Online Ad Optimizer PubMatic Issues July Ad Pricing Index that Mirrors Economy’s Holding Pattern
PALO ALTO, Calif. – July 15, 2008 – PubMatic (www.pubmatic.com), the world’s first service that automates and optimizes ad inventory decision-making for Web publishers, today released its fourth monthly PubMatic AdPrice Index (www.pubmatic.com/adpriceindex), an industry-wide measure of online ad network pricing for publishers. For the third month in a row, the index shows very little movement in the average price of online advertising from the previous month, lending credibility to the argument that the slowness in the US economy continues to affect online ad pricing.
Key Findings:
* On average, Web site monetization decreased by less than one percent from $0.37 in May to $0.36 in June. *(Pricing data reflects net publisher monetization via ad networks and excludes ad networks’ share of ad spends as well as inventory sold directly by publishers to ad agencies or advertisers).
* By size, small size Web sites had the largest drop to $0.81 in June, down from $1.13 in May.
* By vertical, News and Gaming had significant drops, sliding $0.62 and $0.20, respectively.
* Entertainment showed the only increase jumping $0.11 from $0.29 in May to $0.40 in June.
The latest data from the AdPrice Index shows that overall online ad pricing made a less than one percent change, moving from $0.37 to $0.36, but there were a few surprises. Small size Web sites (less than 1 million page views per month) in June dropped a significant $0.32 from May, landing at an average eCPM of $0.81, down from $1.13. Medium Web sites (1 million to 100 million page views per month), however, made a moderate $0.13 jump from $0.33 in May to $0.46 in June. Large Web sites (100 million+ page views per moth) also rose, but only slightly, moving from May’s $0.21 to June’s $0.23.
The July PubMatic AdPrice Index findings also revealed that only one vertical category out of five showed any improvement in their overall eCPM – Entertainment climbed to $0.40 in June from May’s $0.29. The biggest drop in the verticals, by far, was News; it went from $1.10 in May, to less than half of that, or $0.48 in June. Gaming, which was at $1.00 from the month of May went down in June to $0.80. Social Networks, the lowest performing category already, went down another $0.05, going from $0.32 in May to $0.27 in June. The Technology vertical had little movement, but it was still down; in May its average eCPM was $0.65 compared to June’s $0.63.
“The July PubMatic AdPrice Index data shows that while online ad pricing has not dropped significantly overall in the past few months, it still is not as high as it was a few months ago,” said Rajeev Goel, cofounder and general manager of PubMatic. “Online advertising is in a holding pattern like many sectors of the US economy.”
The data released today is part of a series of monthly releases of the PubMatic AdPrice Index. Showing for the first time ever net publisher monetization on inventory sold to ad networks, the PubMatic AdPrice Index provides transparency for the ad industry so that publishers, ad networks and advertisers can keep up with changes in traffic monetization and better plan for the future of their businesses.
For the complete July 2008 edition of the PubMatic AdPrice Index, please visit www.pubmatic.com/adpriceindex.
About the PubMatic AdPrice Index / Methodology
* The PubMatic AdPrice Index represents net publisher monetization via ad networks and excludes ad networks’ share of ad spends as well as inventory sold directly by publishers to ad agencies or advertisers.
* The PubMatic AdPrice Index is comprised of over 4,000 Web sites, approximately 85 percent of which are based in the US. The PubMatic AdPrice Index is prepared by leading independent statisticians and industry experts:
– Albert Madansky, Ph.D. is the H.G.B. Alexander Professor Emeritus of Business Administration at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and was the recipient of the 2005 American Statistical Association Founders Award.
– Michele Madansky, Ph.D. is a media and market research consultant and former VP of Global Market Research for Yahoo!
About PubMatic
PubMatic is the world’s first service that increases Web publishers’ revenue by automating and optimizing ad serving decisions. PubMatic significantly increases ad sales revenue for more than 4,000 publishers by optimizing ad serving decisions across hundreds of ad networks and by using sophisticated algorithms to optimize the layout of text and display ads. PubMatic is a service of advertising company Komli and is venture backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Nexus India Capital, and Helion Ventures. Find out more at www.pubmatic.com.
