1. Display Business Trends Publisher Edition
What’s
Trending in
Display for
Publishers?

2. 1.
Cha nnel mix 2 Publishers face the ever-changing complexities of selling display
ads and reaching new audiences. As a business partner to
publishers around the world, Google is no stranger to these
2.
Publishe r Ver ti c a l a nd 6 challenges. We rely on data-based insights to guide our
Geogra phic c o m p a r i s o ns business decisions. During our routine deep-dives into the
publisher display dynamics, we frequently notice trends
that may be of interest to our clients as well, which is what
3.
Ad S ize s 20 prompted us to introduce this research publication.
This premiere issue focuses on trends in the publisher
display business. It is not meant to be a comprehensive
industry report or forecast; rather its purpose is to share trends
4.
Mobile Web Ad I m p r es s i o ns 28 that publishers worldwide may find useful in planning digital
strategies, gleaning new insights, and supporting their hunches.
The metrics in this publication are derived from Google
publisher products—DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP), the
5.
Vid e o ad s 34 DoubleClick Ad Exchange, and Google AdSense network—to
allow us to provide commentary on various display patterns,
including geographic, vertical, and ad size trends over time.
Based on rigorous methodology, the data sets contain tens of
6.
Append ix 38 billions of impressions served by publishers globally, and are
aggregated to preserve publisher confidentiality.
1

3. Channel mix
An ongoing challenge for publishers is to strike the right balance
between direct sales (reserved) to advertisers and indirect
sales (unreserved) through third-party channels such as
networks and exchanges. How inventory is allocated between
these two channels impacts overall ad revenue, since reserved
inventory is generally sold at a higher price. In DFP, publishers
1.
assign different levels of inventory according to each channel.
These levels are aggregated here to illustrate what we’re calling
the channel mix: the ratio of impressions between reserved
and unreserved inventory.
3

4. Figure 1B
Channel mix in DFP—Americas publishers
How do sell-through rates
vary during the year? 80 % Americas Observations
The Americas most
70 %
65% closely resembled the
60 % 62% 62% overall global inventory
59%
Sell-through rates (the percentage of reserved ad inventory sold by the 50 %
unreserved
mix, varying only by a
single percentage
publisher’s sales team) vary according to the time of year, with higher sell- 40 % 41% point in the first and
38% 38%
35% fourth quarters.
through rates trending towards the end of the year. Although seasonal impact 30 %
reserved
on sell-through rates is a generally observed phenomenon, we wanted to 20 %
Quarters Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
understand its magnitude and variation by region. Overall, publishers in 2011
worldwide sold more unreserved than reserved impressions in 2011, and all
regions exhibited similar compositions in channel mix. It’s also worth noting
Figure 1c
that overall total impressions have grown between 2010 and 2011. Channel mix in DFP—APAC publishers
80 %
The rise in reserved impressions tends to be cyclical, with seasonal advertiser APAC Observations
The ratio between
70 %
demand causing an increase in sell-through rate in the fourth quarter. Globally, 65% 63%
unreserved and reserved
60 % 62% 62% inventory held relatively
the percentage of unreserved sales remained consistently higher than reserved unreserved
steady throughout 2011,
50 %
especially compared to
throughout 2011, but the ratio between them steadily narrowed from a 28 40 % other global regions.
38% 38% 37%
35%
percentage point spread in the first quarter to a 16 percentage point difference 30 %
reserved
in the fourth. We observe that towards the end of the year, EMEA publishers 20 %
Quarters Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
experience a more pronounced shift in channel mix compared with APAC in 2011
publishers displaying a slight divergence in channel mix in the fourth quarter.
Figure 1a Figure 1D
Channel mix in DFP—all publishers Channel mix in DFP—EMEA publishers
80 % Global Observations 80 % EMEA Observations
Although reserved and The sell-through rate for
70 % 70 %
unreserved impressions reserved impressions
64% 62% 62% 63%
60 % rose incrementally 60 % 60% 61% rose significantly in the
58%
unreserved each quarter, reserved unreserved 53% fourth quarter, closing
50 % 50 %
impressions grew at a the year with reserved
47%
40 % 42% faster rate in the fourth 40 % 40% and unreserved sold
38% 38% 37% 39%
36% quarter of the year. impressions closer to
30 % 30 %
reserved reserved a 1:1 ratio.
20 % 20 %
Quarters Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Quarters Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
in 2011 in 2011
4 5

