such as games, as well as apps such as recipes and sports. It has already built 1,200 apps and is seeing 30 percent growth every month.

AdHubs is now set to ramp up quickly. It expects to have 95 developers on board by the end of the year, and create an assembly line for apps. It expects to add 25,000 apps in 2011 alone.

“A closed network gives better results,” says Hajebi, who has been made Reply.com’s CTO. “Mobile is the best way to measure user behavior.” Hajebi says AdHub quantifies up to 28 touch points for mobile users.

Reply.com COO Sean Fox is set to discuss leads and vertical marketplaces at ILM East March 21-23 in Boston.