Each year the annual “State of The News Media” report published by The Pew Research Center provides a host of insights about the challenges and opportunities that US-based news publishers are facing. A big focus of this year’s report –released last week– is the stunning growth of mobile.
Here are some key findings:
- The Mobile Majority is Here. The study finds that 39 of the top 50 news sites now see more mobile visits than desktop visits. This finding was especially true among so-called “digital native” sites like Upworthy, EliteDaily.com and Buzzfeed where mobile users far outstrip desktop users. However, the finding also held true for more traditional outlets. Indeed, 19 of the top 25 leading newspapers recorded at least 10% more mobile traffic than desktop traffic.
- Mobile Advertising Spend Is Exploding. In 2014, mobile ad spending leapt 78% to $19 billion, and that red-hot growth rate actually cooled from 170% in 2013. Mobile now accounts for 37% of all digital spend, up from 25% in the previous year.
- Desktop Holds An Edge in Time Spent. For 40 of the top 50 news sites, users tend to spend more time on a site per visit when they arrive via desktop than when they come via a mobile device. This fact could be a critical part of keeping advertisers interested in desktop inventory as this extra time spent might possibly translate into increased viewability, which is a key concern for many advertisers.
- Five Companies Have Grabbed Almost Two-Thirds of Mobile Display Spending. Technology companies have been more adept at monetizing the massive growth in mobile advertising spending. In 2014, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Pandora and Apple (iAd) earned 64% of mobile display revenue. Indeed, it wasn’t that long ago that both Wall Street and Silicon Valley were questioning whether Facebook would be able to monetize its growing mobile traffic. Those questions seemed to be put to rest as its mobile revenue has gone from zero to $3.6 billion since 2012. Now the real question is, “Can the publishing community find ways to begin to earn a bigger a slice of the mobile display pie?”
Publishers interested in learning more about maximizing revenue from their mobile inventory can download the whitepaper: Getting the Most Out of Mobile: 5 Ways to Maximize the Value of Premium Publisher Mobile Ad inventory.
Publishers can also check out the infographic below.
