Mobile Advertising Revenue Driven by Increase in Smartphone Display

Mobile digital publisher revenues driven by a 114% growth in smartphone display revenue over the last year

London, UK – Deloitte, the business advisory firm and the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) revealed that mobile digital advertising revenues from UK publishers grew by 80%* in the first quarter of 2015 compared with the same quarter in 2014. The growth was predominantly driven by the significant increase in smartphone display revenue (114%), with tablet display advertising revenue growing by 47%.

According to the AOP & Deloitte Digital Publishers Revenue Index Report (DPRI), publishers saw a growth of 5.6% in overall advertising revenues, a slower growth rate than previous quarters. Online video remains a growing source of revenue, with digital publishers seeing over 17% growth compared to the same period last year.

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Significantly, year-on-year desktop display advertising revenues shrunk by 6% in the first quarter of 2015, suggesting that some of the desktop display market has shifted towards mobile display advertising. With media consumption increasingly occurring through smartphones, online publishers are seeing the most revenue growth from mobile digital advertising, a trend that is currently showing no signs of stopping.

AOP Managing Director, Tim Cain, commented: “The shape of revenue continues to reflect the increasing consumption of media on mobile devices. We are beginning to see a change in digital advertising platforms and formats, which is shown in the figures. This is a trend that is likely to continue as consumers’ behaviour changes and new devices are released.”

UK Digital Publisher Advertising Revenue Growth
Q1 2015 vs. Q1 2014
AOP & Deloitte DPRI Report
Digital advertising format % Change*
Total 5.6%
Desktop Video 17%
Recruitment 13%
Sponsorship 11%
Display -6%
Classified 23%
Mobile (smartphone, tablet) 80% (114%, 47%)

Industry average derived from revenue data supplied by 23 AOP publisher members.

Howard Davies, Deloitte media partner, said: “Publishers that have adapted to technological changes have been rewarded with strong first quarter revenue growth from mobile advertisements. From this research, it is clear that publishers must ensure they remain agile in the face of rapidly changing consumption habits in order to remain commercially successful.”

AOP Sentiment Index

The AOP DPRI is complemented by the AOP Sentiment Index Report, which questions AOP board members on how they anticipate the market to perform over the coming 12 months.

AOP members’ confidence in the financial prospects of the industry continued to increase, however, this quarterly optimism about their individual companies has fallen.

UK Digital Publisher Advertising Growth
2014 ­– 2015 (Year on year growth)
AOP & Deloitte DPRI Report, Q1 2015
  % Growth
Year Mobile** Video***
Q2 2014 55.0% 23.2%
Q3 2014 50.7% 3.4%
Q4 2014 90.0% 20.2%
Q1 2015 80.0% 17.4%

Mobile % Growth for Q2-Q3 2014 includes mobile subscriptions

About Deloitte

In this press release references to Deloitte are references to Deloitte LLP, which is among the country’s leading professional services firms.

Deloitte LLP is the United Kingdom member firm of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee whose member firms are legally separate and independent entities. Please see www.deloitte.co.uk/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.

The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.

About The Association of Online Publishers

The UK Association of Online Publishers (AOP) is an industry body representing digital publishing companies that create original, branded, quality content. AOP champions the interests of media owners from diverse backgrounds including newspaper and magazine publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, and pure online media.

For more information please visit www.ukaop.org