Prevailing Mobile In-Application Advertising Formats

V e rs i o n 2, re le as e d 22 M a rc h 2011

2011 Interactive Advertising Bureau

Prepared by the Mobile Advertising Committee of the Interactive Advertising Bureau

Introduction
Since the IAB released the first version of this study in July 2010, the mobile application (app) market has only continued to grow and diversify, with new devices, operating systems, and screen dimensions further increasing the already exciting (and bewildering) possibilities for publishers and marketers looking to reach consumers on mobile or portable devices. The 350,000 apps in the Apple App Store, and 150,000 in the Android Marketplace1 clearly underscore publishers rapid embrace of the app as a way to deliver content, and by extension advertisers opportunity to deliver messages to an engaged audience on a burgeoning medium. Much remains unsettled and uncertain in the realm of apps. The industry is in the midst of thoughtful and exciting conversations around topics like whether the long-term future is going to be more browser-based versus app-based, and whether tablets are mobile devices or something else entirely. Regardless of the long-term outcome of these debates, for the short term, apps will remain an important way that mobile consumers access information and services. This second iteration of the IABs Prevailing In-App Ad Formats study will highlight some of the changes we observe in ad sizes from July of last year to January of 2011 based on a survey of ad formats currently being sold by IAB publisher and ad network members. As before, the sample size of participating publishers is small; however, for several of the app platforms included, we are able to make inferences about market developments. We hope that publishers planning to launch or relaunch apps look at the sizes outlined here, and think about their relative prevalence when planning their ad offerings. Marketers hoping to make sense of a rather chaotic landscape can also hopefully find some guidance in the ongoing results of this study.

Lookout analysis reported in CNET, Feb. 16, 2011. http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-20032228-78.html

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Methodology
The IAB fielded a brief survey to members who sell in-app ads, asking them to list the ad formats they currently support, across nine platforms for mobile/portable devices. aPP PlatForMs included

Android-Smartphones Android-Tablets Blackberry iOS-iPad iOS-Pre Retina Display

iOS-Retina Display Palm/HPs WebOS Symbian Windows Phone 7

Twelve IAB member companies responded with ad formats they support: ParticiPating Publishers

4INFO AccuWeather Associated Press IGN JumpTap NBC Universal Digital Media

Pandora Time Inc. Univision Wall Street Journal Digital Weather Channel Interactive Whitepages.com

A summary table showing the ad size data by OS platform, is included as an appendix to this document. Based on the data, we note a few overarching points that may help guide the market.

Points of Commonality
300x250: One size to unite them all The data suggest that one ad size seems nearly universal, fitting on all screens and offered by publishers across most OS platforms: the workhorse 300x250 IAB Medium Rectangle.2 300x250s are small on a modern PC screen, and smallish on a tablet, but theyre about half-screen-size on a 320x480 smartphone. Their familiarity to agencies and publishers alike may make them a comfortable choice of ad size amid many others that are unique to the in-app ad universe.

Dimensions in this report are given in pixels, width first, i.e., 300x250 means 300 pixels wide by 250 pixels high. For IAB Ad Unit Guidelines see http://www.iab.net/iab_products_and_industry_services/508676/508767/Ad_Unit.

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Figure 1: 300x250 ad running in Weather Channels iPad application (Source: Weather.com) iPad ads go every which way The first IAB in-app ad survey went in field mere months after the iPad hit the market, and so we were not able to say much about ad sizes for that platform. Today, as the iPad approaches its first anniversary, the conclusion based on this survey is that there arent yet any dominant in-app iPad ad formats. Indeed, although this survey included only 12 publishers, those companies reported a total of 35 distinct ad sizes. This compares with about 15 distinct ad sizes for iPad in the July 2010 data. This diversity across a small sample size gives us pause; we wonder just how many custom or unique sizes exist throughout the market as a whole. Two IAB web standard ad sizes do appear to have some traction, or at least a presence across multiple publishers: 728x90s and (as previously mentioned) 300x250s. We strongly believe that new and highly effective ad sizes and formats will emerge for tablets, but it seems that publishers right now are seeking a balance between unique, made-for-tablet ad sizes and sizes that hearken back to established standards from the Web.

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Figure 2: Tight integration with content and unique ad sizes in Associated Press iPad App (Source: AP) 320x50 or 300x50 emerging as smartphone app banner size of choice. In the first edition of this survey, we found that the Mobile Marketing Associations 300x50 standard mobile banner was fairly common across apps. This continues to be the case, as most of the app publishers participating in this survey support 320x50s for their Android and iOS apps, and most if not all of those can and will accept 300x50s in that space as well. Although not included in the survey, Apples iAd also supports expandable 320x50 banners (more on expandables in a moment). And we also note that the February 2011 version of the MMAs mobile ad format guidelines3 will make 320x50 a standard size.

The Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) has published creative guidelines for mobile Web ads since 2003. Their newest ad standards were released for public comment in early February 2011, and represent a fairly significant departure from previous efforts, driven by smartphones and rich media. They can be accessed here: http://mmaglobal.com/policies/global-mobile-advertising-guidelines.

