Pandora ads are now worth more than traditional radio ads, Gigaom reports this morning after poring over the company’s first public filing. The company’s mobile apps, however, are still worth less to advertisers than its web application–showing how skewed the ad market still is years after the first innovation of the banner ad.
Bizarrely, Pandora’s ads still seem very basic. Non-subscribers must endure in-stream interruptions with spots that seem largely untargeted. (Once, this reporter remembers hearing an ad for an event in Philly while she was streaming from the West Coast. Come on, Pandora! Help yourself out! Even traditional radio has that geographical targeting right.)
The gap seems to be closing, however, as advertisers realize the advantages of advertising online in different applications. Pandora’s ad victory is an encouraging sign for Turntable.fm, the addictive streaming music site whose game-like elements present new opportunities for creative-thinking advertisers. Between ads and subscriptions, Pandora posted $67 million in revenue for the quarter.
