Vertical ads grow for real estate and sports

CPMs rise up for some categories in second quarter of 2009, Adify reports

The categories with the highest CPMs for premium inventory on vertical ad networks were revealed today, in a new report published by Adify.

According to the study, real estate CPMs have increased the most, demonstrating 100% growth between Q4 2008 and Q2 2009. For a category whose businesses have been suffering tremendously during the recession, rising CPMs (to $6.49 in Q2 2009) are likely a reflection of healthy vital signs in the market.

Two other categories, sports and entertainment, demonstrated healthy and predictable growth. Due to NCAA games leading up to March Madness, NBA championships, and the fired-up baseball season, Adify says, sports rose 18% in Q2 to $7.09 after a small decline in Q1. The company was also not surprised to see a rise in CPMs for the industry that “tends to fare well during recessions,” entertainment, which as a vertical ad category has risen 19% since October 2008. Finally, news has likewise seen 20% growth over Q4 2008, in spite of decreases since President Obama’s inauguration in Q1.

Besides the categories with notable growth, travel, technology, automotive, and health continued to dominate vertical ad networks with the highest rates. The report does show some fluctuations, but overall it appears that these sectors will continue to bring in the highest CPMs for premium networks.

Adify says that “premium inventory on vertical ad networks have held steady for three consecutive quarters” because of the gains described above. Whether this holds true for non-premium ad inventory is still up in the air.

Old advertising industry veterans with previous experiences at Flycast and comScore, Larry Braitman, Richard Thompson and Russ Fradin founded Adify in the summer of 2005 as a company to provide a platform for the construction and commercialization of premium vertical ad networks.

This latest study analyzed data from campaigns on Adify’s platform, consisting of more than 200 vertical ad networks—like the Hockey Ad Network, the Lesbian Ad Network, and the Travel Channel FlightDeck—and 12,000 sites and blogs.