Last week the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released a new report on the size of the global mobile advertising market. You can access the full IAB report here. The report shows that mobile advertising revenue surged 65% to $32 billion (€24 billion) globally in 2014:
One interesting finding from the report is that mobile display edged out mobile search as the largest category of mobile adverting in 2014 – increasing from 41.5% of the overall market in 2013 to 47.4% in 2014 and representing an 88% increase in size. The search category increased 55% year over year.
From a geographic perspective, North America represented 45% of the global market and witnessed the highest growth of any region – a 77% increase from 2013 to 2014. What’s interesting to note is the difference in ad formats utilized in different areas of the world. For example, in North America and Europe, display and search are relatively similar in size and comprise over 95% of the market. In Latin America and the Middle East and Africa, messaging is a much higher portion of the overall mix – 47% and 36%, respectively. Clearly different consumer preferences and marketing strategies are warranted in different global markets.
Data from DialogTech Insights, the market research arm of DialogTech, supports these trends. Recent research shows that phone calls (a frequent conversion path on mobile devices) from mobile marketing sources were up 34% over the six month period ended May 2015 across DialogTech customers, with the majority of these calls from the display and search channels.
As mobile proliferation continues, consumers in different markets are engaging with companies and brands in new ways. As marketers increase their investments in mobile ad formats, understanding these behaviors will be critical to measuring and maximizing the success of their strategies.