Automation Solutions Firm Expands Header Bidding Technology To Mobile Apps

Automation solutions firm PubMatic will expand its header bidding product offering to the mobile app ecosystem. The announcement, which was made at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, extends the technology to mobile apps to offer app developers a way of reclaiming  control over ad decisioning.

“Mobile app inventory has largely been left out of the header bidding trend that upended monetization across desktop and mobile web over the past eighteen months,” stated Evan Simeone, senior vice president of product management at PubMatic. “By bringing this technology to mobile apps, we’re giving mobile app developers greater visibility into market price for their inventory, allowing them to leverage its true value outside of the traditional waterfall.”

A recent analysis of data on PubMatic’s platform found that mobile Web publishers that adopted header bidding saw a 50% increase in eCPMs. With mobile app inventory already commanding a 59% premium over mobile Web,there is a strong opportunity for mobile app publishers.

“Today, the majority, 86%, according to eMarketer, of consumers’ time spent on mobile is in apps, and there’s renewed interest from brands and advertisers in reaching this highly-engaged audience. To date, mobile app developers haven’t had access to the benefits of ad decisioning tactics like header bidding, having to rely on the traditional waterfall model,” Jeff Hirsch, PubMatic’s CMO, told Real-Time Daily via email. “We’re particularly excited about in-app header bidding because of the increased level of transparency that it brings app developers, [enabling them] to take advantage of the benefits that publishers have been enjoying with desktop and mobile web header and wrapper solutions over the past eighteen months.”

PubMatic said mobile app paid impression volume increased by 21% on its  platform in the last quarter.

PubMatic’s mobile in-app header bidding solution offers publishers two implementation options. They can use a non-SDK (Software Development Kit) version that requires only the addition of PubMatic code to an existing app’s ad-serving SDK, or a full SDK version that provides publishers with access to more data, including device ID, location (latitudinal/longitudinal), mobile carriers, operating system version, and more.

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