Windows Mobile Edges Ahead of Apple iPhone in Mobile Advertising Performance

March 4th, 2010
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METRICS FEBRUARY 2010 HIGHLIGHTS:
- Windows Mobile edges ahead of Apple iPhone in mobile advertising performance.
- Apple iPhone dominates performance in South-East Asia.
- Smaato report reveals insight into click trough and fill rates for South-East Asia.

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These metrics show that the average worldwide ad network fill rates remain constant at 29% in February 2010. There is also a focus on the US and South-East Asian markets and at ad network response times.

Smaato’s metrics are based upon 35 mobile ad networks and over 4 billion ad requests served in the Smaato Network of more than 3000 registered mobile publishers in February 2010.

Worldwide CTR Index (Click Through rate) by Handset Operating System


Chart 1: Smaato Index – Operating System CTR (Click Through Rates) worldwide, February 2010

The performance of different operating systems in February shows a smaller gap between the different platforms than in January. The CTR Index (Click Through Rate) differs from 51 (Blackberry) to 147 (Symbian), compared to in January where the spread was between 30 (Blackberry) and 173 (Symbian).

One of the big surprises is the continuing decline of CTR Index from iPhone and iPodTouch with a rate of 89; it’s the first time Apple devices have dipped below the average Index of 100. In December 2009 the iPhone posted a CTR Index of 119, sliding to 104 in January 2010.

The dip in CTR Index on Apple devices and the consistency of Windows Mobile CTR, means that for the first time in the Smaato metrics, Windows Mobile has edge ahead of its rival.

The Index consists of the average CTR of all devices and this number is set to 100.

Symbian OS establishes itself as the leader since the launch of the Smaato Metrics for December 2009 and Android is keeping its position as the number two operating system in regards to CTR performance in mobile advertising.

Fill Rate Worldwide

Smaato’s metrics demonstrates the performance of mobile ad networks globally and the fill rate is measured as the percentage of ads delivered per ad request and varies by different factors, like country, device, content type.

The ad networks are not published in the monthly Smaato metrics, but are revealed in the dashboard of registered Smaato publishers reporting and analytics tools.


Chart 2: Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (worldwide), February 2010

The fill rates of the global top 10 ad networks, dropped from January to February. The best performing mobile ad network in the Smaato worldwide Index had a fill rate of 72% in February 2010, which is a down 17% compared to January. Despite this decrease, the average for worldwide ad network fill rate performance stayed steady at 29%, with six of the top ten ad networks performing above this average. This re-enforces the ad network aggregation business model, as Smaato aggregates 35 ad networks across the globe to ensure partners get the highest possible fill rate.

Fill Rate USA


Chart 3: Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (USA), February 2010

The average fill rate of mobile ad networks in the USA shows with 35% again a decrease in comparison to January 2010 (47%) and December 2009 (55%). But it stills remains significantly higher than the worldwide average fill rate of only 29%. With 78% and 64% the two top performing ad networks performed higher than in January, where they could reach a fill rate of only 68% and 61%.

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SPOTLIGHT SOUTH-EAST-ASIA:

Fill Rate South-East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines)

This is the first time Smaato has compiled the fill rates and revealed the CTR Index in the South-East Asian countries such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines.

The fill rates show two very strong top performing ad networks with 90% and 87% fill rates in this region. Overall, the fill rates show a similar spread to those in the USA.

South-East Asia’s average fill rate of 32% is considerably higher compared to that of India’s, which was revealed in the January Smaato Metrics as 8%. This demonstrates the large differences across the Asian market and the need for developers to search for different partners or a mobile aggregation and optimization service.


Chart 4: Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks in South East Asia (Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines), February 2010

CTR Index (Click Through rate) by Handset Operating System: Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and Philippines


Chart 5: Smaato Index – Operating System CTR (Click Through Rates) Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, February 2010

The performance of the different handset operating systems compiled for Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines shows a completely different breakdown compared to the worldwide performance.

iPhone and iPodTouch dominates the region with a CTR Index of 164 followed by Symbian (127) and Android (124), while Windows Mobile comes in at the bottom of the table with 56.