5. Publisher
Vertical and
Geographic
Comparisons Using the aggregated impressions running through DoubleClick
Ad Exchange and Google AdSense, this section compares how
unreserved publisher inventory is spread across vertical subject
2.
content and geographic areas worldwide.
7

6. Which verticals
show growth in ad
impressions?
In 2011, 15 out of the 25 publisher verticals experienced double-digit growth
in monetized impressions across AdSense and the Ad Exchange. Arts &
Entertainment ranked No.1 in impressions, while posting a healthy 11% year-
on-year increase. We also observed that both Shopping and Sports sites
showed very strong growth, at 37% and 25% respectively. Online Communities
and Business & Industrial sites experienced shifts in inventory mix, and
contracted during the year.
8 9

7. 10
0
30%
20%
10%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Ranking
Impression
% Growth
year-on-year
Figure 2a
1
Arts & Entertainment
11%
2
Online Communities
-21%
3
Games
13%
4
news
18%
5
Computers & Electronics
9%
6
Internet & Telecom
0%
7
Shopping
37%
8
Sports
25%
9
People & Society
4%
Jobs & Education
11%
10
Books & Literature
13%
11
Ad impression year-on-year growth rates by vertical on the Ad Exchange and Google AdSense
Reference
12
-14%
Autos & Vehicles
24%
13
Real Estate
17%
14
Food & Drink
11%
15
Business & Industrial
16
-25%
Beauty & Fitness
1%
17
Finance
-1%
18
Travel
-1%
19
Health
15%
20
Law & Government
8%
21
Hobbies & Leisure
23%
22
Pets & Animals
29%
23
Home & Garden
23%
24
Science
22%
25
11

8. For this report, CPM is defined as the amount a publisher demand, some verticals command higher CPMs than others. Here, verticals
How do
verticals rank earns for delivering a thousand impressions through a are indexed from highest to lowest CPM. Indexes are compiled from the
by CPM? single ad unit. This is different from the page-level or site- DoubleClick Ad Exchange because its composition of ad formats more
level CPM. For various reasons, including advertiser accurately reflects the mix generally bought by advertisers.
Figure 2B
Indexed CPM comparisons by vertical for the Ad Exchange
300
250 257
221
200
200 199
170 170
150
153 147 143
137
100 107 105 105 104 100 96
89
82 81
74 73 73 69 67
50
46
0
Health
Business &
Industrial
Jobs &
Education
travel
reference
pets &
animals
Beauty &
Fitness
food &
drink
news
shopping
Real Estate
Hobbies &
Leisure
Science
Home &
Garden
Internet &
Telecom
People &
Society
Games
Finance
Sports
Computers &
Electronics
Arts &
Entertainment
Online
Communities
Books &
Literature
Autos &
Vehicles
Law &
Government
Real-Time Bidding Impact
For years, publishers have monetized their unreserved impressions via third-party ad networks. through this programmatic channel. Although much has been debated about whether aggregated
Increasingly, they are using ad exchanges and other yield management tools to maximize their spending on ad exchanges with RTB might cause a race to the bottom in publisher revenue, we’ve
revenue from these partners in ways that complement their direct sales strategies. In 2011 observed this not to be the case. In previous studies, we’ve seen U.S. publishers gain an average of
publisher earnings continued to grow via these channels, and we observed the highest growth 188% lift in revenue when the Ad Exchange wins the auction compared with fixed upfront sales
occurring in exchange-based platforms. of non-guaranteed display advertising. In a separate study, we’ve observed EMEA publishers gain
Spend on the Ad Exchange via real-time bidding (RTB) grew from 58% at the end of 2010 to 72% 73% in revenue where the Ad Exchange won against a complete channel mix of direct sales teams
by the end of 2011. In 2012, we anticipate this growth to continue as buyers increase their spends and other networks.
12 13

