Ad Network Exec: Mobile Content Still Driving Display Ads

 

AdMob’s Tony Nethercutt stopped by ClickZ’s offices earlier today for a conversation about the state of mobile advertising. Here’s a quick rundown of the most-intriguing items from the one-hour discussion with the network’s VP of ad sales.

– Internationally, mobile content still accounts for the majority of display ads on the AdMob network. But within the U.S. that figure is around half, with the remainder being bought by brand advertisers, including automotive, entertainment, and CPG categories.

– In addition, CPG and restaurant brands, in particular, are coming on board increasingly, Nethercutt said. “[Advertisers] are seeing mobile less and less as a standalone, separate channel. It’s becoming more of the overall mix.”

– Nethercutt suggested that restaurants – quick-serve and sit-down chains – are chomping at the bit for the time to come when they can serve ads around breakfast, lunch, and dinner in a person’s locale. But right now, he said, day-parting on networks is limited due to the inability to access handset data showing users’ time zones.

– AdMob works with 11,000 mobile sites and 4,000 apps, Nethercutt said. Interestingly, he explained, “half of our page views come from apps,” a trend he attributed to the nature of the app experience versus mobile sites.

– Forty percent of his firm’s ads are served on iPhones or iPod Touches, while Android makes up about one-third of the total number of Apple-delivered promos, Nethercutt added. In the U.K. meanwhile, AdMob recently reported that over 70 percent of ad requests across its network came from Apple devices.

– Nethercutt suggested there is room for significant improvement in the mobile ad serving space. Although Microsoft’s Atlas and DoubleClick’s DART platforms are market leaders by default, he said that he “wouldn’t be surprised if a third party comes up with a dedicated standalone platform for mobile.”

– Around issues of data and detailed ad targeting, Nethercutt suggested AdMob’s network was geared towards reach, rather than niche audiences. “The AdMob proposition is to be as broad as possible and to offer as much reach as possible,” he said.

Jack Marshall contributed to this article.