Google’s new mobile video format can lift publishers’ ad haul by 30 percent

Publishers can sell the ad space either through limited private marketplaces or on open exchanges, Google said. Private settings are more controlled, and are often credited with keeping ad prices higher, according to ad tech experts.

“[Publishers] can choose to make it available in an open auction, where any buyer has a chance to bid on it, or they can sell it in private auctions, where only a few hand-selected advertisers are invited to bid,” Google said in a statement to Digiday. “These new formats work in any of these scenarios.”

Google cited eBay as an example of a mobile publisher that is using DoubleClick to sell the new video and native ads. The rate at which people interact with eBay ads more than tripled, and people clicked on the ads at a rate of 5 percent, Google said in its announcement.

The company also said some publishers saw ad rates rise by 30 percent on videos.

Adelphic, a mobile ad tech buying platform, is plugged into Google’s DoubleClick, and co-founder Jennifer Lum said that typical mobile display ad rates are about $1 to $2 for a thousand impressions.

Video ads, on the other hand, can cost $5 to $8 for a thousand impressions.

“Consumption of mobile video continues to skyrocket, and we are seeing aggressive growth in the budgets that brands are putting toward delivering highly engaging mobile video ads,” Lum said.

Google is competing aggressively with Facebook to be the go-to source for mobile ad buying. Google is seen as being ahead of Facebook in building the infrastructure for publishers and advertisers, however.

For instance, Facebook’s Audience Network, which sells mobile ads for the social network’s app partners, can only be bought through Facebook. That will change, and the inventory will be available through Facebook’s LiveRail video ad platform, Lum said.

“Facebook has announced that they will be making mobile display [Facebook Audience Network] inventory available through LiveRail’s exchange, which is likely integrated with hundreds of [ad buying platforms],” Lum said.

Google’s ad exchange already works with hundreds of ad platforms who use it to buy inventory across the Web on desktop and now mobile.

The showdown will be all about who has the better data to target ads to the best audiences.

“All of the normal targeting options on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange are available,” Google said in its statement.