People four times more likely to click on adaptable ads

Advertisers are six times more likely to choose ad formats that automatically adapt to the size of the screen rather than standard industry sizes, according to new data from Appsnack.

A global analysis of mobile ad campaigns in Q1 2013 showed that 86% of ad impressions across mobile and tablets were accounted for by the ‘Snackbar’ format – which automatically formats itself to 10% of the screen’s size – compared to 14% for standard IAB units, which do not.

The automatic format accounted for 86% of ad views and 96% of clicks. Conversely, standard ad units accounted for just 4% of clicks despite accounting for 14% of ads viewed – with people almost four times more likely to click on a Snackbar ad that adapts to screen size (2.5%) on a mobile device than a standard industry ad (0.6%).

Tablet users are 24% more likely than smartphone users to click on automatically adapting ‘Snackbar’ ads – the tablet click-through rate being 2.8% compared to 2.22% for smartphones. Appsnack suggests that this could be because of the ‘lean-back’ nature of tablet usage – a more conducive device for general browsing, shopping and purchasing than the smartphone.

However, on expanding formats, the research found that smartphone users are 26% more likely to activate these types of ads to full size than tablet users (3.28% and 2.61%, respectively).

Niki Stoker, managing director of Exponential UK, the owner of Appsnack, said: “Advertisers are increasingly moving to mobile ads that can automatically adapt to whatever screen size a person is using. Not only are the click-through rates higher, they are the only ad to appear on a page so the advertiser gets a higher share of voice. In turn, ad wastage is reduced for publishers.

“We are just beginning to define what ‘success’ means in a mobile campaign. These results indicate the industry should be shifting focus more towards brand awareness campaigns as the technology behind mobile ads improves to boost impressions, consumer engagement and, ultimately, brand value.”

The analysis also revealed that when it comes to rich media, small sizes reign supreme, with the 300 x 250 ad format inducing the highest number of clicks. However, for non-expanding units, the bigger the banner, the better, with the 728 x 90 size inducing the most clicks.