Mobile Advertising in 2012: iOS and Mobile Gaming Thrive, but Industry Problems Remain

Opera recently published its retrospective of mobile advertising in 2012, which includes the top 10 highlights of the year.

1) The iPhone 5 was the most successful new mobile device of the year. About four months after it launched, Apple’s smartphone accounted for 16.1 percent of all iPhone device traffic on Opera’s mobile ad platform.

2) iOS finished the year with the biggest share of mobile ad impressions (44 percent), followed by Android (29 percent).

3) The iPad boasted an eCPM of $4.42, making it far and away the leader of the pack.

4) Notable publishers of 2012 include IMDb, Pandora and Demand Media.

5) The fastest growing emerging markets were Russia and Ukraine. The U.S. accounts for 65 percent of ad impressions served, down from 73 percent at the beginning of 2012.

6) There was a huge surge in demand for mobile ads targeted at the Hispanic consumer segment.

7) Kia’s “Build a Car” tap-to-expand was dubbed the most innovative mobile ad unit of the year, according to Opera.

8) The “Music, Video & Media” publisher category led all other categories with nearly 24 percent of all mobile ad impressions. The category tied with “Entertainment” to lead the way with 15 percent of revenue.

9) Sports-related mobile sites and apps started 2012 accounting for less than 4 percent of mobile ad revenue, but now accounts for nearly 14 percent of monthly revenue on Opera’s platform.

10) The mobile gaming category boasted the top-performing campaign, which had a click-through rate (CTR) of 2.1 percent.

According to eMarketer, U.S. mobile ad spending increased 180 percent this year to $4.1 billion, thanks in large part to the success of “native” ad formats (e.g., Facebook’s mobile news feed ads and Twitter’s promoted products). This figure is expected to hit $20.9 billion by 2016.

Gaudy numbers aside, a case can be made that mobile advertising is a channel that is still saddled with unfulfilled expectations and facing hurdles to true success. One of the reasons for this is the “fat-finger problem” that mobile ads deal with