Pubmatic has released new data indicating that online ad pricing might be on the rise again. It suggests that US online ad prices on networks and exchanges rose steadily during the first half of 2009, with total growth up 35% since December 2008. The report also highlights how publishers using yield optimisation platforms have seen ad sales revenue increase. Although there are no figures available for Europe, Joelle Frijters, Improve Digital CEO, points out that European clients using their service have seen an uplift in CPM rates. She also expects European ad pricing to follow US trends as more publishers implement optimisation technology to automate their sales channels.

London/Palo Alto, July 23 – Improve Digital/PubMatic (www.improvedigital.com), a provider of ad revenue optimisation technology for global online publishers, has today released new data indicating that online ad pricing might be turning the corner, leaving the worst days behind us.

Using data from its client list of web publishers (85% of which are based in the US), the ad revenue optimization provider has found that ad pricing on online networks and exchanges has steadily and consistently increased every month for the entire first half of 2009, with the average cost of inventory up 35% since December 2008.

Pricing Trends of 2008 and 2009 in the US

In 2008 online ad pricing in the US dropped to record lows, which led analysts across the globe to lower their forecasts for 2009 advertising revenue. PubMatic also reported in early 2009 that Q4 2008 ad pricing was nearly half of what is was the year before. That downward trend ended with Q4 2008.
In stark contrast, 2009 has shown consecutive ad price growth for every month since the start of the year (see chart below). The month-to-month growth ranges from 3% to as much as 17%, but the total growth since December is a significant 35% - almost equating the percentage drop of 2008.
“The consistency of the data shows a trend that ad pricing will continue to rise steadily throughout the rest of 2009, and 2010” said Rajeev Goel, co‐founder and CEO of PubMatic. “What makes this data especially compelling is how stable and consistent the growth has been, and how closely it resembles growth outside of the advertising industry.”

Pricing Trends in the UK and Europe

“Our experience with European/UK based premium publishers have been very positive and resulted in increased eCPM’s across the board. However it would be too early to speak of any trend in Europe given that the data is still mixed with large eCPM increases as a result of the optimisation technology. We do see an increased usage of technology and automation, which we believe is a key driver for increased prices from ad networks and exchanges“ says Joëlle Frijters, CEO and Co-Founder of Improve Digital.

About The Ad Price Data Methodology

The PubMatic ad price data used in this release is comprised of over 6,000 websites, approximately 85% of which are based in the US. The data is prepared by leading independent statisticians and industry experts: Albert Madansky, Ph.D., H.G.B. Alexander Professor Emeritus of Business Administration at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business and recipient of the 2005 American Statistical Association Founders Award, and Michele Madansky, Ph.D., a media and market research consultant and former VP of Global Market Research for Yahoo! The pricing data reflects net publisher monetization via ad networks and excludes ad networks' share of ad spends as well as inventory sold directly by publishers to ad agencies or advertisers. The pricing data is not representative of the performance of any particular ad network.