The average eCPM for iPhones is $2.85, followed by Androids at $2.10, a dollar figure called “effective cost per thousand impressions” that is calculated by dividing total earnings by total number of impressions in thousands.
All other smartphones are far behind the two market leaders in eCPM for the second quarter of 2012, according to new research from Opera Software, but pale by comparison to iPad’s average eCPM of $3.96.
Opera’s unsurprising conclusion is that eCPM rises with larger screen size, touchscreens, and other features that make it simple to interact with advertisements. The company notes that HTML5 Canvas, the browser feature that works on mobile and enables full-screen rich-media overlays, cannot be used on older or simpler devices since it requires iOS Safari 3.2 and Android 2.1 or above to run.
Market fragmentation may also play a part, since advertisers can target particular devices. Therefore, Windows phones are low performers despite their capabilities because of their relatively small market share.
The report – which can be read here – is based on data from Opera’s mobile ad platform, which has more than 35 billion ad impressions per month and accounted for over $240 million of revenue to mobile publishers in 2011.
Related link:
Opera – The State of Mobile Advertising report
While I understand the topical relevance of this latest data from Opera, savvy mobile advertisers are looking at long term trends and the big picture across the mobile landscape when planning to delegate any funds into the mobile channel over the next twelve months. All things considered, the data today and projections for tomorrow consistently point to Android leading the field in almost every meaningful aspect of the mobile advertising. Take as just one example, the sudden surge of Airpush.com as the second biggest Android mobile ad network in the world. We are hearing about these success stories (as they pertain to Android over competing operating systems) because advertisers and developers alike are similarly looking to Android for their long-term mobile advertising plans. Android, I can confidently assert, is going to be the dominant player in mobile advertising for the foreseeable future.