Tapjoy keeps looking for creative ways to monetize mobile app users (video interview)

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You might not know what Tapjoy does, but if you’re a heavy mobile gamer, you’ve probably seen ads running on its network.

Tapjoy is a big player in app monetization, though it has had some ups and downs. A year ago, the company was rapidly growing with successful pay-per-install marketing programs (where a user was rewarded for downloading apps) on Apple’s iOS platform (iPad, iPod Touch, iPhone). But Apple cracked down on that program, arguing that it led to manipulation of the iTunes App Store’s top-rankings charts. Tapjoy protested, but it fell back to non-incentivized installs on iOS. The company also moved as quickly as it could to Android.

Today, the company is offering a mobile ad network and monetization platform for developers that promotes apps to consumers of mobile content. Mihir Shah, chief executive of the San Francisco-based company, is in charge of making the platform grow to encompass even more users. Shah refers to the platform as the Mobile Value Exchange, which allows uses to select personalized ads with which to engage for virtual rewards or premium content. Through its app developer customers, Tapjoy reaches more than 700 million mobile users across 20,000 apps. Those users choose to watch videos, subscribe to services, or install apps in exchange for virtual rewards they can use in games.

“We understood very early in the mobile app market that users don’t like display advertising,” says Shah, “especially in games where you might click on an ad. So we created our Mobile Value Exchange that allows consumers to discover, engage, and share their mobile app experiences.”

To stoke the app market (and eventually get more business), Tapjoy has started funding game developers all around the world. Shah said the company has backed a number of Southeast Asia game developers making content for their own local market.

The company recently announced at our GamesBeat 2012 conference that it had struck a partnership with analytics firm Kontagent. Tapjoy is backed by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Rho Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, InterWest Partners, and D.E. Shaw Ventures.

Shah spoke on a panel at GamesBeat 2012, and he also did a video interview with Dan “Shoe” Hsu, editor-in-chief of GamesBeat. The video interview is below.