MWC 2019 in Barcelona is at an end, but the hottest topics from the show will be talked about for a long time to come. Our team was on the ground in Barcelona to meet with partners, as well as discuss the future of mobile advertising with visitors to our booth. The conversations we had varied, but there were a few common topics that we heard repeated throughout the four-day event. Here’s what some of our team members had to say: 

We just released our latest Global Trends in Mobile Advertising report, which reveals important mobile and in-app programmatic insights from H2 2018.

Smaato has regularly produced this report since 2015, and during this time, we consistently charted mobile’s growth as an advertising medium. The H2 2018 Global Trends in Mobile Advertising report marks a tipping point in which mobile is beginning to overtake all other media to become the most popular media format among advertisers. As advertisers direct more money into mobile and in-app advertising, and consumers continue to adopt smartphones around the world, both demand and supply increased year-over-year.

The tech world is abuzz right now in anticipation of the biggest mobile event of the year — MWC Barcelona (formerly Mobile World Congress). This year, Smaato will return to Barcelona for the tenth consecutive year, and we are all looking forward to connecting with existing partners, making new contacts, and hearing about the hottest new trends in mobile!

Here are the five trends that we are most excited about — and which we expect will dominate the conversations at MWC.

In today’s complex programmatic ecosystem, transparency is essential to building trust between all links in the supply chain. With Gold Standard from The Trade Desk, we are excited to strengthen our fraud-free inventory and send an important trust signal to our partners.

Over the past year, the term “transparency” has become little more than a buzzword in the programmatic advertising industry. Many in the supply chain have taken advantage of this vague term to avoid talking about any real measures they are taking to combat ad fraud, improve brand safety, and optimize ad spending. Initiatives from industry-recognized organizations are therefore essential for stakeholders to prove not only their commitment to transparency but also how they are taking real action to achieve it.

Mobile advertising passed desktop advertising in 2017 and will never look back. The gap in revenues generated by the two continues to grow, and by 2022 mobile will make up a staggering 75% of all digital ad spending.¹

With this enormous shift in mind, it's more important than ever that marketers gain a deep understanding of the different mobile ad formats out there. Here's a look at some of the top-trending mobile ad formats to help you improve campaign performance.

Mobile advertising has never been more popular than it is today. Global mobile ad spending will hit $230 billion this year with a growth rate of more than 20%.¹ But as brands continue to shift their spending to mobile, fraudsters are trying to take advantage of this ecosystem. At Smaato, our top priority is to protect both mobile users and mobile investments, but we also want to help educate the market on the various types of fraud and how to fight it.

Mobile ad fraud is a scam committed by criminals that affects the entire supply chain: publishers, advertisers, and everyone in between. The methods used by fraudsters are increasingly sophisticated, as mobile ad fraud is conducted with the goal of evading detection to steal as much money as possible. The cost of ad fraud across all types of digital advertising totaled an estimated $19 billion in 2018.²

Taylor Morrison
Account Manager, Supply

For this month’s Smaatie Spotlight, we’re featuring a Smaatie from the supply-focused side of our sales department. Taylor Morrison joined Smaato in June 2017 as a Market Quality Associate where she helped us maintain a clean marketplace for the Americas region and drove initiatives to help the global Market Quality team. In early 2019, she then moved into her current role as Account Manager, proving that she possesses all the essential qualities of a Smaato Account Manager (and then some!) — including a great rapport with our partners and exceptional analytical skills which have made her the perfect addition to the team.

The Super Bowl is the superstar event of the advertising world. With over 100 million live viewers, it is the most-watched TV event in the US each year. It also attracts some of the highest prices for its coveted commercial spots — but not all viewers’ eyes are glued to the TV during the game (or the memorable commercial breaks).

Super Bowl viewership dropped last year, making it the least-watched Super Bowl since 2009.¹ Despite this dip in viewers, the big game impressed marketers with its social footprint and second-screen engagement. This means that even brands that are not advertising on TV can still be a relevant part of the conversation and win over consumers via their favorite digital device: their smartphone.

The mobile advertising industry is constantly evolving. For advertisers and publishers, it's important to stay aware of the latest trends and topics that are affecting the industry. To help keep you updated, we've compiled insights from our team of in-app experts on a variety of important topics in the world of mobile advertising.

In-app advertising has never been more popular. Advertisers appreciate the targeted traffic that makes their campaigns effective, while app publishers value the fact that they can grow an audience and monetize without charging a premium price. But there is a downside to the massive growth of in-app advertising. Fraudsters are incentivized to try gaming the system with invalid traffic.