Mobile advertising had a very good year in 2013, hitting an estimated $13 billion in spending over the past year. But that’s only the start of the smiles for folks who make their money through mobile ads.
2014 is set to outdo 2013, according to market research firm Gartner. The $13.1 billion in spending is expected to increase to $18 billion by the end of this year but even that is the tip of the iceberg. The mobile advertising market is thought to reach a global value of just shy of $42 billion by the end of 2017.
Gartner research director Stephanie Baghdassarian said in a statement “Over the next few years, growth in mobile advertising spending will slow due to ad space inventory supply growing faster than demand, as the number of mobile websites and applications increases faster than brands request ad space on mobile device screens.”
“However, from 2015 to 2017, growth will be fuelled by improved market conditions, such as provider consolidation, measurement standardisation and new targeting technologies, along with a sustained interest in the mobile medium from advertisers.”
Gartner believes that growth in Africa, along with a collection of similar countries, will bypass the global average from about 2015. Given South Africa’s mobile penetration, we’re likely to be one of the front-runners in advertising spend for our region by then.