Ad pricing levels for online publishers have increased 35% since the beginning of 2009 and may be on the path to recovery after a record-low year in 2008, according to a preliminary analysis by PubMatic.
The analysis also revealed that pricing for ad inventory sold through indirect channels – such as ad networks and ad exchanges – has steadily increased every month, gaining 47% since the end of January.
While 2008 experienced dismally low online ad pricing, 2009 has shown consistent, consecutive ad-price growth every month since the start of the year, PubMatic said, also noting that this month-to-month percentage growth has ranged from 3% to as much as 15%.
“Although ad pricing has not returned to year-ago levels, the industry has gone up consistently every month since January 2009. The worst may be behind us,” said Rajeev Goel, PubMatic co-founder and CEO. “There is more hope that fall online ad spending may reach near-normal levels.”
About the data: The ad price figures are based on data from 6,000 websites, approximately 85% of which are based in the US. The data is prepared by a leading independent statistician and industry expert. PubMatic will be publishing a more comprehensive report on this data at its Second Annual Ad Revenue 2009 Conference on October 8, 2009 in New York.
