It is estimated that on average close to 4% of online page impressions for desktop formatted web pages is actually viewed on iPad, iPhone, Android-based and similar mobile devices. That portion of traffic is also quickly increasing.

However, the user experience on mobile devices and tablets is different, and as a result online ad campaigns displayed on those web pages get compromised. Sometimes the ads don't fit on the screen, or when users zoom and scroll to the content they are most interested in the ads either disappear or become pixilated.  So what can be done to improve the value of this 'lost' inventory?

The first step to solving the problem is to segregate traffic from mobile devices from that of desktops and laptops.  Advertisers should target smart phones and tablet devices with different ad units versus desktop and laptop computers in their ad server.  Most ad servers don't offer support device targeting so you can setup an external banner with a JavaScript tag that bounces back to an ad server that does.  <shameless plug> Crisp Wireless' Ad Platform is designed specifically to support such capabilities.</end plug>   Also to that purpose, DoubleClick most recently announced an upgrade to DFA to support the targeting of regular desktop banners to specific mobile platforms.  This is definitely a very timely announcement for advertisers who use this product. 

Another very important aspect to improve the effectiveness of campaigns viewed on mobile devices is the ad format itself.  Advertisers should use alternative mobile ad formats that adapt to the zooming and scrolling behavior on touch-screen devices.  Crisp Wireless invented the Adhesion ad format which stays on part of the screen at a pixel perfect resolution regardless all the zooming and scrolling.  Crisp also focuses on providing an easy workflow to agencies and publishers to manage the design differences between mobile and desktop platforms while building rich media ad units and embedding video content.

When using Rich Media ad units from Crisp, all engagement metrics are available in one easy to understand report, which is properly calibrated to provide accurate stats from any mobile platform or desktop browser.

To conclude: It is possible to better leverage the mobile traffic to an online ad campaign when some fairly basic issues are addressed in the setup of the ad units.  Our team at Crisp is addressing these issues in new and innovative ways.  Contact them and they will tell you all about it.