As part of an ongoing series, Digiday looks at things that are often put out as fact in the industry that, on closer inspection, don’t hold up. Earlier we explained why time spent online doesn’t correlate to budget spent.
According to a WSJ article published yesterday, AOL is asking up to $35 CPMs for inventory in its Huffington Post iPhone app. It’s a nice idea, but as most publishers are aware, few advertisers would even consider buying mobile ads at that price. Tablet ads might get some consideration, but not in-app mobile. Mobile-ad buyers agreed: $35 CPMs might be rate card, but nobody’s paying that in mobile, where supply far outstrips demand.
“I have not come across pricing that high for mobile-ad inventory,” said Phuc Truong, U.S. managing director of Havas-owned mobile agency Mobext. “Of the big portals, AOL is among the laggards to effectively monetize their mobile inventory. We rarely hear from their sales team about mobile opportunities.”
Dirk Rients, management director of mobile platforms at Draftfcb, expressed similar sentiments. “I’d be very surprised if any marketer would be willing to make an investment at that rate. … It really depends on the ad-unit type, but I haven’t seen anything even close to $35 CPM,” he said.
Of course, the $35 figure is a rate-card price, serving as a starting point for negotiations rather than a fixed price. One publisher described rate card as serving the same role as manufacturers’ suggested retail price on cars, i.e., a price nobody really pays. An AOL spokesperson said mobile ads are charged at a range of prices across its properties and that $35 is not necessarily the standard. Even so, few publishers are asking for investment at that level when they know it’s a buyer’s market.
“We’ll probably see a similar situation with AOL and HuffPo as we did will Apple’s iAd. … Start high, realize nobody is willing to pay, and then they’ll loosen their terms and drop the price,” Rients suggested.
-
Media Briefing: Publisher execs fear lack of visibility for Q3, but feel steady year over year
Publisher execs share how Q2 shook out for their businesses as they brace for an equally murky second half.
-
Digiday+ Research: Nearly two-thirds of publishers think they will lose when the third-party cookie dies
Publishers have been busy prepping for the end of the third-party cookie, but that doesn't mean they think they'll come out on top in the post-cookie era. In fact, publishers count themselves among those who stand to lose from the end of the cookie.
-
As AI spreads across the marketing landscape, data’s role will be key to success or danger
There’s a growing awareness of the risks inherent in AI's ultra-powerful potential, but whether enough steps are being taken to mitigate them remains a huge question mark.
-
SponsoredWhat the measurement and currency discussion really means to TV advertisers
Ali Mack, head of TV and agency, Experian Major streaming video providers have recently made headlines by adopting new currencies for ad measurement, threatening Nielsen’s long-standing TV ratings monopoly. NBCUniversal, for example, has certified iSpot and VideoAmp as currencies for advanced audiences and formed the Joint Industry Committee with Paramount, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros. Discovery. […]
-
Spotify cancels six true crime podcasts amid layoffs, Gimlet-Parcast merger
Spotify is canceling six shows and laying off 200 people as it merges its Gimlet and Parcast units to push its podcast business towards profitability.
-
‘Not the future’: European publishers remain steadfast in blocking alternative IDs to third-party cookies
Some European publishers believe alternatives to the third-party cookies, probabilistic or deterministic, will do more harm than good to their ads businesses.