Measuring the real time bidding market is a tricky thing, given the still-expanding list of exchanges and sell-side platforms, and the variable inventory available through each. Attempts to encapsulate the space call to mind the Indian proverb about the blind men and the elephant – in which several men touch different parts of the animal and later can’t agree what it was.
But does that deter us? It does not.
Today we have some data from Rubicon, measuring price and volume shifts from July 2012 to August 2012 in the company’s REVV trading platform. The below charts are for the most part self-explanatory, but it’s worth calling out a few things:
-eCPMs in Rubicon’s “business” vertical rose 106%, but the category’s ranking remained the same at #14, suggesting prices for business-related content remains very low. By contrast, prices in the “pets” category rose only 63%, but it jumped in ranking from #10 to #1.
-Prices fell in a several categories, led by arts/entertainment. It’s somewhat surprising to see technology/computing and automotive in the “bottom five.”
-Examined country-by-country, RTB impressions didn’t change much from July to August – especially among the top 10 RTB nations, led by U.S., U.K., France, and Canada.
And without further ado, the charts:
In one recent month, Rubicon says it transacted 16.5 billion paid U.S. impressions reaching 212 million unique users. There were 325 billion total bids on that inventory block, amounting to an average of nearly 20 bids per impression.
