mobile-local performance stats q1_2012 report.pdf · • car rental • travel agencies •...

xAd Mobile-Local Performance Stats > Q1 2012 1

Just one year after declaring the “year of mobile”, the industry continues to accelerate at an exciting rate as brands and SMBs learn the value of mobile advertising. Leading the charge in mobile’s continued growth is the value found in local-mobile targeting. From big brands to local businesses, mobile-local is making its way into advertising budgets in a big way. A recent BIA/Kelsey forecast places local-mobile at just under 50% of total mobile ad spend, but by 2016 mobile-local will make the leap to capture nearly two-thirds of this spend.

Local is tops in Mobile ...especially in key verticals

Locally targeted ads in mobile have shown success in multiple business categories, however, there are several industries that show usage and mobile performance that far exceeds industry averages. Since little has been written to date about how local consumers are using mobile with regards to specific business industries (i.e. travel, entertainment, auto service etc.) our goal is to highlight one industry alongside our overall network performance in each xAd quarterly report moving forward.

For Q1 2012 we will be highlighting Travel - seeing as though we are on the heels of the industry’s peak season.

The insights provided in this report will go a long way in educating marketers on the power of mobile advertising that utilizes location targeting, and how that translates to performance – specifically for the travel category.


What a difference a quarter makes. Since our Q4 report, smartphone penetration rose six points from 44% to 50% according to Nielsen. Not only has the number increased - but usage has gone through the roof.

Q1 Mobile-Local Trends

In Q1 alone, xAd delivered close to 2 billion locally targeted search and display ads across our extensive network of top mobile sites and applications. In fact, from Q1 2011 to Q1 2012, mobile-local traffic across our network increased by 300%.

Source: xAd Network & Campaign Data

xAd Mobile-Local Search Trend

Mobile PlatformsAs stated in past reports, mobile activities occur both in mobile websites as well as mobile applications. In fact, Q1 saw continued growth in usage of both apps and browser. Mobile application search access in Q1 continued to grow at a higher rate than access via mobile browser - a trend we have seen continue since we began tracking it in Q3 2011. In fact, from Q4 2011 to Q1 2012 mobile search access via application gained 4 percentage points, while mobile search access via browser increased 3 points.

Source: comScore MobiLens™ Trend Report (Three-Month Average, March 2011–March 2012)

Mobile Applications or Browsers (All Mobile Users)


Mobile Applications or Browsers (iOS and Android)


Browser Search

Application Search

This trend is even more apparent when isolating usage to just Smartphone users. For both iOS and Android users mobile search access is preferred in application vs. in-browser.


For mobile users accessing travel related content we found that search access via browser is preferred across ALL MOBILE users. However, when breaking out by Smartphone user we found iOS users slightly preferred application access over browser. For Android users, the opposite trend is shown.

Mobile Applications or BrowsersTRAVEL MOBILE iOS VS. ANDROID


Mobile Applications or BrowsersTRAVEL OVERALL MOBILE


Search Categories

We dove deeper into the fast-growing travel category and analyzed search activity specific to the sector, which revealed a number of key insights. Transportation related search is responsible for nearly half of the travel search activity this quarter, with travel agencies, tours and lodging rounding out the second half. But within these subcategories, more specific search terms such as cruises and car rental illustrate the opportunities available in mobile for travel marketers.

Top 10 Travel Keywords• Car Rental• Travel Agencies• Limousine Services• Airline• Tours• Transportation Services• Rentals• Resorts• Cruises• Amusement Parks

Based on the top-searched keywords in Q1 2012, most mobile users entered queries related to specific local needs, such as restaurants and gas stations.


Travel Category Breakdown

Q1 2012 TOP SEARCH CATEGORIES TRAVEL

OVERALL PLATFORM

Transportation Travel Agencies Tours and Attractions Resorts & Lodging

Compared to previous quarters, Q1 saw an increase in search traffic for a few categories due to seasonality – most notably Health & Medical, Home & Garden, and Travel.

TOP TRAVEL CATEGORIES – SEARCH PERFORMANCE


Going deeper into mobile search activities related to the major travel sub-categories – Car Rental, Hotels, and Airlines – we can better understand how a user relates to specific ad experiences, and what information is most important. All categories exhibit very strong click-through-rates but it is what happens after the initial click that is most interesting. For instance, for Car Rental and Airlines, the top action that occurred after the initial ad click (secondary action) was calls with 43% and 59% of clicks turning into a call to a business vs. Hotels whose top secondary action is access to maps & driving directions.

Mobile-Ad PerformanceDue to mobile’s ability to target an audience based on more refined geographic

areas, we continue to see performance metrics that rival traditional desktop search and display. But we at xAd can go even deeper, targeting an audience based on both location data (city, zipcode and lat/long)

and area search activity. For this reason we are able to drive some of the highest performance rates in the industry. Compared to Q4 of 2011, average click through rates for display campaigns on the xAd network increased from an average 0.6% to an average of 0.72%. For search campaigns, we also saw an increase in average CTR, which grew from a 7% average in Q4 2011 to over 8% in Q1 with a secondary action rate of 36%.

Average Display Performance across xAd Network

Q1 Display CTR = 0.72%

Average Search Performance across xAd NetworkQ1 Search CTR = 8.13%

Q1 Search Secondary Action Rates = 36%

Calls

Maps & Directions

Description

More Info

Other

Car Rental Search• CTR – 17.06%• Click-to-call – 43%• SAR – 60.22%

Hotels & Lodging Search• CTR – 9.71%• Click-to-call – 7%• SAR – 28.38%

Airlines Search• CTR – 17.8%• Click-to-call – 59%• SAR – 65.85%

Secondary Actions Post Search

Breakdown of Secondary Actions

Where Mobile Is TopsRegionIn Q1, as in previous quarters the majority of U.S. search and display activity stemmed from the South, followed by the West. Quarter over quarter we saw a shift in city ranking as Redmond, Wash. fell toward the bottom and made room for a big jump from Houston, Texas. But when looking at the cities ranked by overall search activity in travel, the top 5 are shaken up a bit when Washington D.C. enters the list at #5. Upon closer analysis, the cities representing travel’s top 5 are also major airline hubs.


