Mobile ads could get a boost from Twitter/Omnicom deal

Ad agency Omnicom reportedly it has a $230 million deal to integrate its Accuen ad buying unit with Twitter’s MoPub mobile ad exchange. The 2-year deal will give Accuen first access to Twitter’s new ad units, and should improve Omnicom’s rates and access to ad inventory on the social network. Twitter already has a similar deal with Starcom MediaVest Group, owned by Omnicom rival Publicis. Earlier this month, Publicis and Omnicom said they are calling off plans to merge, abandoning a deal that would have created a the world’s largest ad agency.
The Omnicom/Twitter deal will become more valuable when Twitter starts letting marketers buy ads on its site through its MoPub network. Right now, ads purchased through MoPub only appear on third party sites. MoPub is an ad exchange that connects buyers and sellers. Twitter purchased MoPub last fall for an estimated $350 million.
MoPub is one of several mobile ad exchanges competing in the fast-growing mobile ad market. Others include the Opera Mobile Ad Exchange, Nexage Exchange, and Axonix, which is backed by Telefonica.
Mobile ad spending is projected to hit $31.5 billion this year, up 75% from last year. Dollars spent for online ads still surpass mobile ads by about 3-to-1, according to eMarketer.
Twitter has a long way to go to catch up with Facebook and Google in mobile advertising. Together, Facebook and Google controlled an estimated three quarters of the mobile advertising market last year. Roughly two thirds of Facebook’s ads are mobile ads, and about a third of Google’s are. This year, eMarketer projects that Google will have 47% of the mobile ad market, Facebook will have 22% and Twitter will have less than 3%.
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