Category: Social Media Marketing

New ad formats and mechanisms change consumer perceptions

Hampshire, UK – 22nd October 2013: A new report from Juniper Research has found that increased utilisation of analytics platforms, allied to the introduction of innovative ad formats and purchasing mechanisms, will push global mobile ad spend beyond $39 billion in 2018, up from $13 billion this year.

Rich Media Ads Lead

The report – Mobile Advertising: In-App, Mobile Internet & Messaging Strategies 2013-2018 –highlighted the opportunities offered by targeted in-app advertising, citing the dramatic success of Facebook in monetising its native applications over the past year. Mobile now contributes 41% to its overall advertising revenue. Facebook recently announced that it is going to begin rolling out video ads, a move illustrative of the wider industry trend for interactive rich media ads, away from underperforming mobile banner adverts.

Furthermore, the report observed that the growth of Real-Time Bidding (RTB), a mechanism which lets advertisers buy impressions in real-time, means that publishers will be able to more easily sell their advertising inventory, which will thereby boost overall mobile ad spend.

”A Change in Consumer Perceptions”

However the report also pointed out that some brands still remain wary of the mobile channel due to concerns that mobile advertisements may be perceived as inappropriate or intrusive. Indeed, the report noted the disproportionately low spend on mobile advertising, versus other mediums, relative to the high engagement levels that frequently occur.

Report author Sian Rowlands pointed out, however, that “we are witnessing a change in consumer perceptions of mobile advertising as advertisers begin to use opt-in, or reward-style advertising; by harnessing big data and location information, mobile ads are being better targeted to users.”

Other Key Findings from the Report Include:

•    The fastest growing region, in terms of mobile ad spend, will be the Indian Subcontinent. Spend here will increase four times from 2013 to 2018.

•    Advertisers can increase conversions by simply adding mobile optimised features, for instance a ‘click to call’ button, or by linking to the correct app store.

The “Mobile Advertising – It All Ads Up” whitepaper is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the full report.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

For further details please contact Michele Ince, Press Relations

[email protected]

The company’s data compression could also make the social network more friendly to the wallet experience.

Facebook has just announced another acquisition, this time involving a startup from Tel Aviv called Onavo, which has apps that include services that are designed to compress and monitor mobile data.

This could help Facebook to improve on two very meaningful levels.

As Facebook has been honing its mobile credentials to attract the spotlight, the services from Onavo apps could prove to be very helpful as it could help to encourage more marketers to shed their doubts and give the social network a try.

Equally, these apps could help to enhance Zuckerberg’s efforts with Internet.org.

The compression technology might assist the Internet.org program’s attempt to bring internet connectivity into regions that are out of reach for other forms. It could also make Facebook a realistic option within regions of the developing world where data consumption is considered to be a costly luxury. Moreover, it would shrink the roaming charges that would be applied to consumers in the rest of the world.

Beyond having been adopted as a new Facebook subsidiary, Onavo will also be converted into a Facebook satellite office in its home town in Israel, which will become the first time that the social network has had a direct presence in that country. At the moment, no information has been revealed regarding the amount of money that was involved in the acquisition, but there have been speculations ranging anywhere from $100 million to $200 million.

Onavo expressed in a blog post that “We’re excited to join their team, and hope to play a critical role in reaching one of Internet.org’s most significant goals – using data more efficiently, so that more people around the world can connect and share.” They also went on to add that “When the transaction closes, we plan to continue running the Onavo mobile utility apps as a standalone brand. As always, we remain committed to the privacy of people who use our application and that commitment will not change.” It has also been speculated that the tech will be integrated into the Facebook mobile applications in order to make them more efficient in terms of data consumption, as well.