Originally posted on emarketer JANUARY 12, 2012
Ad-supported mobile content revenues will exceed $1 billion by 2015, eMarketer estimates, with the fastest growth coming from ad support for mobile video.
Last year, US mobile video revenues from advertising reached just $37.5 million, but by 2015, advertisers will spend $213.6 million on placements that support mobile video content. Despite such rapid growth, that figure will still be lower than the amounts spent on advertising against mobile games and mobile music, at $65.3 million and $181.4 million, respectively, in 2011 and rising to $269.1 million and $591.5 million, respectively, by 2015.
That year, eMarketer estimates, 29.9% of all mobile content revenues, or $1.07 billion, will come from advertising.
Ad support as a share of total mobile content revenues will grow for each of the three content types over the forecast period. Currently, mobile music has the greatest share of dollars coming from ads, and it will hold that position, with ad dollars making up 73.9% of the total in 2011 and 79.3% by 2015.
But the fast growth of mobile video ad revenues will mean much more substantial changes in revenue composition. While ad dollars made up just 5.4% of mobile video revenues in 2011, by 2015 that figure will more than triple, to 16.5%.
Mobile gaming ad revenues will also rise as a proportion of the total, albeit more slowly, from 13.8% in 2011 to 17.4% by 2015.
Victor Milligan, CMO of mobile ad exchange Nexage, said “A major revenue driver for mobile advertising is mobile-native rich media creative that fits within high-value content, like video. This completes the circle for mobile advertising where high value creative – targeted to the right consumer to create relevance – seamlessly fits into high value content. It certainly creates the ingredients for rapid growth.”
