Commentary

Real-Time Analytics Get Real For Mobile Exchanges

Real-time analytics were an early favorite to win “it” thing of 2014, and now -- exactly halfway through the year -- mobile advertisers are the ones that appear most eager to make use of faster analytics.

Metamarkets, a real-time analytics provider, on Tuesday announced the launch of an analytics platform geared specifically for programmatic traders. The platform is meant for advertisers, exchanges or sellers -- regardless of what screen they trade on -- but only one group has jumped on Metamarkets’ new platform at launch: mobile exchanges.

Metamarkets is launching its new platform with nine mobile ad exchange partners, including Chartboost, Flurry, Inneractive, Millennial Media, MobPro, MoPub, OpenX, Smaato and Vungle. At least one of those exchanges (MoPub) has worked with Metamarkets before.

I asked a Metamarkets representative if it was just a coincidence that only mobile exchanges signed up for the new platform at first, and the rep said it was. But now I’m thinking “coincidence” wasn’t the best word to use. I don’t think it’s mere happenstance that nine mobile ad exchanges -- and nobody else -- signed up to use the platform at launch.

Just so we are clear, I’m not insinuating anything about Metamarkets or its platform here. I just think the news is telling in regard to where the mobile programmatic market is.

Some major supply-side companies, including Rubicon and PubMatic, have recently launched mobile ad exchanges. More “advanced” ad units are becoming popular in mobile advertising. Of programmatic advertisers, 57% buy on mobile, per a recent Millennial Media report. That number is surely on the rise, and making the space even more muddied is the fact that nobody is buying from the same place -- agencies, DSPs, trading desks and even the brands themselves all account for a significant portion of spend.

So as the mobile programmatic space rapidly expands -- and becomes a key component of cross-screen campaigns -- it’s logical that those involved are looking for analytics that can keep pace.

Perhaps more importantly, the news represents the closing maturity gap between the mobile and display industries.

"Mobile analytics" image from Shutterstock.

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