Ad Network Response Time Worldwide


Chart 6: Smaato Index – Response Time for Mobile Ad Networks (worldwide), February 2010

Smaato has taken another look at the response time of the top-performing ad networks in the Metrics for February 2010. The top 15 ad networks in regards to fill rates again show a broad spectrum of performance.

The fastest response time was only 11 milliseconds, significantly faster in comparison to January 2010, where it was 43 milliseconds. In total, the top six ad networks could deliver quicker than the month before.

Publishers should consider response times when adding several ad networks within a page load and therefore an allotted time to fill the ad space reserved.

This is a significant consideration for mobile publishers as for them, the best user-experience comes with the fastest loading time of a mobile web site or for in-app advertising. If an ad is requested from a mobile ad network and no ad is available, then a faster response time allows sending this request to one or more ad networks for a chance to get an ad delivered.

More background about these mobile advertising metrics is provided free in a white paper “Global Choices in Mobile Advertising” available at www.smaato.com/whitepaper.

Download the Smaato Metrics – February 2010 PDF Version

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Android moves ahead of iPhone in new Smaato Mobile Advertising Metrics – Symbian still on top

February 4th, 2010
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Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid effect? Smaato Metrics for January suggest that new Android devices are revolutionizing mobile advertising performance measured by CTR (click-through-rate).

Smaato Metrics show average worldwide ad network fill rates down from 35% to 29% in January 2010.

Smaato’s metrics are based upon 35 mobile ad networks and over 4 billion ad requests served in the Smaato Network of more than 2300 registered mobile publishers in January 2010.

Worldwide CTR (Click Through rate) by Handset Operating System


Chart 1: Smaato Index – Operating System CTR (Click Through Rates) worldwide, January 2010

The performance of the different handset types in January, again show a significant spread between the operating systems. The big surprise is the jump of Android CTR, which have more than doubled (to 163) in comparison to December 2009 where it was only fifth best (65).

The boost in Android CTR comes with a large uptake in Android ad requests in the Smaato network and newly introduced Android phones by Google (Nexus One), Motorola (Droid) and handsets branded by mobile operators. The numbers suggest, that there have been a mix of high performing advertising campaigns that where interesting to the Android audience and it could be attributed to new owners of handsets that are curious about responding to mobile advertising.

As in December 2009 Symbian handsets still hold the highest CTR (173) compared to the averaged Index of 100, edging on further from the numbers last month where it hit 161.

Apple iPhone (104, with iPod Touch) dropped slightly in comparison to December (119), but still comes third and above the Smaato Index.

The Index consists of the average CTR of all devices and this number is set to 100.

Fill Rate Worldwide

Smaato’s metrics demonstrates the performance of mobile ad networks globally and the fill rate is measured as the percentage of ads delivered per ad request and varies by different factors, like country, device, content type.

The ad networks are not published in the monthly Smaato metrics, but are revealed in the dashboard of registered Smaato publishers reporting & analytics tools.


Chart 2: Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (worldwide), January 2010

The top performing mobile ad network worldwide in the Smaato Index had a fill rate of 89% in January 2010, which is an increase of 10% compared to the top performing ad network in December. Despite this increase, the average for worldwide ad network fill rate performance declined from 35% to 29%.

This confirms that mobile advertising had a very strong holiday season in 2009. In the second half of January the industry saw higher fill rates as campaigns and advertisers returned to business.

Fill Rate USA


Chart 3: Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (USA), January 2010

The average fill rate of mobile ad networks in the USA was 47% in January down from 55% in December 2009. Similar to December, it remains significantly higher than the worldwide average fill rate of only 29%. Three ad networks performed above the average in January according to these metrics.

It is especially important for mobile publishers and app developers, to recognize the revenue potential of the US market compared to the worldwide average. A much higher fill rate could imply higher revenue through a bigger chance to sell more mobile inventory to advertisers.

Fill Rate UK and India

For the first time, Smaato metrics has also unveiled the average fill rates of mobile ad networks in the UK and in India.


Chart 4: Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (UK), January 2010

UK shows a very low average fill rate with only 7%. The top performing mobile ad network has a fill rate of 33% significantly above the average and eight other ad networks compared.

