The European real-time bidding industry is booming as demand overtakes supply for RTB-traded inventory and ad rates double, according to new research.
With the real-time bidding (RTB) market expected to be worth $20 billion by 2015, new findings from Adform have revealed that CPM (cost per thousand) rates for RTB-traded inventory have doubled over the past 12 months.
The research highlights the boom in the display market with demand for RTB-traded inventory having overtaken supply for the first time by Q4 2012. The increased demand has led to competitive bidding from advertisers, calling publishers to provide more real-time traded inventory.
The findings, which have been revealed in Adform’s European RTB Trend Report , further revealed the difference in engagement rates of ad placements placed above and below the fold. Those placed above have double the click-through rates of those positioned below, highlighting that consumers are much less likely to interact with ads that require them to scroll down the page.
The research also uncovered that although European advertisers continue to allocate a higher spend to desktop display advertising over mobile and tablet, European consumers much prefer to engage with ads on mobile and tablet devices than on their PCs.
Advertising on tablets attracted the highest engagement with a click-through rate 65% higher than that of desktops with mobile close behind with a click-through rate 50% higher. Until now, mobile devices have only represented a fraction of the total impressions in the European real-time bidding market. Previously, advertisers have also had concerns over the performance of mobile and tablet ads with a staggeringly low 2.1% of the total spend on RTB advertising allocated to these devices.
Gustav Mellentin, CEO at Adform commented, “The RTB industry is booming but European advertisers are still testing the waters. To keep up to date with on-the-go consumers, advertisers need to run display campaigns on all the screens that consumers are using and over the sites that they’re interested in”.
Mellentin added, “The fact that CPM rates have doubled over the past year shows that RTB-traded inventory is a ‘win win win’ for publishers, advertisers and consumers. Publishers can increase the value of RTB-traded inventory, advertisers will see more premium RTB-traded inventory becoming available and consumers will be served ads that are increasingly more relevant to their interests.”
www.adform.com
