AUSTIN — The online advertising world is fast moving from the medium screen to the small one. As it does, it can nevertheless recapture some of the advertising benefits boasted by the TV before them, says a mobile ad tech boss.
“Mobile is now the first screen,” Opera Mediaworks CEO Mahi de Silva tells Beet.TV in this video interview. “The desktop ad business started with banner ads… mobile is very unique – you can take over the screen and that user experience is like TV in the palm of your hand.
“Mobile video is the fastest-growing segment within mobile advertising. The same thing marketers love about your 60-inch screen in your living room, we make that happen on a smartphone or tablet.”
Da Silva said mobile video ads had to be brief, six- or eight-second videos that opened up in to full experiences upon user clicks, not 30-second spots shovelled from TV. But that places a new burden on creators. In January, Opera Mediaworks announced Native Video Fund, an initiative to financially assist the creation of mobile video ad campaigns in ways that uniquely fit mobile device demands.
Da Silva says mobile video represented over 50% of company revenue in 2014, up from 9% a year earlier.
Da Silva was interviewed by Beet.TV at the 4As’ (American Association of Advertising Agencies) Transformation 2015 event in Austin, Texas. Our coverage is sponsored by Videology. Please find more coverage from the conference here.
