Redwood City, CA (April 19, 2016) — PubMatic, the marketing automation software company for publishers, today announced that its Q1 2016 Quarterly Mobile Index (QMI) report found that advertisers are increasingly targeting Android users, as Android app inventory prices or CPMs (cost per thousand ad impressions) increased 147 percent, year-over-year. While Apple iOS app inventory prices are still higher on an absolute basis, iOS app CPMs rose only 62 percent year-over-year. This mobile advertising pricing data demonstrates that, globally, Android users represent an increasing value to advertisers.
PubMatic’s Q4 2015 QMI report demonstrates that major brand advertisers looking to target mobile consumers with timely, relevant advertising messages are increasingly utilizing mobile private marketplaces (PMP)—which was the case during the 2015 holiday shopping season. While consumers picked up their smartphones and tablets to research and purchase holiday gifts, weekly mobile PMP monetized impression volume increased 45 percent from the start of the quarter through the week of Black Friday (Nov. 27). In the retail and technology sectors, the increase in weekly PMP volume over that period was even higher, at 106% and 285%, respectively. The market opportunity in PMPs is significant, as eMarketer estimates that ad spending on PMPs in the U.S. will reach $3.65 billion this year, up from just $80 million in 2013. Globally, MAGNA GLOBAL projects that programmatic spending, which includes open auction, PMP and automated guaranteed, will rise to $37 billion by 2019.
PubMatic’s Q1 2016 QMI report also found that mobile app and mobile web CPMs grew 67 percent and 57 percent year-over-year, respectively, indicating increasing quality and value across both mobile platforms. The improvement in mobile web value is especially important to premium publishers that typically see the majority of their mobile traffic originating from mobile web (e.g. mobile browsers, such as Safari and Chrome). In the first quarter, 80 percent of monetized mobile inventory came from mobile web—with the remainder from mobile apps—which means that premium publishers are better monetizing on the bulk of their ad inventory.
“The wealth of mobile advertising data from our platform continually helps us understand how advertisers are evolving their strategies to target the unpredictable, increasingly-mobile global consumer,” said Rajeev Goel, Co-Founder and CEO of PubMatic. “We’re seeing major surges in advertiser demand across both mobile app and mobile web platforms, and we expect these trends to continue as premium publishers create more impactful mobile strategies for brand advertisers. This, in turn, will result in higher-quality mobile experiences for consumers.”
Additionally, the report revealed that advertiser demand shifted to private marketplaces (PMPs) during major sporting events in the first quarter, such as the Super Bowl, the Six Nations Championship and NCAA College Basketball Tournament, as advertisers looked to target mobile-fixated consumers who were following these exciting match-ups on their mobile devices. “More media buyers are realizing that PMPs allow them to pre-plan on campaigns ahead of major events, because PMPs offer preferred access to high-quality inventory, at scale,” added Goel.
The quarterly report, which analyzed billions of daily impressions from Q1 2016 operational data, found five key trends in global mobile advertising for the quarter:
- Android app inventory value was up nearly 150 percent year-over-year, as advertisers targeted the majority of global mobile consumers
- For premium publishers, mobile web represented the majority of mobile traffic and inventory, and a significant monetization opportunity
- Average mobile CPMs in the Americas and the EMEA region grew 30 percent and 64 percent, respectively, demonstrating increasing quality of mobile inventory on a global level
- Major sporting events attracted significant spending in mobile private marketplaces, driving PMP volume in the sports category over 1000 percent year-over-year
- Programmatic is improving mobile CPMs, driving broader mobile advertising growth
To view the full Q1 2016 Quarterly Mobile Index (QMI) report, click HERE.
QMI Methodology
PubMatic’s yield and data analytics team analyzes billions of impressions on a daily basis, utilizing the company’s best-in-class analytics capabilities. The Q1 2016 QMI incorporates impression, revenue and CPM data from these daily reports to provide a high-level glimpse of key trends within the mobile advertising industry. Data is from calendar year Q1 2016, i.e. January 1, 2016 through March 31, 2016. “Monetized impressions” are defined as impressions that were sold through the PubMatic platform, and “CPM” is defined as the cost per one thousand monetized impressions.
About PubMatic
PubMatic is the leading marketing automation software company for publishers. Through real-time analytics, yield management, and workflow automation, PubMatic enables publishers to make smarter inventory decisions and improve revenue performance. Focused on serving the needs of premium publishers, PubMatic inspires buyer confidence by providing flexibility in audience discovery and planning media campaigns through its Media Buyer Console and APIs. The company’s marketing automation software platform provides a global roster of comScore publishers with a single view into their advertiser relationships across every screen, every channel and every format. PubMatic was ranked by Deloitte as one of the fastest growing companies in the US for the fourth consecutive year in 2015. The company has offices worldwide, and is headquartered in Redwood City, California.
PubMatic is a registered trademark of PubMatic, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
This press release and the QMI may contain inaccuracies, and the QMI is based on operational data that has not been audited or reviewed by a third party. They may contain forward-looking statements about future results and other events that have not yet occurred. Actual results may differ materially from PubMatic’s expressed expectations due to future risks and uncertainties. PubMatic does not intend to update the information contained in this press release or the QMI if any information or statement contained herein or therein is or later turns out to be inaccurate.