Rubicon Releases Q2 Online Advertising Market Report

Online advertising technology provider Rubicon has released their latest 2008 Online Advertising Market Report for the second quarter. Similar to the PubMatic AdPrice Index, Rubicon’s report takes a look at the online advertising industry through analyzing the stats and impressions served on the Rubicon system. Rubicon notes that the report came from analyzing 15 billion impressions across their publisher network.

The key takeaways from the report are:

• Ad Networks Grew During the Economic Storm in Q2 - the report notes that (outside of Google AdSense) eCPMs were up 7% in Q2. I’d rather see a breakdown of large sites vs. small and medium. Large sites are more likely to see a jump just based on volume alone.
• Publishers & Networks: A Dysfunctional Relationship - a discussion of how the relationship works between publishers and ad networks. They discuss the issue of a quickly expanding traffic event (i.e. a Digg/Slashdot/etc.) and the inability for ad networks to meet the expanded traffic rapidly. Also this section discusses remnant inventory
• Big Publishers are Transforming the Ad Network Space - the report notes, "While smaller publishers can entice advertisers with the prospect of reaching the ideal audience for their brand, even the most precisely targeted niche publisher, on their own, is no match for the combination of scale and segmentation that larger publishers provide."
• International Traffic: A Growing Opportunity - discusses AOL’s consolidation in Europe into Platform-A and Glam Media’s expansion

Check out my interview with Rubicon CEO Frank Addante and all of our Rubicon coverage.