When Ankit Prasad, Founder CEO of smart keypad app Bobble AI, and his cohorts started the company in 2015, it was a user-generated content app, focusing especially on Indic languages. Over the years, and through strategic partnerships with leading smartphone manufacturers like Xiaomi, Bobble has become a conversation media platform and an AI company that aims to offer highly engaging smartphone keyboard solutions, as well as literally tap into the power of its over 80 million users to monetize associations with advertisers and brands.

“That's the ultimate goal for the company: to grow further because we have built a platform on top of keyboard utility. We call it a conversation media platform. Just like say Snapchat and Instagram have built a platform on top of camera utility, TrueCaller over the phone book, Glance over lock screens or Dropbox over file manager,” says Prasad noting that this is the first time anyone has thought of creating a platform on top of a keyboard. “We found it to be a highly strategic real estate which was underutilized.” 

Dewang Mulani, Manager, Business Development & Planning at Zoo Media, agrees that Smart keyboard apps have the potential of becoming a rather prominent ad retail space predominantly because of the frequency of their use. “Our thumbs travel two marathons a year running across our keyboards, much more than most of us physically do, in fact,” he quips, observing that this means that our numerous interactions are opportunities for brands to gather data and serve intuitive ads all the while enriching the typing experience. 

“I do see smart keyboards becoming a new in-app platform for retail advertisers not just because the AI and ML algorithms are able to target high-intent audiences across platforms and serve ads that are hyper-relevant. More so because it’s a seamless way for brands to enter everyday conversations and therefore the culture of their audience, which is something every brand aims to achieve,” says Mulani.

Mitesh Kothari, Co-Founder and CCO, White Rivers Media points out that the digital space comes with limitless scope for marketing and the smart keyboard is another testament to its growth potential. “In such times when consumers are ready to buy subscriptions to avoid ad interruptions, brands are looking to establish their brand value through non-intrusive advertising mediums. Besides making conversations more fun, expressive and intelligent, smart keyboards are also a great platform to blend brand stories seamlessly in conversations with AI-powered algorithms,” he says.

Prasad points out that when millions of users are using the platform, it generates certain assets for the company. “This ranges from the data to content sharing to engagement. We plan to monetize each of the three assets through various business models, from direct customer acquisition to working with various advertisers and brands across different consumer segments.” 

Mulani adds, “As of now, purchase journeys begin with the search. Smart keyboards will make purchase journeys begin at a point where you’re mulling over buying a new suit with your mates over a chat. That by itself adds a whole new opportunity for data gathering, audience pooling and ad targeting.”

Take Note

Apart from Bobble, Google’s GBoard and Microsoft’s SwiftKey are also getting their fingers into this potentially lucrative pie. According to data, advertising contributes over 40% of the total revenue of smart keyboards, and the companies are also promoting them as digital real estate rather than just a typing tool.

Hima Bulusu, Associate Director - Key Accounts, TheSmallBigIdea, agrees that a smart keyboard is in use most of the time a person is on their phone. “This very fact is both a boon and a bane when thinking of using a smart keyboard as retail ad space. The time people spend on it along with an unparalleled insight into every person’s habits; prima facie it looks like a goldmine,” she says.

“However, with something that is so personal to people, any ad can be seen as extremely intrusive and elicit a negative effect of irritation, like the effect of a bank loan call or a spam credit card. This could prove to alienate one’s audience rather than attract them. Smart keyboards need even smarter ads to combat this possibility,” adds Bulusu.

There is also the fact that the very users might feel interrupted and more exposed by seeing their data shared for marketing purposes. “Only time can tell how big this marketing space will become. Still, one thing's for sure, the potential of digital marketing is immensely increasing day by day, and we should be ready for the upcoming evolutions,” notes Kothari.

Indeed, the self-evident privacy concerns with this cannot be overlooked. “While applications promise message encryption, smart keyboards are able to use words, phrases and stickers typed to trigger ads across platforms,” says Mulani concluding, “The bargain between an elevated texting experience and relevant ads versus personal privacy isn’t widely addressed, at least not as much as it deserves to be. All said and done, the concerns about the privacy of our most intimate conversations should be looked after.”