Highlights the stand-out opportunity in mobile for the fast growing travel sector
NEW YORK – xAd, one of the largest mobile-local ad networks in the U.S., announced the publication of its quarterly research report, “Q1 2012 Mobile-Local Performance Stats,” highlighting mobile-local ad performance and usage trends, as well as a special section on the fast growing travel sector. The data showcased a 300 percent, year-over-year increase in mobile-local traffic across the xAd network, delivering nearly 2 billion locally targeted search and display ads across mobile sites and applications.
According to the report, which is derived from a combination of xAd’s network and campaign data as well as data from comScore’s MobiLens™ Audience Profile report, this unprecedented growth is due to approximately 125 million people now owning smartphones in the U.S. and close to 70 percent (nearly 85 million) accessing the mobile Internet every day. The Report also shows that through xAd’s ability to target an audience based on both location data (city, zip code and lat/long) and area search activity, the company is able to drive some of the highest performance rates in the mobile industry.
During Q1 of 2012, average click-through rates for display campaigns on the xAd network increased from an average 0.6 percent to an average of 0.72 percent, while search increased a whole percentage point from 7 percent to over 8 percent in Q1, while maintaining a strong secondary action rate (SAR – actions that occur after the initial ad click) of 36 percent.
“2011 was an exciting and trend-setting year for the mobile-local ad industry, and our Q1 report continues to demonstrate the growth potential and benefits for both our local and national customers,” stated Dipanshu Sharma, CEO, xAd. “Our business partners and marketers across the industry have seen the rising exposure and performance on mobile and are increasingly making it an essential component of their overall advertising strategies. The insights provided in this report will go a long way in educating marketers on the power of mobile advertising that utilizes location targeting, and how that translates to performance – specifically for the travel category.”
Mobile-Local for Travel Industry
With mobile travel bookings clearly on the rise, xAd took an in-depth look at the travel category, and uncovered an incredible amount of valuable information.
According to this quarter’s report, access to travel-related content via mobile devices continues to grow in both mobile apps as well as in-browser. However, among smartphone users, access to travel content was preferred in-application for iOS users, and in-browser for Android users, further proof that a comprehensive mobile ad strategy is needed to reach the fast growing mobile travel market. Additionally, as expected with the summer peak season approaching, travel moved up as one of the most frequently searched mobile categories, with car rentals and travel agents leading the way as the hottest topics within their search terms.
For a detailed view of the xAd Infographic and to download a copy of the Q1 2012 Mobile-Local-Search Stats Report, visit xAd.com/about/research.
About xAd
Established in 2009, xAd is one of the largest mobile-local advertising networks in the U.S. and the only one offering both targeted search and display. Across its network, xAd aggregates and manages over a billion location-specific ad requests per month, billions of business listings, and over one million national and local advertisers. Its proprietary technology and quality-score algorithm, which takes into account nearly 30 variables such as user behavior and search location, deliver local and contextual relevance for better advertising performance: monetized calls, clicks and visits generated from ads across the mobile Web, owned and operated local apps, publisher partners, and mapping and navigation systems. That comprehensive ad inventory facilitates higher conversions for advertisers, who can reach a vast mobile audience with a single touch point, while publishers can experience high eCPM and also access a large, accurate database in one location. Based in San Francisco, xAd has research and development facilities in Sunnyvale, California, and Gurgaon, India; sales centers in New York City and Charlotte; and several satellite offices across the U.S. For more information, visit xAd.com.
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