Global mobile advertising market to reach $12.8bn in 2013

The global mobile advertising market is expected to grow in revenue from $8bn in 2012 to $12.8bn in 2013, according to the latest research published by Informa Telecoms & Media.

Although mobile advertising revenues are growing year-on-year, brands and advertisers are still spending much less on mobile compared with the amount they spend on PC/desktop, TV, print and radio, the research firm said.

It also identified barriers regarding the analytics and insights available on mobile usage as a reason why brands tend not to advertise extensively on mobile.

“There is growing recognition of the importance of the mobile medium but when it comes to advertising, most brands and advertisers have not yet managed to effectively engage users and consistently achieve the desired returns with mobile advertising campaigns”, said Shailendra Pandey, senior analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media.

Revenues from display ads on mobile sites and mobile search will account for the largest share of mobile advertising revenues in 2013, according to Informa. However, advertising in mobile apps will see stronger growth as many ad-networks are now seeing greater revenues being generated via in-app advertising.

Mobile operators can only expect a very small share of revenues from mobile internet advertising though, explained the research firm. Nonetheless, they will continue to take a large share of revenues from messaging and voice-based mobile ad campaigns.

Messaging and voice will continue to play an important role in mobile advertising as many Internet-based campaigns also rely on SMS short codes or a click-to-call function for consumer response, explained Pandey.

“Mobile operators should think of the possible benefits in the wider context with mobile advertising. They might not get direct revenues from mobile advertising but it can help them to develop and offer a more compelling suite of m-commerce services, increase subscriber loyalty and help to reduce churn on their networks,” he said.