List Rental Prices See First-Ever Decline

Worldata SVP: Findings are extraordinary, yet not surprising.

By Chandra Johnson-Greene
10/06/2008

Since the company first began keeping track of list rental prices 20 years ago, Worldata has for the first time reported a downward trend in every single category for the Fall 2008 period, including permission-based email b-to-b, which showed the largest price decrease from the previous year.

Publishers often hire brokers to act as “agents” on their behalf in the list rental market. These brokers are able to market the lists to prospective buyers based on numerous criteria, including category and demographics.

Permission-based e-mail b-to-b, which is the highest priced category, saw a decrease of $12 per thousand to a straight average price of $293 per thousand. The second largest price decrease occurred in the permission-based email b-to-c lists, which saw a decrease of $11 per thousand.

“The findings are extraordinary, yet not surprising, considering this is a mirror of the U.S. economic conditions," Worldata senior vice president Ray Tesi said in a statement. “It is likely this trend will continue, at least for the next quarter or two until the U.S. economy is stabilized. We are seeing strong usage in the Technology, Small/Medium Business, and HR channels of the business-to-business category, as b-to-b marketers take advantage of this attractive pricing.”

Cost-per-lead data also saw a slight decrease in the consumer and b-to-b categories. Cost-per-lead consumer programs averaged $1.15 per lead, a 4.17 percent decrease from last quarter, cost-per-lead b-to-b programs averaged $4.80 per lead, a 2.4 percent decrease, and white paper syndication cost-per-lead programs showed an average of $12.50 per download, a 3.85 percent decrease.

In order to reflect the country’s increasing utilization of international lists to grow its businesses, international b-to-b email pricing is being tracked in the index first time—it averaged $420 per thousand during the fall quarter.