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.

When it comes to targeting, everyone in the mobile advertising business knows the benefits of location targeting. The ability to reach people in specific areas, whether it's as broad as a state or as specific as a sports stadium, is crucial to the success of many campaigns. A much less utilized, but also an invaluable form of targeting, is language targeting.

So you think you know mobile? Now it’s time to prove your programmatic prowess with Smaato’s Mobile Advertising Quiz of the Year!

While there are a lot of talented engineers in this world, we at Smaato try to find and approach only the best. We look for talented individuals who are eager to advance our products, become a part of an international team, and have a positive influence on our company culture. We truly believe that software and systems engineers are the heart of every organization that offers software development. As long as the heart beats, the product lives!

Despite a small population of just 127 million, Japan is one of the top mobile advertising markets worldwide. The country is not only home to some of the most prominent mobile publishers but also a mobile gaming hub with highly-engaged local gamers. With the consistent growth of mobile ad spending over the years, this island country is certainly the rising sun of the mobile advertising industry.

2018 was a landmark year for digital advertising, as it was the first time that digital ad spending exceeded TV ad spending. Video advertising was a significant reason why the industry achieved this milestone. With users spending more time streaming content on mobile devices, brands are shifting their advertising dollars away from TV to reach users on their mobile phones. It's looking like 2019 will be another big year for video advertising. With that in mind, here are a few major trends to look out for this year.