Mobile Advertising Spend Will Hit $7 Billion in the U.S. in 2013

iPhone - mobile adsAccording to a report from the IDC, mobile ad spend will increase 55-65 percent to finish 2013 at around $7 billion in the U.S. In 2012, the mobile advertising market grew 88 percent, which was slower than the 125 percent growth in 2011. The IDC also shares that mobile display ads got $1.7 billion in spending in 2012, up from just $0.7 billion in 2011.

Facebook was the top mobile publisher selling display ads last year, taking in $234 million in gross revenue. Pandora followed with $229 million, while Twitter was third with $117 million.

However, when it came to mobile ad networks, Google remained No. 1 with $243 million, followed by Millennial Media with $151 million and Apple with $125 million.

Mobile search ads saw $2.8 billion in spending in 2012, according to the IDC.

Meanwhile, eMarketer expects mobile ad spending in the U.S. to hit $7.3 billion this year, while BIA/Kelsey expects that number to be $5.4 billion.