the Rubicon Project has issued a revealing market research report to help online advertising professionals navigate the rapidly growing market of advertising networks. Drawing on its unique vantage point in the market, sitting between ad networks and websites, the Rubicon Project provides analysis stemming from a depth of market data to illustrate the current industry landscape, ad network trends and future outlook. This market intelligence comes from analytics derived from serving more than 10 billion ads across 625 websites and 62 ad networks during Q1 2008.
“The online advertising landscape has changed dramatically since I created one of the first ad servers more than ten years ago. Today’s market is supported by a strong ecosystem of more than 300 advertising networks. This growth has created a lot of confusion,” said Frank Addante, CEO and Founder. “As an independent innovator, the Rubicon Project is committed to the overall development of this market. We share our analysis of the billions of pieces of market data we have collected with the hope of advancing the industry through greater awareness and knowledge.”
State of a Fragmented Industry
With $27 billion changing hands, today’s online ad market looks very different from even five years ago. The media shift toward moving dollars online has created a market rush. Hundreds of ad networks of all sizes and categories have popped up, a trend impacting the bottom line for advertisers and website publishers alike.
Sample Findings:
— Google’s decrease is not an indicator of economic downturn; other top ad networks have shown healthy growth in Q1;
— Ad spend is no longer concentrated on a few select ad networks; it’s now spread across 300+ ad networks performance in multiple categories offering different benefits and access;
— Volatile fluctuations in daily fill rate are directly impacting website monetization;
— Traditional reporting methods for website ad revenue (CPM, eCPM) have become inadequate – measurement of eCPM is making way for rCPM;
— 70% of the time a combination of ad networks outperforms one;
— Ad networks face steep competition; forcing rapid innovation in technology and business models.
Emerging Trends
— The ad network explosion will continue; the market will see simultaneous consolidation and expansion with net positive growth. International and vertical networks will be big drivers;
— Ad servers will be free;
— An abundance of ad space inventory and a new, fresh wave of technology is good news for advertisers: easier buying access, greater visibility, better metrics and more competition result in increased efficiency and more effective conversion;
— International monetization will gain greater importance as up to 50% of U.S. website visitors come from outside the United States.
the Rubicon Project’s 2008 Online Advertising Market Report is available as a free download at: http://www.rubiconproject.com. Copies will also be available at the Rubicon Project’s booth at ad:tech San Francisco (#6166) on April 15th and 16th.
About the Rubicon Project
the Rubicon Project is a group of industry-experienced, aggressive and passionate renegades dedicated to bringing a new level of efficiency to the fragmented Internet advertising space. The founders of the Rubicon Project shook up the online advertising industry in 1998 with L90/adMonitor, one of the most successful Internet advertising platforms before it’s acquisition by DoubleClick. the Rubicon Project’s web-based, self-serve solution gives any size website the most complete access to the total available advertising market and its smart matching technology does all the work to match each ad impression with the optimal money-making opportunity. the Rubicon Project is the new online advertising standard that makes it effortless for websites to generate the mad cash they’ve always dreamed of. And, it’s free to join. Websites looking to make more money while doing less work should visit: http://www.rubiconproject.com.