OVERALL NETWORK TRAVELNew York, NY New York, NYLos Angeles, CA Los Angeles, CAChicago, IL San Francisco, CAHouston, TX Chicago, ILMiami, FL Washington, DCSan Francisco, CA Houston, TXMountain View, CA Atlanta, GADallas, TX Miami, FLAtlanta, GA San Antonio, TXRedmond, WA Dallas, TX

Top Cities

REGIONS xAd NETWORK OVERALL TRAVEL

South 35% 31%West 26% 26%Northeast 21% 25%Midwest 18% 18%

DemographicsTo further support travel’s relevancy in the local-mobile space, travel-interested mobile user demographics remain in line with overall local-mobile user profiles. The characteristics of those accessing local search through their mobile device are the same as users accessing travel related content, which creates the perfect situation for performance-driven campaigns.


0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Male Female

13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

<$25k $25k to <$50k $50k to <$75k $75k to <$100k $100k+

Grammar school or less

Some high school

Completed high school or equivalent

Some college (but no degree)

Associates degree

Bachelors degree

Graduate degree

Gender

Age

HH Income

Education

53%47%

6%18%

26%

15%9%

5%

13%21%

19%15%

32%

2%8%

14%28%

9%26%

14%

21%

Mobile users that access travel related content

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Male Female

13-17 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+

<$25k $25k to <$50k $50k to <$75k $75k to <$100k $100k+

Grammar school or less

Some high school

Completed high school or equivalent

Some college (but no degree)

Associates degree

Bachelors degree

Graduate degree

HH Income

Education

Gender

Age

59%41%

5%17%

31%

14%6%

3%

11%18%

16%20%

35%

3%7%

12%21%

11%29%

17%

24%

Mobile users that access local content

Summary Beyond “the year of mobile” we have seen continued growth in local-mobile search and a stand-out opportunity in the fast-growing travel sector.

• By 2016, local-mobile ad revenues will account for 65% of mobile ad revenue, reaching 5 billion dollars.

• Travel stands out as an emerging category in local-mobile advertising thanks to the location-specific nature of the industry.

• eMarketer estimates 16 million Americans will book travel via mobile this year, and by 2016 that number is expected to more than double to 36.7 million.

• Peak season for travel search on desktop translates to seasonal mobile-local search seen in the category – both culminating in the summer months.

• Transportation related search accounts for nearly 50% of all travel search on the xAd network.

• Top 5 travel related keywords include Car Rental, Travel Agencies, Limousine Services, Airline, and Tours.

• Overall mobile search activity seems to ebb and flow throughout the work week with a lull on the weekends, but the travel category remains relatively steady throughout the week, peaking on Friday.

• Compared to Q4 of 2011, average secondary action rates for display campaigns on the xAd network increased 27%.

• Analysis of three key travel categories revealed a variety of preferred secondary actions driving campaign performance

– For Car Rentals, calls accounted for 73% of secondary action rates. – For Hotels, Map and Driving Directions drive 76% of secondary action rates. – Airlines drive an incredible 89% of secondary action rates to calls.

• Demographics for mobile users accessing local content is nearly identical to users accessing travel related content, further supporting travel’s relevancy in the mobile space.


About This Report Published quarterly, this report provides, particularly how consumers are using mobile to search for, find and interact with local businesses. By juxtaposing consumer demographics with mobile behaviors, devices and platforms, the data contained herein will help businesses make informed decisions about their current media strategies and future initiatives.

For the purpose of this report, the local-search audience is defined as mobile-phone owners who access the following content categories, either through their mobile browsers or applications: business directories, classifieds, maps, movie and restaurant information, news, real-estate listings, traffic reports and weather.

Metrics and insights provided are a combination of xAd’s network and campaign data (January 2012–March 2012), as well as the comScore MobiLens™ Audience Profile Report (three-month average ending March 2012) and the comScore MobiLens™ Trend Report (three-month average, March 2011–March 2012). The MobiLens™ product is derived from an online intelligence survey of a nationally represented sample of mobile subscribers 13 years old and above. Data on mobile-phone usage refers to a respondent’s primary mobile phone and does not include data related to his or her secondary device.

For questions or to provide feedback, please contact us at 415.814.9837 or [email protected].

About xAd Established in 2009, xAd is one of the largest mobile-local advertising networks in the U.S. and the only one offering both targeted search and display. Across our network, we aggregate and manage over a billion location-specific ad requests per month, billions of business listings, and over one million national and local advertisers.

Our proprietary technology and quality-score algorithm, which takes into account nearly 30 variables such as user behavior and search location, deliver local and contextual relevance for better advertising performance: monetized calls, clicks and visits generated from ads across the mobile Web, owned and operated local apps, publisher partners, and mapping and navigation systems. That comprehensive ad inventory facilitates higher conversions for advertisers, who can reach a vast mobile audience with a single touch point, while publishers can experience high eCPM and also access a large, accurate database in one location.

Based in San Francisco, xAd has research and development facilities in Sunnyvale, California, and Gurgaon, India; sales centers in New York City and Charlotte; and several satellite offices across the U.S. For more information, visit xAd.com.


mobile-local performance stats q1_2012 report.pdf · • car rental • travel agencies •...

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