9. Which countries
generate the most
impressions?
publicité
광고
One of the most fascinating aspects of online advertising is seeing content
originate from all over the world. North America and Western Europe have
traditionally produced the largest online publishing businesses, and remain the
廣告
powerhouses of online content. In 2011, Asia-Pacific publishers, especially
from East Asia, are delivering an even larger share of global impressions. With
rising internet accessibility and usage growing worldwide, some of the fastest
growth rates are being experienced by publishers outside these traditional
hot-spots of digital advertising, presenting attractive regional diversification
opportunities for publishers.
This global map calls out the 2011 impression contributions of the top 25
Anuncio
publisher countries on DoubleClick Ad Exchange and Google AdSense.
We’ve been incredibly impressed by the size and growth from publishers
based in China and Japan, who comprise 11% and 6% of total impressions,
Объявление
respectively. We also observe that publishers located in EMEA are
experiencing significant impression growth. pubblicità
Publishers included in this report come from 235 countries
and territories—from established, highly populated nations like
Japan right through to the island country of Palau, one of the
More and more ad networks—of which Google AdSense is one—
allow anyone with an internet connection and original content
to earn revenue as an online publisher, facilitating creation of
広告
Anzeige
world’s newest sovereign states. Below, we’ve highlighted some local content and new business models. Some are very small
emerging markets that are posting extraordinary ad impression countries in terms of population, but post ad impression growth
growth in 2011, and are ones to watch. rates that are (almost!) out of this world.
Egypt 45% growth Laos 382%
Indonesia 85% growth Equatorial Guinea 4635% growth
Venezuela 79% growth Montserrat 990% growth
Kenya 157% growth Palau 1106% growth
14 15

10. Figure 2C
Impressions by country on the
Ad Exchange and AdSense
canada great britain germany poland romania Ukraine russia south korea
2.2% 4.2% 4.9% 2.5% 0.9% 1.0% 2.1% 1.8% Japan
china 5.7%
10.5% other
12.8%
U.S.
24.7%
Argentina brazil spain france belgium Netherlands Italy turkey israel India thailand hong kong taiwan australia
0.9% 3.2% 3.1% 4.8% 0.6% 2.4% 2.1% 2.5% 0.8% 2.5% 0.7% 1.2% 1.0% 0.9%
16 17

11. Has CPM changed in top
publisher countries?
A snapshot of CPM changes during Q3 and Q4 of 2011 for the top 10 largest the overall slowdown in advertising spend in late 2011. Germany also
countries by impressions on the Ad Exchange shows that CPMs varied widely. experienced a change in inventory that produced an atypical decline that was
We observe that in many countries—including the U.S., Great Britain, and restricted to this quarter. In conjunction, we observed that reserved inventory
France—CPM grew over Q3-Q4. In some EMEA markets, notably Spain and Italy, sales nearly matched unreserved sales in EMEA over Q3 and Q4 (see Section 1),
CPMs fell significantly in the fourth quarter, but this seems to correspond with indicating a higher sell-through rate of premium-priced inventory.
Figure 2D
Changes in CPM by publisher country on the Ad Exchange
200
5%
180
173
160 165
2%
11% 39%
140
130 131
125 127
120 -16%
117
4%
100
94
88 0%
80
76
79 -33% -8%
74 14%
60
56 56
40 43
41 40
36 37
29
20
0
U.S. canada great germany spain france Italy Netherlands israel australia
britain
%
%Growth CPM Q3 CPM Q4 CPM Q3 CPM Q4 CPM Q3 CPM Q4
Americas Americas EMEA EMEA apac apac
18 19

12. Ad Sizes
Publishers can maximize their revenue by choosing to offer
ad sizes that are in higher demand by advertisers. They aim
to strike a balance between customized ad packages with
exclusive sizes that can be tailored to the needs of an individual
3.
advertiser, and standardized sizes that will accommodate
creatives from the majority of advertisers and networks.
21