Mobile developers with strong UK inventory can see, that there is a clear benefit in adding more ad network partners to fill their mobile inventory, and also to consider mobile ad optimization or mediation platforms.


Chart 5 Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (India), January 2010

India shows one very strong performing ad network, but the fill rate is only 8% in average. India has seen vast amounts of mobile inventory that is still unclaimed by mobile advertisers represented through mobile ad networks. Again the low fill rates mean to mobile developers and publishers that they should consider adding more ad revenue sources from additional ad networks and optimization platforms.

New: Response Time Worldwide


Chart 6: Smaato Index – Response Time for Mobile Ad Networks (worldwide), January 2010

For the first time, response time of the top-performing ad networks is compared in the Smaato Metrics for January 2010. When evaluating the top 16 ad networks in regards to their fill rates in the Smaato network, a significantly broad spectrum of performance is measured.

The fastest response time for a mobile ad network has been 43 milliseconds compared to 887 msec. by rank 16. The response time is important to consider when adding several ad networks within a page load and therefore an allotted time to fill the ad space reserved.

This is a significant consideration for mobile publishers as they are concerned with the best user-experience in fasted loading time of a mobile web site or for in-app advertising. If an ad is requested from a mobile ad network and no ad is available, then a faster response time allows sending this request to one or more ad networks for a chance to get an ad delivered.

More background about these mobile advertising metrics is provided free in a white paper “Global Choices in Mobile Advertising” available at www.smaato.com/whitepaper.

Download the Smaato Metrics – January 2010 PDF Version

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M-Days: Smaato Publishes Fill Rates of German Mobile Advertising Market

January 28th, 2010
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Smaato Inc. a mobile advertising company and leading mobile ad optimizer published during M-Days in Munich the first metrics about the ad networks fill rate in the German market.

The average fill-rate in Germany was 60% in December 2009 after optimization by Smaato, which is well above the average fill-rate worldwide (35%) and even above the USA (55%).


Chart: Smaato Index – Ad Networks Fill Rate in Germany, Dezember 2009

Smaato published its first global Mobile Advertising Metrics earlier this month, revealing for the first time a Click Through Rate (CTR) Index by handset operating system. In addition, the Smaato Metrics show a comparison of mobile ad network fill rates worldwide and for the USA. These metrics are based upon 3 billion ad requests served in the Smaato Network in December 2009.

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Smaato Metrics – December 2009

January 13th, 2010
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Redwood Shores, CA January 13, 2010 – Today, Smaato Inc. published the Smaato Mobile Advertising Metrics. The Smaato Metrics unveil for the first time a Click Through Rate (CTR) Index by Handset operating system. In addition the Smaato Metrics show a comparison of Mobile Ad Network fill rates worldwide and for the USA. These metrics are based upon 3 Billion ad requests served in the Smaato Network in December 2009.

Quattro Wireless (recently acquired by Apple) and Millennial Media are the top performing mobile ad networks in the USA according to the Smaato Metrics. Both ad networks performed equally with 83% fill rates for mobile publishers in the Smaato Network.

Smaato 2009 Handset CTR (Click Through rate by Operating System)
The December performance numbers for the different Handset types show a significant spread between the operating systems in regards to the CTR. Symbian phones had the highest CTR (161) compared to the averaged Index of 100. Followed by Apple iPhone (119, with iPod Touch) the most dominant platform for mobile applications comes in second and above the Smaato Index.


Chart 1: Smaato Index – Operating System CTR (Click Through Rates) worldwide, December 2009

It is interesting to note, that Symbian phones perform two times better than featured phones on a worldwide basis and iPhone CTRs are also two times better than Android phone CTR according to the Smaato Index. Surprisingly, BlackBerry devices are producing a very low CTR in comparison; this is most likely due to the business character of the devices by RIM.

Windows Phone Handsets perform above the average indexed at 100 placing the number four smartphone handset operating system according to latest Canalys number (Q3, 2009 – see below) also in third place for in the Smaato Index.The Index consists of the average CTR of all devices and this number is set to 100.

Smartphone Operating Systems Market Share (by Canalys)
To put the Smaato Index CTR performance for operating systems in perspective, the next chart shows current market share for smartphone operating systems. Symbian remains still the dominant player worldwide for smartphone devices in the latest available figures for the third Quarter of 2009 from analyst firm Canalys.

