The advertising industry have been promising that it is “the year of mobile” every year since 2012. But could we finally be experiencing it?
Perhaps it is too lofty of a statement to, once again, promise that the year of mobile is upon us in 2019. Yet it is undeniable that our industry has made huge advancements and remarkable innovations over the past few months that have positioned us to finally embrace the potential that mobile advertising has been promising for years.
Recent In-App Advancements
Most notably, perhaps, we are at a tipping point when it comes to in-app advertising, which is a new frontier complete with its own unique market dynamics. In-app header bidding is seeing swift adoption and is unlocking programmatic demand that was previously reserved for the web. The IAB Tech Lab’s new app-ads.txt specification was introduced to eradicate spoofing within the app environment. And as the in-app ecosystem evolves, marketers are opening up to the possibility that in-app advertising may be the key to their campaign success.
How Do Media Buyers View In-App Advertising?
PubMatic recently commissioned Forrester Consulting to explore how global media buyers view in-app advertising and how they plan to invest in the format over the next few months. The study confirmed that advertiser demand for in-app is increasing, as they “enjoy the enhanced targeting and increased customer engagement that in-app provides.” In fact, more than half of all media buyers surveyed identified better audience targeting (56 percent) and more effective consumer engagement (54 percent) as the top benefits of programmatic in-app advertising, including both display and video.
However, despite the growing investment, ad fraud remains a major concern for in-app environments. While our industry has made significant improvements on the quality front over the past few years, challenges remain. Highlighted by the sophisticated, multimillion-dollar fraud scheme uncovered by BuzzFeed last October, ad fraud is a significant issue within less-monitored in-app environments. The Forrester Consulting study found that fear of fraud was the number one challenge for brand advertisers when it comes to in-app advertising, with 57 percent of brands identifying it as a challenge for in-app video and 52 percent identifying it as a challenge for in-app advertising in general.
What to Expect in 2019?
But hope is not lost; 2019 may just be “the year of mobile” if publishers can help marketers achieve the potential of in-app advertising. Buyers are seeking support from publishers and ad tech providers to help mitigate their concerns around in-app inventory quality. Fraud and viewability verification top the list of requests that marketers have of their partners.
Additionally, there are recommendations for publishers to help advertisers achieve their in-app goals including:
- Collect and share customer data with your best advertisers
- Deliver completely viewable content and advertising experiences
- Engage in only the most transparent and ethical audience development practices
- Implement and support the IAB’s Open Measurement SDK
- Understand the KPIs that count for your advertisers
- Transact with advertisers using the strategies they prefer
For more information and applications, download the full study.
