Mobile ad spending will total almost $12 billion annually in 5 years, says eMarketer
Mobile may be the youngest member on the roster of major advertising channels, but it's been making quite a name for itself in recent months. That momentum should only accelerate now that eMarketer's latest mobile ad revenue growth projections have presented brands with a compelling case for diversifying their ad investments.
Rich media drives growth
As it stands, just $1 out of every $100 that U.S. ad publishers are spending is being allocated for mobile campaigns, for a total of $2.6 billion. But according to eMarketer, that $2.6 billion is expected to more than quadruple to $11.9 billion over the next five years as more companies double down on search and display ads.
Rich media will be carrying the flag for mobile display ads, according to eMarketer, with investments in banner ads remaining strong as well. Analysts also noted that despite all the chatter that surrounds it, mobile video will continue to be only a small piece of the advertising puzzle for the foreseeable future.
Social networks race for mobile ad dominance
Media analysis of the eMarketer report has focused largely on one finding: Twitter outearned Facebook in mobile ad revenue by a margin of $129.7 million to $72.7 million. This statistic stood out because Facebook has made a concerted effort to improve its standing in the mobile ad space.
Although some analysts---including eMarketer---show that Facebook is on track to outpace Twitter on mobile ad revenue within a few years, others are skeptical. A blog post for Kapitall, a mobile investment application, argued that Facebook needs to improve its mobile app before seeing any significant growth in associated ad revenue, given that the app still has issues with basic functions like copying and pasting text.
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