Mobile Advertising To More Than Triple By 2016

A new Yankee Group ^[1] report Mobile Advertising Forecast 2012: Marketing Steps Through the Looking-Glass finds that mobile advertising is finally hitting its stride, with global mobile advertising revenue expected to expand by three and a half times its present level by 2016.

^[2]The Boston-based company says that high-growth markets such as Brazil, India and China are driving the increase.

“Yankee Group identifies mobility as the primary catalyst for disruptive change, and advertising is a prime example,” says Jason Armitage, Yankee Group principal analyst and author of the report. “Marketers approached this platform initially as an extension of online, but that approach is no longer sustainable for a platform topping 6 billion subscriptions. Mobile advertising has begun to deliver returns—and those returns will flow to companies that draw on user data to design, personalize and deliver effective mobile advertising.”

Findings from the report include:

Mobile advertising is exploding in new geographies. Mobile is moving up the list of priorities for marketers in high-growth markets. In 2016, mobile will drive revenues of U.S.$6 billion in Brazil, India and China—and become the dominant platform for digital marketing in selected countries.

Digital marketers must court tablet owners. Tablets generate six times the advertising revenues of the feature phones that dominated the market five years ago, and they are driving fast into the mass market. In 2016, over a quarter of smart mobile devices globally will be tablets.

Users will trade personal information for utility. Mobile advertising’s weak point has been a lack of data on the user. Apps are helping to fill that gap and drive better-targeted ads. Among app downloaders, more than 22% of smartphone owners and 27% of tablet owners clicked on an in-app ad during the first three months of 2012.