Worldwide mobile advertising revenue is forecast to reach $3.3 billion in 2011, more than double the $1.6 billion generated in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc.

Revenues will reach $20.6 billion by 2015, but not all types of mobile advertising will generate the same opportunity. Search and maps will deliver the highest revenue, while video/audio ads will see the fastest growth through 2015.

North America and Western Europe are the regions where mobile advertising budgets will grow most, representing 28 per cent and 25 per cent of the global market by 2015. However, Asia/Pacific and Japan will remain the leading market throughout the forecast period. Asia/Pacific and Japan is forecast to account for 49.2 per cent of mobile advertising in 2011, and 33.6 per cent of the global market in 2015.

Budgets set for big growth

“Mobile advertising is now recognised as an opportunity for brands, advertisers and publishers to engage consumers in a targeted and contextual manner, improving returns,” said Ms Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner. “For that reason, mobile advertising budgets are set to increase tremendously across the various categories and regions, growing from 0.5 per cent of the total advertising budget in 2010 to over 4 per cent in 2015.”

“As the adoption of smartphones and media tablets extends to more consumers, the audience for mobile advertising will increase and become easier to segment and target, driving the growth of mobile advertising spend for brands and advertisers,” said Andrew Frank, research vice-president at Gartner. “Brand marketers who want to include mobile in their advertising initiatives should not delay their trials, and should have their budgets in place now to take advantage of mass consumer adoption of smartphones and media tablets.”

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