Global Mobile Ad Revenue Will Hit $11.4 Billion in 2013

Mobile advertising revenue worldwide will hit $11.4 billion this year, according to Gartner. This would reflect a 17.0 percent increase from the $9.8 billion in global mobile ad revenue in 2012.

According to Gartner, of the $11.4 billion in mobile ad revenue expected in 2013, $3.8 billion, or 33.5 percent, will come from North America, while $4.9 billion, or 42.5 percent, will come from Asia/Pacific and Japan. Meanwhile, Western Europe will account for $1.9 billion of mobile ad revenue, while the rest of the world will account for $788 million.

Gartner notes that North America and Western Europe are catching up to the Asia-Pacific market, thanks to “360-degree advertising campaigns,” or ad campaigns that are multiplatform in nature.

“Smartphones and media tablets extend the addressable market for mobile advertising in more and more geographies as an increasing population of users spends an increasing share of its time with these devices,” said Andrew Frank, research vice president at Gartner. “This market will therefore become easier to segment and target, driving the growth of mobile advertising spend for brands and advertisers. Mobile advertising should be integrated into advertisers’ overall marketing campaigns in order to connect with their audience in very specific, actionable ways through their smartphones and/or tablets.”

The company expects mobile advertising to overtake mobile search, though for the time being it will be divided between in-app and mobile browser advertising placement. Web-based display spending will leapfrog in-app display advertising in 2015.

Global mobile ad revenue is expected to hit nearly $24.6 billion in 2016, according to Gartner.

These estimates appear a bit more conservative than eMarketer’s recent projection of $13.6 billion in mobile ad spending this year, up 61.6 percent from the $8.4 billion spent last year. By 2016, eMarketer expects global mobile ad spending to hit $36.9 billion.