According to a new research report from the analyst firm Berg Insight, mobile advertising and marketing is expected to grow from $3.4 billion in 2010 at a compound annual growth rate of 37 percent to $22.5 billion in 2016, which means mobile marketing and advertising market will account to 15.2% of the total online advertsing industry pr 3.8% of the total global ad spend for all media. The report also predicts that mobile marketing and advertising has remained on an experimental stage for several years and on its way for a major boom.

“The popularity of smartphones and the increasing availability of mobile media that can include mobile advertising are the main game changers”, said Rickard Andersson, Telecom Analyst, Berg Insight. A common strategy is to increasingly integrate mobile components in traditional media campaigns. “Brands are now progressively embracing the mobile channel, including the entire range of apps from games and entertainment to utility applications. Also mobile web advertising and opt-in SMS campaigns are popular”, said Mr. Andersson.

According to Andersson, more consolidation is expected in the mobile marketing and advertising arena, leaving a handful of large ad networks in place. Specialized mobile marketing firms such as Millennial Media, Smaato and Amobee are growing quickly while traditional powers such as Google, Microsoft, Apple and Yahoo! are in fierce competition over market shares in the mobile advertising and marketing space. Facebook is furthermore poised to establish its presence in mobile advertising arena, and may very well become an important player if it leverages user data for targeted mobile campaigns.

Tags: mobile advertising, Mobile Marketing