In-app programmatic ad buying grows in APAC, takes a quarter of global inventory

APAC has accounted for over a quarter of the global in-app inventory in the second quarter of 2019, according to PubMatic’s quarterly mobile index. It surpassed EMEA as the second largest region for in-app ad impressions for the first time.In Q2 2019, in-app impressions rose 26% over last year. While impressions grew across all regions, APAC saw the fastest growth—more than doubling in volume. “The in-app environment is rejuvenating creative talents and fostering net new revenue growth for the advertising industry. High user engagement and advanced technological capabilities are spurring immersive mobile in-app experiences and new creative ad formats,” said the report.APAC is also “accelerating and steadily gaining” mobile programmatic media spending share, expected to rise from 32% to 34% in 2022. While the North Americas region currently commands the majority share of global in-app ad inventory (44%), its overall mobile programmatic media spending share, inclusive of in-app, to fall four percentage points by 2022 as APAC continues to expand.The ad monetisation rate for non-gaming iOS apps is typically lower than that for Android apps, but this shifted rapidly in the past year. iOS’ share now exceeds 50% of worldwide mobile in-app impressions in Q2 2019, up from a one-third the year prior. Video iOS ads are driving much of this growth, rising 127% over last year. iOS share grew in all regions globally—even in APAC, where Android remains dominant. It rose to 29% share from 16% year prior.Video ads drove the vast majority of Q2 mobile ad spend growth within the news vertical. Impression volume in the news vertical doubled year-over-year in Q2 2019. In-app video experienced the steepest growth curve, rising 391% year-over-year.[Digital Marketing Asia Conference 2019 in Singapore is back! Join us on 8-9 October as we hear from experienced practitioners and thought-leaders on how they are managing complex digital transitions and reimagining new ways for their marketing to become more customer focused, agile and interactive. Book your seats today.]Meanwhile, PubMatic highlighted in the report the need for publishers and developers to adopt new industry standards to protect inventory quality. This includes declaring partners authorised to sell their inventory within the mobile in-app to provide better transparency to buyers. It added that more education is required among app developers to understand the importance of the matter.PubMatic’s yield and data analytics team analyses over 13 trillion advertiser bids on a monthly basis for the quarterly mobile index. It incorporates impressions, revenue and eCPM data from these reports to provide an analysis of key trends within the mobile advertising industry.Read more:In-app programmatic buying in Indonesia: Why the added cost is worth itMediaMath partners White Ops to guard against fraud in programmatic advertisingHow can media agencies maintain an edge over programmatic disruptors?More than 60% of marketers have dedicated programmatic talent, says WFA poll