Mobile Advertising Growth Expected to Coincide with Release of Google’s New Phones
Although the recession has caused mobile advertising to plateau in recent months, advertising is expected to pick up soon, coinciding with the upcoming release of new Google cell phones built with the company’s Android software, Forbes reports. A new study by Brian Wieser, global director of forecasting for Magna, shows that U.S. advertisers could spend as much as $229 million on mobile ads this year, up 26% from the $169 million allocated to mobile advertisements last year (though up less than was originally anticipated). And Wieser estimates that once the economy accelerates, mobile ad spending could even reach $409 million by 2011. “Every player is investing against the long-term promise of the platform, so I don’t think anyone is slowing down,” he told Forbes.
Wieser added that mobile advertising growth, despite the economic slowdown, has remained promising due to the market’s diverse advertising models for mobile. He said that the high incidence of cellular subscriptions, increased mobile web access, and new mobile applications have also helped drive the popularity of mobile. Meanwhile, Google’s new cell phones are part of its “strategy to accelerate mobile Internet access and generate more revenue by selling mobile ads,” according to Forbes. Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said that he anticipates Android performing very well this year.
In related news, Hitwise has named March 2009’s top 10 mobile websites—which could be significant for mobile advertisers. They are, respectively, MocoSpace, Myxer Tones, MySpace Mobile, Cricket, WeeWorld, PhoneZoo, Sprint – Pictures, goComics, Fun For Mobile, and Yahoo! Mobile.