The U.S. market for mobile advertising will grow 36 percent, increasing from $169 million in 2008 to $229 million in 2009, according to a new forecast by Interpublic’s Magna.
The prevalence of mobile subscriptions (more than 270 million at the end of 2008 according to the CTIA) and mobile users (more than 224 million individuals, according to Nielsen) has been the main driver. Although the vast majority of these individuals use their phone for voice services, an increasing number have adopted the use of text messaging
The second driver has been increased access to the mobile Web. In January, 22 million individuals accessed the mobile Web daily and 63 million monthly, up from 11 million and 37 million for each frequency during January 2008.
The report found that smartphones are key to growth with 32 percent of AT&T Wireless contract subscribers owning such a device at the end of the first quarter of 2009, more than double that of the previous year.
Apple’s iPhone and its App Store represent a driver of growth on several levels. One is the increased interest among consumers, marketers and carriers for the core product, which results in higher levels of data and mobile web consumptions.
The establishment of an ecosystem of software developers and consumers capable of performing “closed -loop” marketing creates real demand for marketing services inside of the platform.
“Mobile ad networks represent by far the largest sub-sector within mobile advertising, and the greatest growth in absolute terms over the next several years,” the report concludes.
“By aggregating billions of advertising impressions on a monthly basis, ad networks represent the most efficient way to sell the largest possible collection of audiences, and thus have become the primary beneficiaries of increasing mobile web consumption.”
