AdMob launches open-source version of AdWhirl iPhone SDK

A few months after acquiring advertising aggregator AdWhirl, mobile ad network AdMob announced it will introduce open-source versions of the AdWhirl iPhone software development kit and AdWhirl Server, promising developers increased transparency and flexibility in mobile ad network mediation. According to AdMob, the open AdWhirl iPhone SDK enables developers to include only the code for ad networks they actually use as well as add new ad networks that aren't explicitly supported in the current version. AdMob says it will encourage those new additions as patches, in order that the entire community might benefit.

The AdWhirl Server allows developers to configure how ads are served in their applications as well as monitor the performance of advertising from all of the mobile networks they're using--it runs on Amazon Web Services EC2 and employs SimpleDB for persistent data storage. According to AdMob, the server has been rebuilt from the ground up, providing both source code and EC2 disk images in order to make it easier for developers to run their own AdWhirl Server. 

Both the iPhone SDK and Server source code and documentation are now available for download on Google code under the Apache Software Foundation license.

For more on the open-source AdWhirl tools:
- read this AdMob blog entry

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