Mobile adspend to triple by 2016

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Mobile advertising is finally hitting its stride, and global mobile advertising revenue will expand by three and a half times its present level by 2016. That's according to the new Yankee Group report "Mobile Advertising Forecast 2012: Marketing Steps Through the Looking-Glass," which finds high-growth markets such as Brazil, India and China driving the increase.

"Yankee Group identifies mobility as the primary catalyst for disruptive change, and advertising is a prime example," said 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."

The report finds that mobile is moving up the list of priorities for marketers in high-growth markets. In 2016, mobile will drive revenues of USD6 billion in Brazil, India and China -- and become the dominant platform for digital marketing in selected countries.

It also says 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.

The report notes that 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.