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Retina display support is so far limited for participating publishers. In the past year iOS devices shifted from the screen resolution of the original iPhone/iPod Touch, 320x480, to Apples retina display, screen resolution of 640x960. Although these devices have been on the market for eight months, only one publisher participating in this survey offers an ad size specifically for them, a 640x100 banner. Even publishers that have launched Retina Display-optimized apps continue to support ads designed for the lower resolution screens. We expect this will change as the relative composition of legacy iOS devices versus retina display devices shifts in the market (and of course a similar evolution is happening with Android devices, as new and better displays become the norm for those manufacturers). A few landscape banners, and landscape pre-roll. In the first edition of this report, we noted that no publisher offered a landscape-oriented banner. We predicted that would change, and indeed it has, at least in a limited way, with publishers offering expandable 1024x66 and 1024x90 sizes for iPads. One publisher is selling 480x320 (landscape) pre-roll video ads on iOS devices. And Apples iAd (not included in the survey) also includes landscape banners for iPhones and iPads (480x32 and 1024x66, respectively). Rich media ads expand in a variety of sizes. iOS expandable ad sizes are a pretty good proxy for sizes available for Android and WebOS devices. For iPhones, participants in this study reported 4 main expandable sizes: 300x50, expands to 300x250; and 320x50 expands to either 250, 300, or 480 pixels. The 300x50->300x250 and the 320x50->320x480 showed slightly more prevalence than the other two formats on iOS devices. Well be continuing to watch this area in future surveys, but if the industry gravitates to four main options for expandables, that does not seem excessive for publishers or agencies.

Figure 3: Expandable ad: 320x50 expanded to 320x480 (Source: 4INFO).

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Figure 4: Expandable ad: 300x50 expanded to 300x300 (Source: AccuWeather) File weights continue to show great variation. While some publishers hew closely to the MMAs standards for file weights for their smartphone banners, another camp increasingly seems to allow 30-40KB files, for rich media and static ads on smartphones and tablets. For rich media this higher weight makes sense. US mobile data networks evolving from 3G to 4G will increasingly easily support these file sizes, although it behooves publishers to continue quality assurance programs to make certain that ad loading does not negatively impact app performance.

In-App Advertising Recommendations

As with the first edition of this report, we asked IAB members if they had any advice or emerging best practices for in-app advertising. We offer the following as food for thought for marketers considering adding in-app ads to their broader marketing strategies in 2011.

Its not the click that counts. Clicks to mobile landing pages are just the tip of the iceberg of

what you can do (and measure) with mobile ad campaigns. Interactions, shares, likes, texts, calls, stores located, apps downloaded, views, coupon redemptions, and impressions, are all possible success metrics--and nearly everything is measurable. The click became a key metric on the Web mainly because it was simple and universal. But in most cases its a poor indicator of success. Marketers need to be wary of defaulting to clicks and clickthrough rates for in-app campaigns just because thats the easy, familiar thing to dothere are better, richer metrics that will provide far more insight. marketers start with a specific device (often a hot new one) in mind and attempting to design a campaign to suit the device. In most cases this is a mistake. As with all aspects of media planning, its far more important to consider the message youre conveying, and especially who you are trying to reach, and plan your mobile strategy accordingly. By highlighting ad formats that facilitate in-app ad campaigns that can reach across multiple devices, operating systems, and publishers, we hope this project helps planners understand that they really can think audience first, device second.
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Think audience not device. Publishers and mobile ad networks say they still sometimes see

 Look beyond the rectangle. In-app ads already encompass a whole range of creative

possibilities, including sponsorships, interstitials, audio ads, and video commercials. Marketers should explore the full sweep of options to figure out what will fit best with and complement most strongly their larger campaign goals.

Further IAB In-App Initiatives

In-app advertising plays a major role in the IABs Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence strategy for 2011. In addition to fielding a third iteration of the survey and updating this document later this year, the following initiatives are on our plan, and will likely be of interest to readers of this document:

In-app ad measurement guidelines. The IAB, Mobile Marketing Association, and Media

Rating Council have finalized guidelines for mobile web ad measurement. Working with those same institutions, we plan to launch a project to extend the mobile web guidelines to apply to in-app ads as well. This will bring greater accountability and certainty to the metrics that marketers rely on. exciting, innovative, and beautiful creative executions theyve done on tablet devices in the past year. We plan to launch a section of iab.net to showcase these, in hopes of creating excitement and inspiring great work on this transformative platform. identifying ad formats that are gaining traction in the marketplace. In addition, the IAB envisions holding educational events and webinars highlighting research, case studies, and other learning to help participants in the industry understand how the market is evolving. document could evolve to address how well these various ad sizes work, in addition to simply how prevalent they are in the marketplace. This project has assumed that popularity at least in part reflects effectiveness. However, the IAB will talk with members and vendors this year about ways to begin assessing not just whats out there, but whats working well.

Tablet ad creative showcase. We have asked IAB members and others to send us examples of An ongoing industry dialog on in-app ads. This document is meant to guide the industry Effectiveness, not just popularity. At least one IAB member has wondered whether this

As we stated at the end of our first Prevailing In-App Ad Formats, we think this document could evolve to become a database for in-app ad formats organized by publisher, alongside the IABs existing Creative Spec Database. We continue to welcome comments from marketers, agencies, publishers, device makers, vendors and others in the ecosystem on ways to deliver more utility from this survey.

