Mobile Advertising to Grow, Mobile Spam to Decrease
Mobile advertising spending in the U.S. is expected to grow relatively modestly in 2009, according to eMarketer. However, the medium is expected to see more rapid growth beyond this year.
eMarketer indicates that mobile ad spending in the U.S. in 2008 was $648 million, 35 percent higher than in 2007.
This figure is expected to grow 17.3 percent in 2009 to $760 million in 2009.
In 2010, eMarketer anticipates mobile ad spending to jump 30.9 percent to $995 million. This figure is expected to reach $1.4 billion in 2011, $2.4 billion in 2012, and $3.3 billion in 2013.
“The true turning point for the industry was the introduction of the smartphone, heightened by Apple’s iPhone launch in mid-2007,” the eMarketer article about its “Mobile Advertising and Usage” study noted. “The development of third-generation (3G) mobile phones led to better connection speeds, Wi-Fi connectivity and the rise of mobile Internet browsing.”
The firm also noted that more transparent pricing plans for mobile data services has also helped ad spending in this arena to grow.
eMarketer also notes that better phones, improved networks and richer content have all made the mobile realm more appealing to marketers.
However, the mobile channel’s performance for advertisers still needs to see some improvement. In Datran Media’s Annual Marketing Survey 2009, only 9.2 percent of respondents said that the mobile advertising channel had performed strongly for their companies, compared with 80.4 percent for e-mail and 56.8 percent for search.
Last week, the m-Spam Act was proposed by two U.S. senators. If passed, the act would grant the Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission more power to pull the reins on mobile spam and block commercial text messages to mobile phone numbers listed on the Do-Not-Call registry.
According to Ferris Research, about 1.5 billion test messages were received by mobile phone users in 2008, though only a text message spam was a “negligible” problem compared to e-mail spam.
“Mobile spam invades both a consumer’s cell phone and monthly bills,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), in a statement. Snowe, along with Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) co-sponsored the act.
Snowe also cited concerns of viruses and malicious spyware becoming bigger concerns in the future.
Sources:</strong
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1007007
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=103493
