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At the Digiday Publishing Summit this October, OpenX’s VP Mobile Solutions, Mike Dowey gave a landscape overview presentation to Mobile RTB, illustrating the varying stages of ‘mobile readiness’.
The full presentation can be viewed below, but here are just a few of the questions Mike was asked just before he came off stage, along with Mike’s answers.
Q: Advertisers are telling publishers “Mobile ads are small, cookies don’t work, and targeting is difficult. Why should I bother?” Any advice for publishers to respond?
[MD]: It’s worth starting to play in mobile now even though the CPMs are lower because there is a learning curve. Publishers cannot just flip a switch to turn on mobile monetization. They need to learn how their audiences respond to a mobile environment and how mobile buyers consume their inventory. There are lots of new mobile buyers coming into the ecosystem all the time. CPMs will grow.
Q: For many, Mobile CPMs are just too low. What do publishers need to do to get CPMs up?
[MD]: There are three things will lead to higher CPMs for mobile publishers:
- Transparency. Advertisers will pay a premium for transparent inventory. Revealing the domain or Appstore URL is a first step in increasing CPMs.
- Local Data. Sending local data such Lat/Long will also lead to higher CPMs. Lat/Long from the GPS of the mobile devices is the most valuable kind of data to mobile buyers. If you have access to this kind of data it will lead to higher CPMs.
- Rich Media. Enabling your inventory to accept Rich Media Ad Units will also lead to higher CPMs. MRAID enabled ad units will open you up to a different class of buyer such as Crisp, Celtra, or Sprout. These Rich Media companies are able to pay much higher rates than standard mobile advertisers because they are delivering more engaging advertising experiences.
Q: What are the best mobile ad formats for publishers in the near term? What are the best performers?
[MD]: The most common ad units are 320X50s and 300X250 interstitials. We are starting to see a lot of traction from the IAB Mobile ‘Rising Stars’ ad units, something that OpenX enabled the buying and selling of in our ad exchange, OpenX Market.
Q: How is mobile affecting the video landscape?
[MD]: Mobile is substantially increasing the amount of video inventory that is available on the market. Video is also helping lift the CPMs of mobile advertising and giving publishers reason to integrate video ad units into their sites.
Learn more about OpenX’s mobile capabilities, or speak with Mike direct about how your mobile publishing strategy could benefit from OpenX’s real-time technology.
