Global Mobile Advertising Market Valued at $5.3 Billion in 2011

First Initiative by Industry to Size Mobile Advertising Market Globally

The IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence in the U.S., IAB Europe and IHS Screen Digest have joined forces to size the mobile advertising market at global and regional levels. This is the first such initiative by digital advertising trade bodies. Underneath the global figure of $5.3 billion (€3.8 billion) for 2011 are regional shares of: Europe 25.9%; North America 31.4%; Latin America 3.5%; Asia-Pacific 35.9%; Middle East & Africa 3.2%.

Recognizing the growing importance of mobile as an advertising platform, IAB Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence and IAB Europe saw the need to deliver greater insight on investment in the medium.

IHS Screen Digest authored the research based on identification of mobile ad spend reported by IABs, harmonizing the data, and employing statistical and econometric models to infer a global market size, split across advertising formats.

Looking in more detail at the investment in the different formats within mobile the figures reveal:

2011: Mobile ad spend in $million

	Display	Search	Messaging	Total
Europe	367	900	114	1,380
North America	572	811	295	1,677
Latin America	31	74	83	188
Asia-Pacific	491	1,384	41	1,916
Middle East & Africa	44	124	4	172
Global	1,504	3,292	536	5,333

2011: Mobile ad spend in €million

	Display	Search	Messaging	Total
Europe	263	646	81	991
North America	410	582	211	1,204
Latin America	22	53	59	135
Asia-Pacific	352	994	30	1,375
Middle East & Africa	32	89	3	124
Global	1,080	2,364	385	3,829

Alain Heureux, President and CEO of IAB Europe commented “Hyper-personal and always-on, mobile has a tremendous potential as an advertising medium. We are recognizing the need for accurate and comprehensive data to support and provide evidence for its future growth. This is not just a local, or even European affair. As many mobile campaigns are played out in a global ecosystem, the market we have to size spans across borders.”

“As mobile accelerates its global footprint, it is vital that we measure the worldwide and regional opportunities for advertisers,” said Anna Bager, Vice President and General Manager, Mobile Marketing Center of Excellence, IAB. “This key IAB initiative provides an accurate gauge of mobile market developments across the globe, with the aim of helping our members and the industry achieve even stronger growth through mobile.”

Notes:
Market size is gross, defined as after discounts, before agency commissions. Global market sizing and format split is based on reported data by local IABs and a statistical and econometric model. Reported data has been harmonized to adjust for discounts and agency commissions. Modeled data is based on variables such as smartphone penetration, 3G subscriptions, messaging volume. Model has been refined based on benchmarking variables such as ad spend per capita and ad spend per mobile subscriber as well as through interviews with key players across the mobile advertising ecosystem. Model also takes into account typology of mobile ad markets in terms of maturity and format proliferation.