Mobile Ad Companies / As many as 1,000 Layoffs

All those venture capitalists pouring money into mobile advertising startups might want to ask themselves why there have been as many as 1,000 layoffs at mobile ad companies and marketers this year.

The mobile advertising business will grow to an estimated $7.29 billion in 2013, according to eMarketer. But the rising tide isn’t lifting all boats equally, it turns out.

Here are the recent losers:

• Velti, the mobile ad network, laid off about 200 of its 1,125 staff in a shakeup in May. Headcount at Velti is now just 900 staffers, according to Mobile Marketer. Velti had $270 million in revenues in 2012, and reduced its revenue guidance for 2013 to $255 – $280 million — flat, in other words.
• Tapjoy, another mobile ad platform, cut 20 people or 10% of its workforce, according to Techcrunch.
• At the Washington Post, the entire mobile team was let go. Fishbowl DC said 54 jobs were axed.
• Zynga laid off 520 people, not all in mobile, but the cuts came in part because the company has failed to gain enough traction in mobile gaming (and the ad revenue that runs on top of it) to keep those workers employed.
• EA laid off hundreds of people as it struggles to adapt to the new, free-to-play mobile gaming world.
• And T-Mobile laid off 200-300 people despite getting the iPhone 5, which ought to be driving sales.

Chosen excerpts by Job Market Monitor

via Layoffs At Mobile Ad Companies Velti and Tapjoy – Business Insider.