Opera Software ASA : Australia’s marketers keen on mobile video, drive Opera Mediaworks expansion

Sydney, Australia - October 6, 2015

Opera Mediaworks, the first mobile ad platform built for brands, today announced its expansion in Australia to better service the growing demand for mobile ads, particularly video ads. According to Opera Mediaworks' State of Mobile Advertising report for Q2 2015, Australia stands out globally with the highest interest in video advertising and almost four times the global average for video ad impressions.

Video now accounts for 12.8% of impressions across Opera Mediaworks' demand-side and 55% of dollars delivered to publishers.

Magna Global Research pointed out that Australia's mobile advertising market has grown from AU$149 million in 2012 to AU$2 billion this year. It is expected to more than double that to over AU$4.7 billion by 2018. Mobile internet adoption rates show that over 75% of Australians access the internet via a mobile device, and Opera Mediaworks reaches over 51% of these users (12 million mobile users) every month.

Leading this growth for Opera Mediaworks in Australia will be David Ticconi, recently appointed as Vice President, Sales, whose focus will be to service brand, agency and publisher customers and grow sales operations on the continent.

'Australia is still a growing market for mobile advertising despite its maturity in terms of mobile internet adoption,' says Vikas Gulati, Managing Director, Opera Mediaworks Asia. 'We are delighted to have David lead our sales operations here in Australia to ensure Opera Mediaworks guides our advertisers to reach their target audience and publishers in making the most of their inventory.'

As more of Australia's media companies monetize their mobile properties, only Opera Select is able to service these private marketplaces. These curated mobile marketplaces allow advertisers to position their premium brands alongside premium content. Australian publishers can also set up their own private exchange with agencies and brands, enabling publishers to monetize inventory better than ever before.

'I'm excited to be part of Opera Mediaworks and look forward to driving change in the mobile advertising market. There's a lot of work to be done in creating transparency so that advertisers and agencies have total clarity around all aspects of their mobile marketing,' says Ticconi. 'I believe Opera Mediaworks offers the best in the market for HD mobile video ads and is the only platform that is able to service the growing demand for private marketplaces.'

As the VP of Sales, Ticconi is responsible for supporting and developing strategic mobile advertising campaigns for Opera Mediaworks' clients in Australia. He has extensive professional experience across all media disciplines, with the past 10 years focused on digital media. Having worked with numerous digital and ad-tech startups throughout his career, Ticconi has helped launch behavioral targeting and online ad exchanges in the United Kingdom and Australia.