Brands went ‘all-in’ on mobile video ads during the Thanksgiving weekend, according to new data published by analytics enterprise IronSource. It found that total in-app advertising spend surged by more than a third, and the volume of mobile ad impressions increased by a quarter compared to the first week of November.
Consumers spent a staggering US $12.8 billion via mobile devices between Thanksgiving Day and Cyber Monday, and the latest study by IronSource highlights once again just how advertisers are shifting their budgets away from traditional mediums to serve content on smartphones and tablets that will drive clicks and revenue.
IronSource tracked the mobile app ad spend of brands from Thursday 24 November through Monday 28 November, which covered data from 150 million consumers and more than 80,000 apps. It aimed to discover exactly how advertisers are targeting consumers on mobile, and IronSource has since released a ‘Tis the Season infographic to showcase the results.
Fastest-growing ad unit
The biggest takeaway is that mobile is growing significantly, with in-app advertising spend, mobile ad impressions served and number of daily active users on mobile all soaring during Thanksgiving. Video is a key trend, as 73 per cent of ad units were served via clips compared to 14.7 per cent of native ads and 12.3 per cent of display ads.
Other interesting findings include the fact that ad-driven app installs grew by 22 per cent on Thanksgiving Day compared to a regular Thursday, and Shopping saw the biggest spend increase by brand category at 33 per cent, which placed it ahead of Lifestyle (24 per cent) and Entertainment (15 per cent). It also appears that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are gaining traction outside of the US, as both the UK and India saw the highest amount of mobile activity during the four-day period.
“What was most striking about our findings was the increased role video played,” IronSource co-founder and CMO Omer Kaplan said. “We know mobile video is the fastest-growing ad unit out there, and with video taking the lion’s share of ads served this holiday weekend, it’s clear that advertisers are going all-in on the format.”
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