Pubmatic Moves Into Mobile Ad Optimisation As Online And Mobile Display Inch Closer Together

Pubmatic announced this week that it’s now offering ad network optimisation for premium mobile publishers. Some of the features will include real-time bidding, audience insight and brand protection.

This news comes on the back of a similar move by Admeld. Both clearly see opportunity in the growing mobile display market. And both are now looking to work with existing publisher partners to improve yield on their mobile ad inventory. But will it be as easy to onboard mobile ad networks as it is in online display? The market is still evolving, and there is still a lot of growth to be had. Ad nets might think they’re better off working with publishers directly.

The yield optimisers (or publisher exchanges) will probably get most traction in monetising international traffic for premium publishers. Dealing with global ad nets requires resource and time – and pubs will gladly partner Admeld and Pubmatic to optimise and manage those relationships.

With all this action on the sell-side, will we see a DSP enter the market and give advertisers and agencies the opportunity to buy mobile ad inventory across multiple sources. Who’ll be first to dip its toe in first?

What’s Google planning to do once its acquisition of Admob gets the all-clear from regulators? Will it put all non-guaranteed mobile and online display on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange?

And what about Apple? Does anybody really have any real idea what they’re going to do with Quattro?

Whatever happens, more growth and M&A action is likely to happen in 2010? Admeld and Pubmatic have spotted an opportunity to optimise their publishers’ mobile ad network relationships. It is clear that they'll be having a bigger influence on the supply-side of mobile dispaly over the next twelve months.