San Mateo, Calif. - May 18, 2016

The majority of mobile-ad impressions occur within Games apps; ads served in Music, Video & Media apps get 3X the average clickthrough rate

Mobile apps that fill the role of entertainment and information-gathering for consumers have exploded in popularity and are now reaching audiences as large as some of the top broadcast and cable TV shows, observes Opera Mediaworks in its Q1 2016 Mobile First Insights report.

The music-discovery app Shazam, for instance, had 18.3 million unique users in February 2016, which is 44% more reach than an episode of The Walking Dead that aired the same month to 12.7M viewers. WeatherBug, with 8.7 million users, had slightly more 'views' than Survivor (8.4M) and significantly more than the award-winning drama series Scandal (5.9M), the company found when comparing comScore app data to Nielsen ratings.

The mobile device has evolved from a simple communication tool to being a primary source of news and entertainment, the company noted in the report. Consumers now reach for their phones not just to text, talk and scroll through social feeds but to play games, watch videos and movies, listen to music, scan news articles, check sports scores and weather forecasts.

Looking at U.S. traffic data from Opera's mobile ad platform, which reaches 1.4 billion users globally and adds a new app every 14 minutes, the company found that more impressions were served to Games apps, followed by News and Information. Social Networking followed at no. 3, with Arts & Entertainment and Music, Video & Media rounding out the top 5 categories.

But it's not just a boost in volume that has sharpened advertiser interest in high-quality entertainment apps. Comparing click-through rates by category to the platform's averages, Music, Video & Media apps get the highest engagement on their ads, and Games is no. 1 for conversions. Travel, Lifestyle and Sports apps also saw significantly higher clickthrough-rates on Q1 campaigns.

'With CTRs on mobile apps being twice that of mobile web, and generating 13 times more revenue, we knew we were living in a mobile-app world,' observes Opera Mediaworks CEO Will Kassoy. 'But what became clear to us after looking at early-2016 data is which mobile apps are driving the trend. The publishers that are providing high-quality news, media and entertainment for their users, or those that are presenting information in the best way possible - those are 'today's premium,' the environments where advertisers will find the most value, anywhere.'

Opera's report also contains in-depth sections on Technology and Creative topics that are most relevant for mobile advertisers today. The Q1 2016 issue addresses the following:

  • What is a mobile SDK - and why it could mean the difference between a poorly targeted campaign and a highly accurate one.
  • Purpose-built mobile creative - two examples (360° video, and haptic effects) of new, up-and-coming technologies that leverage the native hardware and software capabilities of a phone.

To read the full report, please visit http://operamediaworks.com/innovation-and-insights/mobile-first-insights/2016-q1.

About Opera

Opera enables more than 350 million internet consumers worldwide to connect with the content and services that matter most to them. Opera also helps publishers monetize their content through advertising and advertisers reach the audiences that build value for their businesses, capitalizing on a global consumer audience reach that exceeds 1 billion.

Opera is a trademark of Opera Software AS.

Opera Software ASA published this content on 18 May 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
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