Published in News

Mobile ad rates are still way too low

by on12 March 2013



Tablets could hurt small publishers

The mobile boom could have a devastating effect on small publishers who rely solely on ad revenue to keep their sites running. 

The Financial Times warns that mobile ad rates are a lot lower than PC rates, hence traffic coming from tablets and smartphones does not generate a lot of money for publishers. The widespread use of ad blocking software, which is now also available on mobile devices, is compounding the problem.

Quentin George, a veteran advertising executive told FT that things are about to get a lot worse, much worse than in the transition from print to digital media. Publishers will have to work more for less, which is bound to have a negative effect on the quality of content as well.

Worse, the mobile market is still booming with no end in sight. Tablets are already outpacing smartphones in terms of web traffic and neither platform is good for small publishers. Although mobile ad spending is the fastest growing among all media categories, it accounts for just 1.3 percent of total ad revenues.

More here.

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