US online ad prices declined overall this past year by 27%, according to new findings from online publishing service provider PubMatic.
It also found that small sites continue to command better pricing for eCPMs, now at $0.61 on average in Q3, but that these price levels have been declining quarter-to-quarter in 2008. eCPMs for large sites held steady in Q3, but at a lower pricing base of $0.18.
The online ad price decline from Q2 to Q3 in 2008 was 21%; throughout the year, display advertising pricing has generally trended downwards across website sizes and verticals, said PubMatic.
Rajeev Goel, president and co-founder of PubMatic, said: “Online advertising is one of the key indicators in the US economy, as marketing spend is typically one of the early cuts when realigning corporate expenses. We’ve observed this effect for the past three quarters and it is reflected in the pricing for all US publishers.
“Even though declining budgets are a concern, the measurability of the Internet shouldn’t be discounted. This overall downward trend in the economy may be a call to marketers to segment more of their budgets to methods and tactics that allow them to better measure ROI.”
At the start of the year, Yankee Group forecast that the US online advertising market would reach $50.3 billion in revenue by 2011, more than double 2007’s revenue (see US Online Ad Market To Reach $50.3bn In Revenue By 2011).
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