As reported here Apple’s iPhone handsets are gaining much ground and have an impressive 17.8% market share for a line up of just a few handsets with anticipated explosive growth including a rumored debut of a Apple tablet hybrid PC that is supposed to support the iPhone apps and provide an even wider reach.


Chart 2 Smaato Index – Operating System Market Share (source: CANALYS, December 2009)

Android phones featuring Google’s operating system are expected to see the biggest growth rates in the sector in 2010 according to Forrester Research. An expected 10% market share in 2010 should be supported by newly announced Nexus One by Google and expected Android phones by manufacturers like SONY Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung and HTC distributed by all the leading mobile operators worldwide.

Smaato Metrics: Fill Rate Mobile Ad Networks December 2009 (Worldwide)
Mobile publishers have several choices to monetize their mobile inventory for apps or websites. One important measurement to judge the performance of a mobile ad network is its fill rate. The fill rate (percentage of delivered ads per ad request) varies by a lot of factors: type of publisher content, country, device, demographics or anticipated CTR.

The Smaato Index unveils for the first time the performance numbers for the top 10 leading ad networks worldwide in the Smaato network.


Chart 3 Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (worldwide), December 2009

The top performing mobile ad network in the Smaato Index had a 77% fill rate worldwide in December 2009. The Smaato Index as the industry average for worldwide mobile ad network fillrate performance was 35% based upon 34 ad networks signed onto Smaato’s SOMA platform and ads served in more than 215 countries.

Smaato Metrics: Fill Rate Mobile Ad Networks December 2009 (USA)
The Smaato Metrics show averages fill rates of mobile ad networks in the USA for December 2009 is 55% and significantly higher than the worldwide average of 35%.

We see this better performance due to a better-developed mobile advertising market, higher budgets as well as more advanced targeting. Targeting for mobile apps or mobile websites can include location, device or a lot of other keywords or category channels.

The more publishers enrich the ad request with data or keywords about the mobile consumer in real time, the better an ad network performs in regards to fill rate and ultimately in price.


Chart 4 Smaato Index – Fill Rate of Mobile Ad Networks (USA), December 2009

Quattro Wireless (recently acquired by Apple) and Millennial Media are the top performing mobile ad networks in the USA according to the Smaato Metrics covering the month of December 2009. Publishers in the Smaato Network that used the SOMA optimization platform received an averaged fill rate of 94% in the US.

In order to optimize the mobile advertising revenue Smaato as the leading mobile ad optimizer worldwide is not only considering the fill rate, but also latency of ad request response time, anticipated fill rate, recorded average CTR of the publisher inventory as well as the recorded eCPM (average price pr thousand ads delivered) for the given ad network.

Publishers can enhance their revenue by trying to get out of the low priced “run-of-network” pricing of the ad networks by adding targeting features and enriched ad request data to allow category targeting (“travel”, “social media”) as well as audience targeting (“female”, “14-29”).

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Smaato Whitepaper: Global Choices in Mobile Advertising
Smaato released today a new white paper for mobile publishers as a backgrounder on the current mobile advertising market and choices for publishers to maximize their mobile ROI.

The white paper can be downloaded here and portraits international trends & findings for mobile ad monetization.

White Paper Preview:
Smaato White Paper: Global Choices in Mobile Advertising
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About Smaato Inc.
Smaato is a pioneering mobile advertising company that operates the mobile ad optimization platform called SOMA (Smaato Open Mobile Advertising) and partners with mobile publishers, developers, ad networks and operators.

Smaato’s SOMA mobile advertising platform aggregates more than 34 mobile ad networks worldwide and optimizes mobile advertising revenues according to automated rules overseen by an experienced ad operations team. More than 2.000 publishers have signed up with Smaato as a partner to monetize their content in 215+ countries and Smaato is managing 3 billion ad requests per month.

Smaato Publishers see the performance of their Mobile Ad Networks in their account dashboards with clear names to measure the performance of the independent ad networks worldwide.
Sign up here to open your Smaato publisher account to take advantage of worldwide performance and revenue optimization for mobile advertising in your application or on mobile websites.

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