Advertiser spend on real-time bidding is mostly coming from the states, but new research from mobile ad exchange Smaato suggests this could be set to change.
According to the RTB Insights Report for Q2 2014, 65% of RTB spend originates in the US, while the top three countries, the UK, USA and Canada, contribute 40% of all auctions on the Smaato Exchange (SMX).
There is evidence that the US may become less of a global RTB force in the future as China reported a 616% increase in RTB ad spend between Q1 and Q2 of this year, much higher than a 73% rise in the states.
South America boasts high growth
Argentina experienced the second highest spend rise of 236%, a great deal more than markets in Europe as Germany, France and Switzerland accomplished rates of 66%, 99% and 106% respectively.
Across the entire SMX mobile ad platform, revenue increased by 69% on the previous quarter’s figures. Auctions rose by 35% and bid responses were up by 84% between Q1 and Q2 of this year.
The popularity of image ads is falling behind rich media. Electronic cost per mille (eCPM) for image formats are up 8% compared to rich media’s 36% growth. Spend on rich and image ads were equal in Q2 compared to Q1, where rich media reeled in 20% more.
Popular times
In all of Q2, June had the highest RTB ad spend as Smaato found the number of auctions going through its exchange grew across every week until May. There was also a 30% rise in revenue between April and May, whereas only a 16% increase was reported from May to June.
Smaato discovered that global eCPM and fill rates were highest in after-work hours (PST). Between 5pm and 7pm eCPM was 22% more than in the hours leading up to noon. Fill rates were 10% higher from 5pm to 6pm than at any other part of the day.
Much of the SMX platform’s global revenue share came between 5pm and 7pm PST in Q2 and around 70% of all global auctions occurred in the four hours before 11am.