2012 BENCHMARK REPORT Digital Performance Insights and Campaign Barometer 1
INTRODUCTION PointRoll has leveraged its database of billions of digital advertising impressions served to create ad performance benchmarks that provide an invaluable comparative barometer for campaign performance as well as interactive display industry insights. In this detailed report we ll answer the following questions: Which formats grew the most since 2011? How did standard units perform against interactive for In-Stream Video? Mobile? Which formats yielded the best performance metrics by By Feature? By Type of Publisher Site? By Vertical? What was the relationship between Click Through Rate and Viewability Rate in 2012? Why does this matter? The following report analyzes the performance of advertising campaigns across industries, interactive features, display formats, banner sizes, devices and more.
2012 BENCHMARK INDEX PERFORMANCE METRICS BY FORMAT IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARKS RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS MOBILE BENCHMARKS STANDARD DISPLAY BENCHMARKS VIEWABILITY METRICS CONCLUSION WHY DO THESE BENCHMARKS MATTER? GLOSSARY 3
PERFORMANCE METRICS BY FORMAT 4
2012 PERFORMANCE METRICS CLICK-THROUGH RATE BY FORMAT 0.70% 0.62% 0.60% 0.50% 0.40% 0.30% 0.20% 0.14% 0.10% 0.15% 0.10% 0.00% Rich Media Standard In-Stream Video Mobile
2012 PERFORMANCE METRICS INTERACTION RATE BY FORMAT 5.68% 6.00% 5.00% 4.02% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% 0.96% 1.00% 0.00% Rich Media In-Stream Video Mobile
AVERAGE BRAND TIME BY FORMAT 20 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Rich Media 14.04 Sec. Mobile 14.45 Sec.
100% VIDEO COMPLETION RATE BY FORMAT 100% 80% 67.71% 60% 39.68% 40% 22.76% 20% 0% Rich Media In-Stream Video Mobile
IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARKS
IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARK OVERVIEW 37% year over year growth 13% lift in Click Through Rate for Interactive In-Stream video campaigns versus Standard In-Stream pre-roll. 337% lift in Click Through Rate performance of In-Stream video campaigns versus Rich Media campaigns. 7.3% lift in Completion Rates for Interactive In-Stream over Standard In-Stream video. Completion Rates for In-Stream video are 67% higher than In-Banner video. In-Stream video campaigns on Kids and Family sites received the highest Click Through Rates. Travel & Tourism In-Stream video campaigns posted the highest Click Through Rates over any other vertical. YOY PointRoll is up 37% from 2011 in In-Stream ad volume
STANDARD VS. INTERACTIVE IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARKS TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.60% 0.68% VIDEO COMPLETION RATES 84.2% 74.0% 66.9% 72.8% Standard In-Stream Interactive In-Stream Standard In-Stream Video 50% Completion Rate Interactive In-Stream Video 100% Completion Rate
2012 IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARKS BY SITE TYPE TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 2.00% 1.87% 1.50% 1.36% 1.00% 0.50% 0.40% 0.73% 0.58% 0.70% 0.53% 0.43% 0.69% 0.47% 0.78% 0.00% 12
2012 IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARKS BY SITE TYPE VIDEO 100% COMPLETION RATE 13
2012 IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 1.60% 1.47% 1.20% 0.80% 0.43% 0.90% 0.53% 1.06% 0.79% 0.73% 0.43% 0.78% 0.83% 0.72% 0.84% 0.70% 0.37% 0.40% 0.00% 14
2012 IN-STREAM VIDEO BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL VIDEO 100% COMPLETION RATE 15
RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS
RICH MEDIA BENCHMARK OVERVIEW Consumers who interact with rich media campaigns average 14 seconds of Brand Time spent. Consumers are 5x more likely to click a rich media ad once they ve interacted with it. Ads on business to business sites garnered the highest Interaction Rates. Ads on Music and Streaming Media sites received the highest Brand Interaction Time. 17
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS CLICK THROUGH RATE: RICH MEDIA VS. STANDARD 0.20% 0.14% 0.15% 0.10% 0.10% 0.05% 0.00% Rich Media Standard Ads 18
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FORMAT INTERACTION RATE AVERAGE BRAND INTERACTION TIME (SEC) 8.00% 6.8% 20 16.1 6.00% 15 3.8% 4.00% 10 8.4 2.00% 2.2% 5 4.6 0.00% Expandable Pre-Expandable Floating 0 Expandable Pre-Expandable Floating 19
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FORMAT BANNER VS PANEL CLICK THROUGH RATE 2.00% 1.87% 1.50% 1.00% 0.82% 0.60% 0.50% 0.14% 0.07% 0.09% 0.02% 0.00% Expandable Polite Pre-Expandable Floating Banner CTR Panel CTR 20
