Digital Ad Spend Grows 47% in First Half of Year, According to the Q2 2010 Online Advertising Market

Despite Growing Concerns Around Privacy Legislation and Data Risks; Audience Buying, Increase in Spend from International Markets and Automation Drive Industry Growth

LOS ANGELES – August 31, 2010 - the Rubicon Project, the advertising technology company, reveals exclusive insight into emerging industry trends and market shifts that occurred in the second quarter of 2010, along with insights into what’s next for the digital ad landscape, in the tenth installment of its Online Advertising Market Report series. The report also includes excerpts from the well-attended panel, “Is All Inventory Created Equal?” hosted in June by the Rubicon Project during New York’s Internet Week.

Included within the report is the latest update on the Rubicon 20 Index, a measure of performance across a number of factors (including CPM, revenue and traffic volume) on a roster of twenty of the Web’s most heavily-trafficked properties. At the beginning of Q2, CPMs across the Rubicon 20 Index have risen by an average of 25 percent vs. Q1 2010. Overall, the Index has grown 47 percent, on a trend line basis, from the start of 2010 to the midpoint of the year.

Additional key forecasts and trends addressed in this report include:
•    Growing online audiences beyond U.S. borders, and the correlating increase in advertisers’ digital budgets, led by significant growth in China and the Middle East;
•    The evolving role of Google in the online display advertising market, from the perspective of publishers, agencies, and demand-side platforms (DSPs);
•    Real-time bidding (RTB) and DSPs as means to increase efficiency of media spend, and the growing share of inventory flowing through non-direct channels;
•    Privacy serving as a source of tension throughout the Internet ecosystem;
•    Yield optimization as a result of data, science, network effect and automation.

“Ad spend and revenue have both been strong and growing in 2010. Given the proliferation of solution providers and industry players to the market, all working to increase the overall flow of revenue from offline to online, this increase is no surprise,” said Kara Weber, Vice President of Marketing at the Rubicon Project.  “That said, it’s more important than ever for publishers to define their strategies to compete in a challenging market, taking advantage of new opportunities like RTB while fighting to protect the value they’ve created with high-quality content, well developed audiences and a carefully cultivated advertiser base.”

Also included in this report is market insight from industry leaders including Brian Morrissey, Digital Editor at Adweek; Marta Martinez, SVP of Operations and Business Development at MediaMath; Jon Beck, VP of Online Advertising and Business Development at the New York Daily News Online; Jason Kelly, VP Digital Strategy & Revenue Management at Time Inc. Digital; Bill Todd, GM of ValueClick; and Sean Kegelman, SVP of partnerships at VivaKi.

To access the full Q2 2010 Online Advertising Market Report, as well as past published reports for free, visit: http://www.rubiconproject.com/market-intelligence.

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