Ad rates have dropped 11% in the third quarter, says The Rubicon Project. The cost per one thousand views — CPMs — dropped 11 percent from Q2 to Q3 across the 307 ad networks and 1,300 publishers according to the ad-optimizing firm.
Particularly hard hit: social networks (down 3% q/q), young adult (down 8% q/q), music and entertainment sites. News and reference sites actually saw a 36 percent increase.
According to the Rubicon report, venture capital investment in ad networks dropped from $800 million in 2007’s third quarter and $400 million in the second quarter to just $241 million in Q3.
