New PubMatic Research Shows Private Marketplaces Drive Global Mobile Advertising Growth

PubMatic, the publisher-focused sell-side platform (SSP) for an open digital media future, today announced findings from its Q4 2017 Quarterly Mobile Index (QMI). The report, which identifies trends in mobile advertising, found that mobile private marketplaces (PMPs) monetized impression volume increased by 37 percent year-over-year (YOY) in Q4 2017, adding to a long growth streak for mobile PMPs now spanning eight consecutive quarters.

The upswing for mobile PMPs is attributed to major marketers continuing to increase spend through programmatic channels. PMPs offer robust options for advertisers to gain access to premium inventory coupled with safeguards for ad fraud and brand risk, amid growing concerns about quality, viewability and transparency. For publishers, PMPs provide more control over their inventory and partnership with buyers. As a result, mobile PMP eCPMs globally in 2017 were priced at a 155 percent premium, compared to those paid for the average mobile open exchange impression.

“We have seen a profound shift towards supply chain integrity and quality in 2017,” explained Rajeev Goel, co-founder and CEO of PubMatic. “We expect this trend towards quality and programmatic direct to continue in 2018 as advertisers increasingly demand higher standards for transacting. As an industry, we need to continue our efforts in giving buyers access to highly-engaged mobile audiences in a brand safe environment while providing sellers greater visibility and control.”

Additionally, PubMatic’s new report shows mobile header bidding moved into the mainstream and approached maturity at the end of 2017, with global volume growth rates slowing to ‘merely’ robust levels by Q4. Mobile web experienced 121 percent YOY growth in header bidding impression volume in Q4 2017, more closely aligning with desktop inventory, which experienced an 81 percent YOY impression growth rate over the same period. As publishers deepened their header bidding expertise, the popularity of hybrid solutions offering both client- and server-side integrations, such as PubMatic’s OpenWrap, rose from 13.6 percent to 20.7 percent adoption rate between September and December 2017 according to ServerBid.

More highlights from the Q4 2017 Quarterly Mobile Index include:

• Apps drove mobile volume growth in 2017, while mobile web eCPMs rose more than 50 percent YOY globally.
• Android built a dominant OS lead to represent roughly eight-in-ten monetized mobile app impressions worldwide in 2017, while iOS delivered higher eCPMs.
• Header bidding impression volumes monetized via mobile web in 2017 expanded fastest in APAC where they rose 43X YOY, followed by 4X YOY expansion in EMEA and 1.5X in the Americas.
• Mobile video remained a developing opportunity as its global footprint expanded with mobile video eCPMs catching up to desktop in 2017.

Visit the PubMatic website to view the full Q4 2017 Quarterly Mobile Index report.

QMI METHODOLOGY

PubMatic’s yield and data analytics team analyzes over ten trillion advertiser bids on a monthly basis, utilizing the company’s best-in-class analytics capabilities. The Q4 2017 QMI incorporates impressions, revenue and eCPM data from these reports to provide a high-level analysis of key trends within the mobile advertising industry. Data is from the fourth quarter of 2017 (i.e., October 1, 2017 to December 31, 2017) and calendar year 2017, as well as the corresponding prior year periods. “Monetized impressions” or “paid impressions” are defined as impressions that were sold through the PubMatic platform, and “eCPM” is defined as the effective cost per one thousand impressions.

About PubMatic

PubMatic is a publisher-focused sell-side platform for an open digital media future. Featuring leading omni-channel revenue automation technology for publishers and enterprise-grade programmatic tools for media buyers, PubMatic's publisher-first approach enables advertisers to access premium inventory at scale. Processing over ten trillion advertiser bids per month, PubMatic has created a global infrastructure to drive publisher monetization and control over their ad inventory. Since 2006, PubMatic's focus on data and technology innovation has fueled the rise of the programmatic industry as a whole. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, PubMatic operates 13 offices and six data centers worldwide.

PubMatic is a registered trademark of PubMatic, Inc. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

This press release and the QMI may contain inaccuracies, and the QMI is based on operational data that has not been audited or reviewed by a third-party. They may contain forward-looking statements about future results and other events that have not yet occurred. Actual results may differ materially from PubMatic’s expressed expectations due to future risks and uncertainties. PubMatic does not intend to update the information contained in this press release or the QMI if any information or statement contained herein or therein is, or later turns out to be, inaccurate.

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Contact information

PubMatic
Samson Adepoju, 646-731-9773
Director, Corporate Communications
samson.adepoju@pubmatic.com