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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

Related Posts:

• Android moves ahead of iPhone in new Smaato Mobile Advertising Metrics – Symbian still on top
• Android suffers drop in global CTR Index but outshines the competition in South East Asia
• Apple significantly increases mobile advertising performance across the globe
• Android makes significant gains in the US for mobile advertising performance but remains the OS with the lowest Response Rate (CTR) in Europe
• South Africa is World Champion with average 72% Ad Network Fill Rate compared to average 43% USA

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

Related Posts:

• Windows Mobile Edges Ahead of Apple iPhone in Mobile Advertising Performance
• Apple significantly increases mobile advertising performance across the globe
• Android makes significant gains in the US for mobile advertising performance but remains the OS with the lowest Response Rate (CTR) in Europe
• South Africa is World Champion with average 72% Ad Network Fill Rate compared to average 43% USA
• Symbian and Feature Phones buck the trend and see growth in CTR Index