SEATTLE - Sept. 16, 2009 - Mpire Corporation, a market-leading ad optimization technology company, today released the results of its initial AdXpose®™ testing, which showed significant impression fraud and URL padding in standard run of network (RON) online ad buys. Three separate test campaigns were conducted in July 2009 consisting of 11 campaign buys across nine ad networks and exchanges, delivering more than 20 million impressions with ads from 53 advertisers/agencies. The findings were independently verified by Radar Research in August 2009.
AdXpose®, Mpire’s patent-pending campaign analysis, verification and optimization technology, provides brand marketers and interactive agencies deep campaign performance insights and site-level data analysis, where impressions, click-throughs and user engagement rates can be measured. Also, impression fraud can be detected when a site exhibits high click-through rates but low user engagement with an ad, as would occur with the use of an automated bot or script.
Initial findings from the test campaigns include:
Other insights uncovered by Mpire reveal that ad networks fall short on delivering "above the fold" ad placements, resulting in decreased campaign performance and increased costs. Mpire also found that by leveraging site-level performance data from AdXpose®, advertisers were able to improve user engagement by nearly 40 percent and virtually nullify click fraud, as one test campaign on a top ad network showed.
"Click fraud and impression fraud is far more pervasive than the industry has been willing to admit, yet thus far the industry has taken a laissez-faire approach to policing downstream traffic providers, leading to material waste in campaign budgets," said Marissa Gluck, principal analyst at Radar Research. "By delving deeper into site-level data, advertisers and agencies can get a better understanding of the impact of fraud on campaign ROI, and can thus take steps to focus their ad spend on the sites, networks and exchanges that deliver the most legitimate impressions and clicks."
Impression fraud and URL padding remain unchecked, because, on the surface, the ad network or exchange seems to satisfy its performance obligations dictated by ad agencies and media buyers. However, by leveraging AdXpose®’s site-level data, advertisers can exert pressure on agencies, ad networks, exchanges and publishers to improve performance and/or demand charge-backs for campaign shortcomings.
“In many cases, networks and exchanges are aware that issues exist but lack both the technology and incentive to address the problem. Our goal is to be the catalyst advertisers and agencies need to make sweeping changes within our industry,” said Kirby Winfield, Chief Revenue Officer, Mpire Corp. “When advertisers and agencies leverage site-level performance data, it will force more transparency into this process and improve campaign ROI for everyone involved.”
Editors Note: A copy of the Radar Research report based on the Mpire AdXpose® tests is available at www.mpire.com/adxposerevealed.
About Mpire Corporation
Mpire is the market-leading advertising optimization technology company that is evolving traditional online advertising into a more relevant and engaging medium for publishers and advertisers. AdXpose™ is its patent-pending optimization technology that gives brand marketers and agencies campaign verification and optimization anywhere their ads run across the Internet, including exchanges, ad networks and direct publisher placements. Backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Ignition Partners, Mpire is based in Seattle, Washington.
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Eric Sokolsky
Sparkpr for Mpire Corp.
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