The Mobile Advertising Gap is Closed

PubMatic, the marketing automation software company for publishers, has announced the findings from its inaugural Quarterly Mobile Index (QMI) for Q3 2015, which show continuous improvement in mobile ad performance as a key growth driver for publishers and advertisers.

The combination of an increased number of mobile optimised sites, new mobile opportunities in emerging markets, expanding mobile opportunities in mature markets and premium private marketplace (PMP) performance, indicates that the rise in global mobile consumption in 2015 will drive increased revenue for publishers and advertisers across all major global regions.

“Contrary to most industry averages, we saw higher mobile CPMs in Q3, compared to desktop CPMs. From our perspective, the ‘mobile gap’ is closed. Improved mobile infrastructure, advanced targeting capabilities and better overall customer experience offerings have enabled media organizations to take greater advantage of their mobile revenue opportunities,” said Rajeev Goel, co-founder and CEO of PubMatic.

“While other reports of this nature solely focus on mobile campaign performance metrics, the goal of the QMI is to unearth supply and demand dynamics in mobile advertising, to provide a macroeconomic view of the industry.”

The quarterly study, which analyzed billions of daily impressions from Q3 2015 (calendar year) operational data, found five key trends that demonstrate mobile monetization growth:

1. Mobile CPMs are higher and growing faster than desktop CPMs.

Targeting consumers more accurately increased the value of mobile impressions, with mobile CPMs increasing 12 percent, year-over-year, and desktop up 10 percent, year-over-year, resulting in mobile CPMs that are 34 per cent higher than desktop CPMs.

2. Soaring growth in global mobile advertising.

New mobile adoption in Asia-Pacific (APAC) and Latin America (LATAM) in combination with mobile scalability in mature markets, North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), drove year-over-year growth in monetized mobile impressions in Q3. North America and EMEA CPMs showed year-over-year increases, 17 percent and 47 percent, respectively. While APAC and LATAM CPMs saw year-over-year declines, 17 percent and 6 percent, respectively, those declines were offset by triple-digit year-over-year growth in monetized impressions in both regions.

3. Apple app ads are increasing the fastest in price and volume, while mobile web inventory continues to grow.

Advertisers continue to aggressively pursue mobile ad campaigns, driving increased volume across all mobile platforms. In Q3, on a year-over-year basis, monetized mobile impressions increased by 133 percent on iOS apps, 42 percent on Android apps, 24 percent on mobile web and 44 percent on tablet web. CPMs increased, year-over-year, on iOS app inventory, Android app inventory and mobile web, by 109 percent, 11 percent and 30 percent, respectively, while tablet web CPMs declined 26 percent.

4. Mobile optimisation is progressing rapidly and improving mobile web inventory quality.

Average CPMs for mobile optimised (i.e. mobile browser-friendly) inventory rose 48 percent in Q3, year-over-year, and fell by 26 percent for mobile non-optimised inventory.

5. Private marketplace (PMP) CPMs are higher than non-PMP CPMs, by a factor of 5-6x for mobile PMP.

PMPs attracted higher CPMs in Q3, largely due to transparency of the buy, as well as access to high-quality inventory. Generally, PMP inventory ensures a high level of engagement on premium sites that is well-suited for valuable brand marketing campaigns.

“In 2015, we witnessed the ‘mobile tipping point,’ as mobile users surpassed desktop users globally. It’s an undeniable opportunity for publishers to evolve and generate revenue in a new way,” said Kirk McDonald, president of PubMatic. “With the right tools in place, publishers can be positioned to answer consumers’ growing demand for a high quality mobile content experience.”

To view the full Quarterly Mobile Index, please click here.

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