Mobile Advertising To Reach $1.3 Billion in 2008

Mobile streamed and broadcast TV services will become the most lucrative delivery channels for mobile advertising by 2010, according to Juniper Research, a provider of research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector. The company released a report entitled Mobile Advertising: Delivery Channels, Strategies and Forecasts that estimates total annual adspend on the mobile market will exceed US$1 billion for the first time in 2008, reaching $1.3 billion by the end of the year and rising to nearly $7.6 billion by 2013.

While SMS campaigns currently account for the largest proportion of mobile advertising budget, the increasing popularity of mobile TV services mean that adspend in this area will rise from just $335 million in 2008 to more than $2.5 billion in 2013. Meanwhile, idle-screen advertising is expected to become a significant contributor to total mobile adspend in the medium term, with revenues rising from just $7 million in 2008 to more than $500 million in 2013.

According to report author Dr Windsor Holden, “While adspend in the mobile environment is still extremely limited when compared to the budgets allocated to media such as magazines, television, cinema and the Internet, the opportunities it offers –personalized advertising with very high response rates, delivered to a device which is always in close proximity to the individual – will make it an increasingly attractive proposition for leading brands.”

Other findings from the Juniper report include:

Nearly 1.5 billion mobile users will receive SMS advertising in 2008
China and the Far East will remain the largest regional market for mobile adspend throughout the period covered by the report, with revenues rising from $414 million in 2008 to more than $2.1 billion by 2012
Advertisers will refrain from committing significant budgets to mobile until issues such as lack of inventory, reach and common metrics are addressed by operators and content providers