Benchmarking Update – 03/30/2023

By Sarah Levitt

New Quarter, New Opportunities

As we reach the end of Q1 (I’m sure everyone is glad to turn the page!) we’re happy to share some positive news heading into the new quarter. 

While Open CPMs are about 15% below March 2022 rates, they hit a 2023 high over the last 2 weeks and are still climbing. Good news for publishers looking for signs of growth in Q2. 

Additionally, impressions are up 30% and revenue is up almost 10% compared to March 2022. Indicating that the adaptability of publisher strategies this year may finally be paying off. 

However, the largest bright spot for publishers is the increase in spend from top advertisers over the last week. Primarily driven by growth in the Private Market (up almost 10% compared to just last week!), revenue is the highest it’s been all year.  

Over the last week, the Shopping, Auto, Pharma, and Beauty categories all had 10%-20% growth in Private spend and hit their highest revenue week of the year. A list of the Top 20 advertisers with the largest Private market increases this week are included in the chart below. It’s interesting to note 13 of the 20 also hit their highest spending week of the year!  As Q2 begins, we’ll see if the residual momentum from March carries over. Additionally, the dramatic impact we saw last April from the Russia/Ukraine war shouldn’t have the same implications this year — potentially setting up what we hope is a successful Q2!

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