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Appendix
iOS: iPad: screen resolution: 1024x768 Ad Format 1024x899 1024x768 1024x90 expands to 1024x768 1024x90 1024x66 expands to up to 1024x768 1024x66 1004x768 768x1024 768x90 expands to 768x1024 768x90 728x90 640x960 600x800 555x206 500x500 320x480 320x50 300x250 expandable to any size up to max 300x250 300x50 expandable to any size up to max 300x50 250x250 216x36 210x175 200x120 185x30 168x28 160x600 120x60 120x20 76x1024 38x38 1024x768 pre roll text links pre and/or postroll video Prevalence 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 7 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 5 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 up to 30 chars 15 seconds max, 720kbps bitrate; 15 secs max <5KB 5KB <1KB logo MMA size interstitial sponsorship logo landscape only MMA size <5KB; 5KB 40KB <3KB 40KB 40KB 100KB <2KB MMA size "rectangle" "thumbnail" "button" MMA size <50KB; 40KBx2 15KB 30KB 20KB 30-45KB <25KB max; 15KB; 40KB runs in 1024x90 space runs in 768x90 space; testing HTML5, not deployed; bottom banner interstitial interstitial (runs 6 seconds) "two column horizontal" companion to audio ad interstitial following banner precached, "up to" interstitial; rectangle precached, "up to" MMA size 30KB 150KB gallery interstitial welcome mat or interstitial precached, "up to" File Weights 200KB Notes 768x620 safe area "full page" welcome mat or interstitial

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iOS: Phone: 320x480 or 640x960 ("retina display") Ad Format 640x100 480x320 320x480 320x416 320x100 320x53 320x50 expands to 320x480 320x50 expands to 320x300 320x50 expands to 320x250 320x50 307x220 300x250 300x50 expands to 300x250 300x50 Prevalence 1 1 2 1 1 2 4 1 2 8 1 3 3 10 15KB 40KB 40KB 40KB 30KB <7.5KB 30KB; 10KB; 15KB; 8KB 40KB <50KB; 40KB 30KB <5KB <5KB <7.5KB; 10KB or 40KB (rich media); 30KB; 10KB; 8KB 40KB <5KB 15 seconds max, 720kbps bitrate (size=320x50) horizontal gallery interstitial interstitial; regular or rich media expandable; rich media precached File Weights Notes retina display only video pre-roll ad, landscape only welcome or interstitial

238x324 38x38 MMA Standard Sizes pre and postroll video Android-Tablets Ad Format 1024x1024 1004x70 728x90 320x50 expandable to 320x250 320x50 300x250 300x50 expands up to 300x250 300x50 160x600

1 1 1 1

vertical gallery interstitial sponsorship logo

Prevalence 1 1 2 1 2 2 1 1 1

File Weights

Notes 600x600 safe area 580x70 safe area

40KB 30KB 30KB 40KB 30KB 30KB

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Android-smartphones Ad Format 500x500 480x75 480x70 320x480 320x416 320x53 320x50 expandable to 320x480 320x50 expands to 320x300 320x50 expands to 320x250 320x50 300x250 300x50 expands up to 300x250 300x50 240x320 216x36 168x28 120x20 38x38 text links pre and postroll video Palm/HP/WebOS Ad Format 320x100 320x50 expands to 320x250 320x50 300x50 expands to 300x250 300x50 216x36 Prevalence 1 1 3 1 4 1 File Weights 30-45KB 30KB 30KB; 30-45KB; 8KB 30KB <7.5KB 10KB 30KB; 8KB <4.5KB Notes splash/welcome screen Prevalence 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 6 2 2 6 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 <4.5KB; <3KB <2KB <1KB <5KB up to 30 chars 15 seconds max, 720kbps bitrate custom sponsorship logo 40KB 40KB 40KB 30KB <7.5KB, 30KB 15KB; 8KB expandable to full page 40KB 30KB <5KB; <5KB, 30KB; 8KB expandable to full page; static expandable to full page interstitial interstitial File Weights 30-45KB Notes companion to audio; subject to resize high res (droid); expandable to full page

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Blackberry Ad Format 480x150 420x40 expands to 420x280 420x40 320x50 320x40 expands to 320x240 320x40 300x250 300x50 216x36 38x38 MMA Standard Sizes Windows Phone 7 Ad Format 320x50 300x50 216x36 Symbian Ad Format 300x50 216x36 Prevalence 2 1 File Weights <7.5KB; 8KB <4.5KB Notes Prevalence 2 3 1 File Weights 15KB; 8KB 10KB 30KB; 8KB 15KB Notes splash/welcome screen Win Phone 7 Only now playing screen Prevalence 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 5 2 1 1 File Weights 15KB 30KB 30KB 10KB; 8KB 30KB 30KB <50K <7.5KB, <5KB, <40KB 10KB; 8KB <3KB 30KB <5KB custom sponsorship logos interstitial Notes spash/welcome screen

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