13. Which ad sizes
are growing in
popularity?
300 x 250
Publishers make decisions on ad sizes based on the audience they wish to
target, the content environment, and the ad size that advertisers prefer to
use to reach that audience. To determine the most popular ad sizes and
728 x 90
identify any growth trends, we took a look at ad sizes trafficked through the 320 x 50
DFP ad serving platform. The top three ad formats—the medium rectangle,
leaderboard and skyscraper—comprise nearly 80% of all served ad
impressions. However, the remainder of impressions span a wide variety of
uncommon sizes. There were over one thousand different ad sizes trafficked—
yet only 300 unique sizes posted more than 1 million impressions during 2011. 300 x 600
The growth in non-standard ad sizes is notable, and it has mostly been at 468 x 60
the expense of traditional ad sizes like the 468 x 60 banner and 120 x 600
skyscraper. Of interest is the growth of larger “premium” formats, which
160 x 600 300 x 100
offer advertisers a richer visual canvas for their creatives.
88 x 31
120 x 600
336 x 280
22 23

14. Figure 3a
Growth of top 10 ad sizes by impressions served through DFP and platforms
119%
120%
100%
80%
70%
% of impressions
60%
% Growth Q1–Q4
40% 37%
33% 32%
21%
20% 18%
13%
10%
3% 2% 2% 2% 2% 1% 1% 1%
0%
20% -16% -15%
300 x 250 728 x 90 160 x 600 468 x 60 120 x 600 300 x 100 88 x 31 300 x 600 336 x 280 320 x 50
Top Three Ad Units Smaller-sized ad units Premium ad sizes Mobile ad sizes
The medium rectangle, leaderboard, and In general, impressions shrank in this category. The In 2011, 300 x 600 and its companion sizes 300 x 50 and In 2011, mobile optimized sizes, including 320 x 50
skyscraper comprise the vast majority of ads 468 x 60 banner and 264 x 60 half banner, as well as 300 x 100 grew by double digits, and were particularly and 300 x 50, experienced record growth among
served. All three posted robust growth rates. buttons 125 x 125 and 120 x 120, have become less favored by News, Sports, and Entertainment publishers. publishers. The 300 x 50 is the 21st most popular
popular. The only small unit that is holding its ground The increase in the 300 x 600 unit is indicative of a trend ad size, but grew 186% in 2011.
is the 88 x 31 micro bar, which is mostly used to where publishers are offering more visually impactful
advertise financial products. ad sizes that are favored by brand advertisers, over the
functionality to direct response advertisers.
24 25

15. How do ad sizes
compare by CPM?
The CPM index of the 10 most popular ad sizes on the Ad Exchange shows that Ad networks show fewer ad size variations since most sellers and buyers have
the 300 x 250 medium rectangle posted a 12% increase over the leaderboard standardized their offered inventory to reflect the most popular ad sizes. One
and an 18% increase over the skyscraper formats in 2011. The top three explanation for the relatively high CPM of the 336 x 280 large rectangle may be
ad sizes in the Ad Exchange comprise approximately 95% of all impressions the result of lower publisher supply for this format. However, advertiser
served, and they are identical to the top three ad sizes seen on DFP. demand is also correspondingly lower.
Figure 3b
Ad Size CPM Comparisons on the Ad Exchange
180
160
159
140
120
109
100
97
92
80
68
60
53
40
41
27
20
14
8
0
300 x 250 728 x 90 160 x 600 468 x 60 120 x 600 336 x 280 200 x 200 234 x 60 120 x 240 125 x 125
26 27

16. Mobile
Web Ad
Impressions
With consumer mobile usage growing rapidly, publishers are
rethinking their content monetization strategy. Advertisers look
to reach audiences across screens and formats, and publishers
are responding to this demand with ever-more sophisticated
4.
channels for monetizing mobile content. Mobile has become
essential to the overall ad inventory mix, but some publisher
verticals on the mobile web are growing faster than others.
29

17. Is mobile growing
across the board?
There has never been a better time for publishers to engage mobile users,
whether through a mobile-optimized site or a full-featured app. Growth in
mobile usage has exploded with impressions on the Ad Exchange and
AdSense platforms increasing by 250% over Q3 and Q4 2011. This growth is
not just happening in highly mobilized cities like Seoul and San Francisco, but
also in emerging markets where users are first interacting with the internet
not on a desktop but on a mobile phone. Both mobile and desktop ad
impressions exhibit strong growth, but due to increased mobile web usage,
mobile ads are growing at a faster rate and have increased as a proportion
of overall ad impressions.
We took a look at mobile web impressions over the last quarter of 2011 to get
a sense of average vertical impression growth. Globally, all publisher verticals,
with the exception of Travel, experienced double-digit growth in mobile web
ad impressions in the fourth quarter of 2011. As might be expected from
seasonal consumer mobile usage, the strongest vertical market in mobile
usage was Shopping, with 69% growth, followed by Food & Drink at 61%.
30 31

