Smartphone Boom Leads to 83% Global Mobile Ad Sales Growth
Breaking news! The more people buy smartphones, the more money mobile advertisers’ pocket.
And with the interest in the full-feature phones showing no signs of abating – Ericsson CEO Hans Vestberg predicts 50% of all shipped handsets will be smartphones by the end of 2013 – it looks like ad folks should brace themselves for further riches.
Vestberg told this year’s Mobile World Conference: “As we have the internet in our pockets, our virtual and real worlds are coming together. Online interaction enriches our living, working and entertainment and breaks down barriers of time and place. By the end of 2013, there will be more mobile internet users than fixed internet users.”
According to recent figures released by the US Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), IAB Europe and IHS, a research company, global mobile advertising revenues reached a cool $8.9 billion in 2012, an 82.9% increase on 2011 revenues.
In a press release IAB said: “With growth rates of 88.8 percent in search, 87.3 percent in display and 40.2 percent in messaging at a global level, ad spend in these formats reflects bullish growth in the sector.”
Leading the way in the mobile advertising revenue push is still search, to the tune of 52.8% total global spend, or $4.7 billion in 2012. Meanwhile, display ads made up 38.7% and messaging 8.5%.
North America and Asia-Pacific were neck and neck when it came to the territory division of mobile advertising spend, with APAC just pipping North America to the post, with 40.2% and 39.8% respectively.
The overall advertising market share in North America versus global did not fare so well in 2012. It declined from 58% of the total in 2011 to 39.8% in 2012.
Damien Zamora, CEO GoMobile Solutions, likes the trends. “Advertising is a big part of what makes mobile so lucrative. Companies can advertise and take the call from the customer all from one spot.”
