Just two years ago mobile made up just 3% of all programmatic ad spend. According to a recent publication, that number is now over 20%. This growth is quite incredible, especially since the ad spend in other areas hasn’t really dropped at all in terms of total dollars spent. Instead, the total amount marketers and brands are spending on programmatic ads just continues to go up, with mobile getting the most growth.
The information comes from Rubicon Project, and said that mobile ad spend increased over 1300 percent from Q1 2013 to Q1 2015. The company expects that their mobile revenue will pass $200 million this fiscal year. These numbers seem to be in line with what other ad agencies are seeing as well.
The head of mobile at Rubicon Project, Joe Prusz, said, “Two years ago we recognized a significant opportunity existed on the mobile distribution channel for Rubicon Project. The infrastructure necessary to enable mobile ads to be bought and sold automatically – the same way they are on desktop – simply did not exist. Over the last two years, we have been tackling that complicated endeavor with a clear mission to scale the mobile market for automation for the entire industry.”
It certainly seems that they have been successful with that goal so far. They have recently announced that they are expanding their deal to be an exclusive seller of Virool’s InLIne mobile video format. This is a major opportunity, which is used to bring video ads that only display in a portion of the mobile screen. This is possible largely due to the larger screen sizes that are common on smart phones and tablets.
By the end of 2016, eMarketer believes that programmatic advertising will generate more than $20 billion in revenue, and with mobile’s share continuing to rise, this is a major area of interest for all marketers, ad networks and brands.
