Forecast: Search to drive mobile past $1.4 billion

Mobile search may be the final frontier for marketers and a new forecast from the Kelsey Group indicates that mobile search will show tremendous growth over the next five years. Mobile search is expected to grow from $33 million in 2007 to $1.4 billion by 2012.

by Kristina Knight

That is a growth rate of 112% per year.

“Advertisers in the U.S. are the most aggressive in terms of messaging to potential U.S. consumers,” said Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group. “Given the relatively high spend levels, we believe advertisers will continue to look into innovative solutions, including mobile, that demonstrate a clear ROI on ad spend.”

Already advertisers are jumping to be the first in the mobile search realm. AOL recently launched a beta test phase for their mobile search offering. The platform offers users search results local business listings and also allows access to local entertainment guides.

The first adopters of the mobile internet are jumping to get more content on their phones. Not only are they searching for local information but they are also logging on to social networking services from their phone. MoBlogs are showing huge growth right now, which is another avenue for marketers to explore.

Exactly how the mobile space will shape up for advertisers remains to be seen, but it appears that users are ready for a more mobile Internet. And if the users are there, advertisers won't be far behind.