According to Berg Insight, the total value of the global mobile marketing and advertising space will increase from $3.8 billion in 2011 to $19.7 billion in 2017. The mobile device will account for 4.4 per cent of the total global advertising spend for all media by 2017.
The report from Berg Insight estimates that expenditure on mobile advertising will increase rapidly, which resonates well with the increasing amount of time people spend on the mobile channel at the expense of traditional media. Rickard Andersson, telecom analyst, Berg Insight, says, “Consumers are currently devoting a quarter of their media consumption time on mobile devices, yet the channel only attracts slightly more than one per cent of the advertising spends.” The transition of advertising expenditure from traditional media to digital channels has not kept up with the changes in consumer behavior.
Andersson, adds, “The unique targeting possibilities and new creative advertising units suitable for mobile devices will contribute to mobile advertising spends increasing several fold in the medium-term.”
According to Anderson currently, advertisers are keen on exploring opportunities with real-time bidding enabling automation in the advertising buying process. Currently, the mobile value chain is fragmented and the industry has not yet reached maturity.
As per the report, mobile operating system providers Google and Apple hold the majority share in the mobile marketing space with the advertising platforms AdMob and iAd, respectively.
Microsoft and Yahoo! are also aggressively targeting clients in the mobile advertising business. However, in near future social networking site Facebook is likely to emerge as an important player it offers advanced user targeting coupled with innovative mobile advertising formats.
Berg Insight notes that besides these players, the mobile advertising industry has specialised players as well. These players are independent advertising networks like Millennial Media and InMobi, the advertising exchange Smaato and the operator-centric advertising solution provider Amobee (now a part of Singtel).
According to Berg Insight, going forward, the mobile advertising industry will witness a lot of acquisitions and further consolidation. In the next few years, the industry will have an ecosystem comprising of a few dominant digital advertising networks dominating devices operating on different platforms.