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FORMAT TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 2.00% 1.66% 1.50% 1.00% 0.63% 0.50% 0.12% 0.13% 0.00% Expandable Polite Pre-Expandable Floating 21
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FORMAT VIDEO COMPLETION RATES 22
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL INTERACTION RATE 8.00% 6.00% 4.00% 2.98% 5.10% 5.16% 2.75% 3.34% 3.95% 4.76% 6.45% 4.23% 6.01% 4.86% 5.09% 6.25% 2.65% 3.51% 5.61% 2.00% 1.19% 1.60% 0.92% 0.00% 23
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL AVERAGE BRAND INTERACTION TIME (SEC) 25 22.1 20 15 10 10.5 14.9 18.2 11.1 10.5 12.0 11.4 14.2 15.7 14.3 9.2 14.0 12.7 16.4 9.8 15.4 6.5 16.6 5 0 24
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.50% 0.40% 0.34% 0.33% 0.41% 0.41% 0.30% 0.20% 0.10% 0.09% 0.13% 0.21% 0.09% 0.23% 0.08% 0.19% 0.18% 0.17% 0.14% 0.15% 0.15% 0.26% 0.14% 0.05% 0.00% 25
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL IN-BANNER VIDEO COMPLETION RATES 26
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FEATURE INTERACTION RATE 8.00% 7.5% 6.00% 4.00% 5.6% 5.2% 5.1% 4.2% 4.7% 3.2% 4.6% 4.4% 4.1% 4.0% 3.7% 3.6% 3.0% 2.7% 2.00% 1.5% 1.9% 1.4% 0.4% 0.00% 27
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FEATURE AVERAGE BRAND INTERACTION TIME (SEC) 20 18.0 19.5 18.2 17.7 16 12 12.2 13.1 14.7 13.6 10.1 11.4 14.8 15.1 13.8 14.4 12.9 8 8.4 7.5 5.7 8.5 4 0 28
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FEATURE TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.50% 0.44% 0.40% 0.32% 0.30% 0.24% 0.20% 0.10% 0.11% 0.17% 0.20% 0.08% 0.13% 0.12% 0.18% 0.12% 0.11% 0.08% 0.11% 0.09% 0.10% 0.12% 0.11% 0.16% 0.00% 29
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY FEATURE IN-BANNER VIDEO COMPLETION RATES 30
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY SITE TYPE INTERACTION RATE 10.00% 8.8% 8.00% 6.00% 4.00% 3.6% 5.3% 4.5% 2.6% 3.8% 6.0% 4.3% 5.1% 5.8% 4.5% 4.6% 3.7% 4.5% 3.5% 5.2% 4.0% 3.2% 2.2% 2.5% 2.1% 2.2% 2.00% 1.0% 0.00% 31
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY SITE TYPE AVERAGE BRAND TIME (SECONDS) 25 24.6 20 15 19.3 12.5 14.2 12.1 13.3 16.9 14.0 13.2 15.3 20.1 13.9 16.3 12.1 14.8 13.4 12.9 13.2 15.0 10 9.1 9.3 8.6 5 4.9 0 32
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY PUBLISHER SITE TYPE TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.50% 0.40% 0.40% 0.41% 0.30% 0.20% 0.10% 0.08% 0.16% 0.09% 0.16% 0.16% 0.28% 0.15% 0.07% 0.17% 0.12% 0.13% 0.29% 0.16% 0.14% 0.10% 0.31% 0.23% 0.18% 0.18% 0.07% 0.04% 0.00% 33
2012 RICH MEDIA BENCHMARKS BY SITE TYPE VIDEO COMPLETION RATES 34
MOBILE BENCHMARKS
MOBILE BENCHMARK OVERVIEW 88% year over year growth 2012 Mobile Click Through & Mobile In-Banner video completion rates are in line with Rich Media benchmarks. While Retail boasts the highest Interaction Rate, consumers spend the most time with Consumer Goods and Books/Periodicals clients YOY PointRoll is up 88% from 2011 in Mobile ad volume 36
2012 MOBILE BENCHMARKS BY FORMAT INTERACTION RATE AVERAGE BRAND INTERACTION TIME (SEC) 0.96% 14.45 1.00% 0.90% 0.80% 0.70% 0.60% 0.50% 0.40% 0.30% 0.20% 0.10% 0.00% 16.00 14.00 12.00 10.00 8.00 6.00 4.00 2.00.00 37
2012 MOBILE BENCHMARKS BY FORMAT TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.27% 0.30% 0.25% 0.20% 0.12% 0.15% 0.10% 0.05% 0.00% Standard Interactive Data shows that interactive mobile ads posted strong brand time and video completion rates of 14.45 seconds and 40%, indicating that consumers were often able to gather needed brand information without clicking. Further, mobile consumer behavior indicates that users are less likely to click through to a site than view a video within the interactive mobile ad. 38
2012 MOBILE BENCHMARKS BY PUBLISHER SITE TYPE AVERAGE BRAND INTERACTION TIME (SECONDS) 50 45.5 45 40 35 31.8 30 25 20 15 10 5 15.1 6.5 5.3 15.3 12.7 20.2 17.1 15.0 21.3 0 39
2012 MOBILE BENCHMARKS BY SITE TYPE TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.35% 0.31% 0.30% 0.25% 0.22% 0.20% 0.15% 0.10% 0.05% 0.03% 0.01% 0.05% 0.04% 0.07% 0.06% 0.07% 0.06% 0.08% 0.00% 40
2012 MOBILE BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.20% 0.19% 0.19% 0.17% 0.15% 0.10% 0.08% 0.09% 0.05% 0.05% 0.03% 0.01% 0.00% 41
STANDARD DISPLAY BENCHMARKS
STANDARD BENCHMARK OVERVIEW Standard Click Throughs are 27% below those of Rich Media campaign Click Throughs. Toys & Games & Apparel clients fare the best with the highest standard ad campaign Click Throughs. Kid & Family and Games publishers perform the highest for Standard ads. 43
2012 STANDARD DISPLAY BENCHMARKS BY FORMAT TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.11% 0.12% 0.11% 0.11% 0.09% 0.10% 0.10% 0.09% 0.09% 0.08% Flash Gif/JPG 44
