Mobile content consumption is changing. Mobile no longer means your cell phone… it now includes anytime you're on the go: Kindles, iPads, MP3 players, PSPs, GPS devices, etc. As exponential growth continues in mobile internet, expect the mobile app market to follow suit.
The iPhone changed the game for mobile advertising but the iPad will change the game for online ad networks. Although mobile players are touting support for the iPad, online ad networks have the means to directly compete for this new screen's real estate.
The iPad is a big iPod touch. Period. The iPad essentially doubles the screen size for mobile apps to 640x960 pixels - the full screen size of the iPad is 1024x768. The predominant ad unit size on mobile smart phones today is 300x50 (MMA standard X-Large Ad Unit) along with a sliver of 300x250 (IAB standard box unit). The large real estate on iPad-specific apps now enables more IAB ad units to live on the screen: 468x60, 120x600 and 728x90. Get excited online ad networks – you already have this inventory!
However, you should expect engagement rates to drop. Ever wonder why CTR's are so much higher on mobile apps than they are on the web? Maybe people like tapping on ads with their fingers more than clicking on ads with their mouse? Not really. Let's do some quick calculations:
iPhone: Banner (300x50) X Screen Size (320x480) -- represents 0.1% of the entire screen
Web: Banner (720x90) X Screen Size (1280x1024) -- represents 0.05% of the entire screen
iPad: Banner (468x60) X Screen Size (640x960) -- represents 0.05% of the entire screen
It's not surprising to see CTR's on mobile apps above one percent but on the Web it's unheard of, even on tier-one brand inventory. Expect campaign optimization and data to start playing larger roles in mobile advertising to help make up for low CTRs on larger devices like the iPad.
All these hi-tech features with built in accelerometers, multi touch, sound, force, etc. and yet still no flash? What does that mean for you as a marketer? Get off your chair and start looking into newer technology that allows you to create some of the most custom and highly interactive ads in the world on a device like the iPad – it's been done on the iPhone so it can easily be done on the iPad without Flash. You know Apple is thinking along the same lines with their acquisition of Quattro. Expect video interstitials to play a big role in this arena – brand name advertisers, rich content, high quality video and sound will become the norm– who wouldn't want video ads in their apps and what consumers would rather see static GIFs?
You be the judge!
- Online ad networks will play a large part in iPad advertising.
- CTR's on ads will drop from iPhone apps to iPad apps.
- Non-flash rich media will become a standard.
Hmm - the maths is wrong! Should be 10% for the iPhone, not 0.1%! All the percentage figures need to be multiplied by 100. Otherwise you're on the money. You'll see more banners on iPads as developers get to grips with HTML5 and Javascript.
Apple is for sure leading the ball by not displaying Flash ads. We have to to adapt. Nothing worst then a perfectly designed website with white squares because ads are not showing.