We recently wrote about gWallet, a startup that hopes to offer a legitimate virtual currency monetization platform, after OfferPal, and others have recently come under fire (a.k.a. “Scamville”) for scamming users of virtual games on social networks. The startup, which recently raised $10.5 million in funding, works directly with brands directly as opposed to adopting an affiliate leads model. gWallet claims that its proprietary technology and transparent platform allows game developers and social networks to see when and where exact offers are being presented within their ecosystems.
The startup wouldn’t reveal the details of what its platform would look and feel like, but today is giving us a little bit more insight into how it will work. gWallet is launching gLTV, a new metric that will aim to give publishers analytics on how they can measure and increase their lifetime value of users on their applications. gWallet says gLTV uses info about individual users to demonstrate specifically how it can increase the lifetime value of a user based on prior usage and transaction history. Currently, publishers cannot see how they are increasing the lifetime value of their users. Other virtual currency platforms can only measure yield through a CPM model, which measures how much revenue is generated after a thousand views on their offer wall.
Gwallet says that social media advertising, and virtual currency offers in particular, have the potential to be a positive brand engagement experience where users spend minutes rather than seconds engaging with this content and messaging. Chahal told us previously that unlike its competitors in the space, gWallet has a full-time direct sales force that corresponds between high quality brands and agencies and game developers to ensure legitimacy. The key factor that differentiates gWallet says Chahal is that the platform works with advertisers directly, showing them the value that they can provide within a social gaming site, and also offering the advertiser the ability to customize any offers so that they are relevant to the consumer.
There’s no doubt this a lucrative (and competitive) space and TechCrunch’s efforts to expose Scamville has made a lasting impact on both game developers like Zynga and social networks, including Facebook, MySpace and others to provide legitimate offers. gWallet may have emerged at the right time to carve a place for itself as the beacon of legitimacy.