18. Figure 4a
Global mobile web ad impression growth by vertical on the Ad Exchange and AdSense
69%
61%
47% 45% 45% 43% 41% 40% 40%
Shopping Food & Drink People & Reference Books & Online Law & Internet & Computers &
Society Literature Communities Government Telecom Electronics
39%
36% 35%
32% 31% 30% 29% 28% 28%
25% 23% 22% 20% 19% 18%
9%
Games Arts & Science Health Pets & Jobs & Hobbies & Business & Home & news Finance Real Estate Beauty & Sports Autos & Travel
Entertainment Animals Education Leisure Industrial Garden Fitness Vehicles
32 33

19. Video Ads
Videos tell stories—from publishers as well as advertisers.
Video is becoming a lucrative part of a publisher’s ad inventory,
partly because it offers creative opportunities that attract
brand advertisers, and partly due to tremendous viewer
5.
demand. We’re excited about the growth in video advertising,
and we have more comprehensive metrics in store—so stay
tuned for more to come.
35

20. Figure 5a
Video ad length
How do video ads
impact viewers?
Video content monetization is now one of the fastest-growing segments in
advertising. Publisher video impressions grew nearly 70% in the second half of
2011 across the DFP Video platform. As measured across in-stream video
impressions in DFP, the average midpoint and completion rates of a video
ad come in at 79% and 72%, respectively. About 51% of video ads run between
15 and 30 seconds in length, with 36% running more than 30 seconds, and
15 to 30 seconds over 30 seconds less than 15 seconds
only 13% running less than 15 seconds. We’re also seeing a 175% increase in
impressions on the 640 x 360 ad unit that fits wide-screen players. Conversely,
51% 36% 13%
we’ve observed a decrease in standard aspect-ratio video player impressions,
indicating that they’re phasing out.
Figure 5B
In-stream video ad completion rates
Midpoint
79%
Completion
72%
36 37

21. Appendix
Important notes about the data in this report
• The data sets used to obtain the metrics presented in this report are
sourced from DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) ad serving platform, the
DoubleClick Ad Exchange, and Google AdSense.
• The data sets contain tens of billions of impressions served by publishers
globally for the year 2011.
• Although revenue and absolute CPM benchmarks would be useful to
publishers, to preserve client confidentiality, that information is unavailable.
• A publisher’s vertical is determined by the site’s primary content subject.
• A publisher’s geography is determined by their billing country.
6. 39

22. Google’s Publisher Display Products
DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) is a comprehensive DoubleClick Ad Exchange enables publishers to
ad serving solution that helps publishers streamline make the most of every display impression, across
their ad management to increase efficiency every channel. It is the only ad exchange that offers
and minimize costs. Featuring efficient trafficking real-time access to every major demand source,
workflows, robust inventory management and including the Google Display Network. In addition,
forecasting, revenue optimization, and granular the Ad Exchange connects seamlessly with the DFP
reporting, DFP equips publishers with a complete ad serving platform, making it easy for publishers to
tool kit for ad delivery and revenue optimization achieve the maximum value from every impression.
across all digital ad inventory. DFP can be seamlessly For more information, visit google.com/doubleclick
customized with platform modules to meet a
publisher’s current and future advertising needs.
For more information, visit google.com/dfp
Google AdSense is a free program that helps online Admeld, acquired by Google in December 2011, is
publishers earn revenue by displaying relevant text the most recent addition to DoubleClick’s publisher
and display ads on a wide variety of online content, offerings. Admeld helps the world’s top online
including websites, site search results, mobile sites, publishers sell their ad inventory smarter, capture
video content and games. The Google AdSense new revenue streams, and simplify their operations.
program includes more than 2 million publishers Admeld’s unique approach is marked by high-touch
globally and supports 33 different languages. For services and its track record of innovation in Private
more information, visit google.com/adsense Exchanges, Traditional Yield Management, and
Mobile Yield Management. For more information,
visit admeld.com
40