2012 STANDARD DISPLAY BENCHMARKS BY VERTICAL TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.60% 0.50% 0.40% 0.30% 0.20% 0.10% 0.00% 45
2012 STANDARD DISPLAY BENCHMARKS BY SITE TYPE TOTAL CLICK THROUGH RATE 0.40% 0.35% 0.30% 0.25% 0.20% 0.15% 0.10% 0.05% 0.00% 46
VIEWABILITY BENCHMARKS
2012 VIEWABILITY BENCHMARKS TOTAL CLICK THROUGH BY CAMPAIGN VIEWABILITY PERCENTAGE 0.18% 0.16% 0.14% 0.12% 0.10% 0.08% 0.06% 0.04% 0.02% 0.00% 0.16% 0.13% 0.14% 0.09% 0.08% 0% - 20% 20% - 40% 40% - 60% 60% - 80% 80% - 100% Campaigns with low viewability (where ads are served but not in-view) had a strong correlation with a reduced click through rate, validating the idea that targeting higher-viewable placements can increase campaign engagement. The above chart represents that campaigns where the impressions were 0-20% viewable the click through rate was 0.08% versus campaigns where 80-100% of impressions were viewable which doubled the click through rate. 48
2012 VIEWABILITY BENCHMARKS VIEWABILITY RATE 70.00% 60.00% 50.00% 40.00% 30.00% 20.00% 10.00% 0.00% 49
CONCLUSION In-stream video saw the highest year over year lift, with interactive in-stream video garnering higher click through rates over standard in-stream ads. Not only did in-stream video take reigns of interactive online advertising, PointRoll saw 337% lift in in-stream video click through rates versus rich media. On the display front, we found that consumers interacted with rich media ads on an average of 14 seconds in 2012 and proved to be five times more likely to click through a rich media ad once they ve interacted with it. Rich features like user-initiated video averaged 2.5 times the completion rate of forced video. Rich media also continued to outperform standard campaign click through rates by 37%. 2012 was also a big year for mobile campaigns. Mobile click through rates and mobile in-banner video completion rates performed in line with rich media benchmarks for both metrics, but there was a marked increase in the number of mobile impressions delivered. Also, while mobile retail ads boasted the highest interaction rate, consumers spent most of their time engaging with consumer goods and. book/periodical brands.
WHY DO THESE BENCHMARKS MATTER? This report provides indicators for the state of display advertising as well as valuable campaign comparison guidelines for measuring individual campaign success. As the report clearly outlines, multi-screen consumer engagement matters. With more than 88% year of year growth in mobile ads delivered and 37% in in-stream video, it is clear that advertisers are delivering more multi-screen campaigns while consumers are adopting more interactive behaviors across the non-pc channels. Overall these benchmarks illustrate where the industry is headed as well as point out where marketers should focus their efforts. Most importantly this data should be used for strategic creative decision making that will engage users and result in maximizing ROI. 51
GLOSSARY Formats Expandable: Ad unit is able to expand in any direction upon user interaction. These ads may contain many panels that can exhibit any combination of messaging, imagery, or features. Floating: Anchored: This displays additional elements outside the frames of the ad unit upon the page load without user interaction. After the floating elements dissolve away the banner is left behind. Over The Page: This format acts in the same way as the Anchored Float except there is no remaining banner after the floating elements disappear. In-Stream Video: This video allows advertisers to place messages within a users video player. Interactive Video: Interactive Video allows the user to choose or initiate what happens in a video, which causes the user to interact more with the brand. Polite: All features and functionality are contained within the borders of the ad unit. Pre-Expandable: These ad units are similar to regular expandables except these units do not require user interaction to expand. After expansion they automatically return to the banner.
GLOSSARY Metrics: Click Through Rate: Percentage of clicked-on impressions. Average Brand Interaction Time: The average amount of time (in seconds) users interacted with an ad. Impressions: Number of times PointRoll ads were delivered. Interaction Rate: Percentage of interacted ad Impressions. Video Completion Rate: Number of times at least 25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the video was watched. Viewability Rate: This metric indicates the percentage of validated impressions that where visible. This metric is available at the Campaign, Publisher, Placement, or Placement/Creative level.