Forecast: Mobile to push $3 billion by 2014

Brands and consumers can expect more advertising in the mobile realm over the next three years. A new forecast from BIA/Kelsey suggests that US mobile advertising will reach at least $2.9 billion by 2014.

by Kristina Knight

Comparatively, US mobile revenue reached only $491 million in 2009. That would place the 2014 figure at a compounded annual growth rate of 49%. Much of the spending will be placed with mobile search, but display and SMS messaging will also play a part in the increased spending.

"We expect to see more bundling of mobile advertising by digital and local media companies, in an effort to lower the barriers for adoption by small and medium-sized businesses," said Michael Boland, program director, BIA/Kelsey. "As a result, mobile advertising will move down market to SMB and mid-market segments, increasing the overall revenue opportunity and share of geo-targeted ads. This down-market shift will be coupled with large advertiser evolution and adoption of mobile local ad distribution."

The overall online ad spend is also expected to see significant growth over the same period. The forecast suggests that mobile search ad revenue (US) will grow from $59 million to $1.6 billion, mobile display ad revenues to increase from $206 million to $803 million and SMS ad revenues to increase from $226 million to $562 million.

Local ad revenues are also expected to increase, growing from $213 million in 2009 to more than $2.03 billion by 2013, that is a 57% (CAGR) increase.

Why the increase in mobile spending? Because consumers are moving to mobile. With the rapid conversion to smartphones and workers' increased use of mobile devices from laptops to tablet, brands know they need to be in the mobile space to compensate for that movement.

Tags: BIA/Kelsey Group, mobile advertising, mobile devices, mobile forecast, mobile marketing