DoubleClick: Rich Media Ad Use Growing

DoubleClick reported Thursday that its third-quarter ad serving trend report found advertisers turning more and more to rich media ads.

Analyzing the 144 billion ads the company served in the quarter, DoubleClick found that a quarter were rich media, demonstrating a growth rate of 34 percent compared to the first quarter of the year. The reason: Rich media ads continue to perform better. Click-through rates, still used as a key benchmark by many marketers, dwarf those of non-rich media ads: 2.7 percent versus an anemic .27 percent for regular ads.

“It’s continuation of the growth we’ve seen in rich media,” said Scott Spencer, product director of DoubleClick’s DART for Publishers group, “mostly because it’s more effective.”

The report also found that advertisers have turned to targeting as a way to deliver their ads more effectively. According to DoubleClick, 73 percent of all campaigns deployed some type of targeting. Of those using targeting, keyword and key value were the most common type, accounting for 82 percent of targeted ads.

“It’s a sign of maturation for the industry,” Spencer said. “[Targeting] is a capability that exists far more in the online medium.”

Interestingly, despite the hype about day parting, the report found just 3 percent of all ads served tied to the time of day. Spencer said the approach was too new for advertisers and publishers to adopt in meaningful numbers.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) standard sizes continued to dominate the shape of online ads: 70 percent conformed to the IAB’s guidelines. Skyscrapers showed strong growth to take up 7 percent of total volume, while the regular banner (468 by 60 pixels) continued to be most popular, accounting for 50 percent.

Average click-through rates remained low at .69 percent, virtually unchanged from the first two quarters of the year. However, view-though rates — which count users who convert within 30 days of viewing an ad — increased from .36 percent in the first quarter to .51 percent in the third.

DoubleClick reported Thursday that its third-quarter ad serving trend report found advertisers turning more and more to rich media ads.

Analyzing the 144 billion ads the company served in the quarter, DoubleClick found that a quarter were rich media, demonstrating a growth rate of 34 percent compared to the first quarter of the year. The reason: Rich media ads continue to perform better. Click-through rates, still used as a key benchmark by many marketers, dwarf those of non-rich media ads: 2.7 percent versus an anemic .27 percent for regular ads.

“It’s continuation of the growth we’ve seen in rich media,” said Scott Spencer, product director of DoubleClick’s DART for Publishers group, “mostly because it’s more effective.”

The report also found that advertisers have turned to targeting as a way to deliver their ads more effectively. According to DoubleClick, 73 percent of all campaigns deployed some type of targeting. Of those using targeting, keyword and key value were the most common type, accounting for 82 percent of targeted ads.

“It’s a sign of maturation for the industry,” Spencer said. “[Targeting] is a capability that exists far more in the online medium.”

Interestingly, despite the hype about day parting, the report found just 3 percent of all targets ads served tied to the time of day. Spencer said the approach was too new for advertisers and publishers to adopt in meaningful numbers.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) standard sizes continued to dominate the shape of online ads: 70 percent conformed to the IAB’s guidelines. Skyscrapers showed strong growth to take up 7 percent of total volume, while the regular banner (468 by 60 pixels) continued to be most popular, accounting for 50 percent.

Average click-through rates remained low at .69 percent, virtually unchanged from the first two quarters of the year. However, view-though rates — which count users who convert within 30 days of viewing an ad — increased from .36 percent in the first quarter to .51 percent in the third.