Leaderboard and Full-Screen Ads Perform Best on Mobile, RTB Inventory Thrives in Q3 2012
Real-time bidding (RTB) is proving to be quite beneficial for mobile ads, according to Adfonic’s “Global AdMetrics Report” for the third quarter of 2012.
The social networking channel in particular experienced significantly higher click-through rates (CTRs) thanks to RTB. Adfonic’s report also found that not all mobile ad formats are created equal.
RTB grows in popularity
According to the company, RTB accounted for 36 percent of ad requests on its network in the third quarter, up from 21 percent in the second quarter and 8 percent in the first quarter. “This increase in RTB inventory reflected the dynamics of a market that both buyers and sellers find attractive,” the report notes.
Adfonic offers this explanation of RTB:
RTB is a smarter, more efficient way of buying and selling mobile inventory. Buyers decide where to bid based on data and algorithms that help them determine the value of each ad request, and publishers gain greater control over their inventory, enabling them to generate the best return as many bidders compete for every ad request. This is supply- and demand-driven pricing, creating an ecosystem that reflects the real value of every impression.
Mobile operating systems
Forty-five percent of ad impressions worldwide took place on Android devices, according to Adfonic. Meanwhile, 37 percent took place on iOS devices and 6 percent on RIM (BlackBerry) devices.
Mobile device manufacturers
In terms of manufacturers, Adfonic found that Apple devices accounted for 37 percent of mobile ad impressions in the third quarter, followed by Samsung with 24 percent, RIM with 6 percent and HTC with 6 percent.
A report from Opera released in late October found that iOS accounted for 58.4 percent of mobile ad revenue on its network, while Android accounted for 16.8 percent of mobile ad revenue. Opera also reported that the effective cost per thousand impressions (eCPM) for iOS was $1.64; the eCPM for Android was $0.88.
Mobile phones vs. tablets
Adfonic reports that in the third quarter, mobile phones accounted for 89 percent of mobile ad impressions; these ads had a CTR Index score (1 is average, <1 is below average, >1 is above average) of 0.98 and an eCPM Index score of 0.99. Tablets accounted for 11 percent of mobile ad impressions; these ads had a CTR Index score of 1.14 and an eCPM Index score of 1.06. These findings confirm numerous other reports about mobile ads performing well on tablet devices.
Day parting
The report also found that daily ad request patterns barely budged from the second quarter, with requests peaking at 9-10 p.m. and bottoming out at 4-5 a.m. Males were most active during the night and early morning, while females were most active in the evening.
Mobile ad formats
On mobile phones, leaderboard ads (728 x 90) boasted a CTR Index score of 2.37 in the third quarter, followed by full-screen ads (320 x 480) with 2.23 and mid-page units (MPUs; 300 x 250) with 1.94. Text links, meanwhile, had a CTR Index score of 0.58.
In terms of eCPM, MPUs had a score of 1.26, followed by leaderboard ads with 1.15, banner ads with 1.14 and full-screen ads with 1.13.
On tablets, MPUs had a CTR Index score of 2.20, while leaderboard ads had a score of 1.72. On the flip side, skyscraper ads (120 x 600) had a score of 0.54 and text links had a score of 0.21.
Leaderboard ads on tablets had a eCPM Index score of 3.10, easily besting all other formats.
RTB uplift
According to Adfonic, RTB inventory achieved higher CTRs across all publication channels in the third quarter. Social networking boasted a CTR boost of 127 percent above average and an eCPM boost of 663 percent.
During the third quarter, Adfonic processed 108 billion ad requests, a 37 percent increase from the second quarter of 2012. Of this, 40 billion occurred in Asia, 37 billion in North America, 21 billion in Europe, 5.5 billion in South America, and 4.5 billion in Africa.
According to eMarketer, mobile ad spending will hit $6.4 billion this year and will surge to more than $23.6 billion by 2016. Google stands to reap benefits from this trend, and in 2012 it will account for 55 percent of mobile ad revenue in the U.S. But the company isn’t resting on its laurels and depending on traditional ad formats, as it’s building out alternative mobile ad services like click-to-call buttons.
By Jason Hahn
