Communications and Technology Industry Research

The mobile advertising and search market in the U.S. is likely to be worth approximately $1,894 million by 2012, based on revenue, Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) said in a new report.

 

This phenomenal growth will be fuelled by a mobile penetration of 85 percent, and the untapped 250 million mobile users for mobile advertising revenues. Since mobile devices are used by individuals as personal assets, the single-user benefit will increase the efficiency of advertising campaigns.

 

The growth is expected to happen, according to the Frost & Sullivan report, since various mobile data services and applications have provided telecom operators with new channels of communication and connectivity to their target customers.

 

Main channels of communications for mobile advertisements include messaging, wireless application protocol (WAP), mobile video, in-application, and performance-based advertising within search, Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), and other environments.

 

Currently around 15 percent of mobile users in the US use mobile Internet to access information through their mobile devices. This is a potential area for advertising. There is also a considerable uptake in the usage of mobile video services including advertising messages, the Frost & Sullivan analysis said.

 

“Adoption of mobile advertising by the nation’s largest mobile operators and innovative mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) is a testament to the perceived potential of the market,” said Frost & Sullivan analyst Vikrant Gandhi, in a statement. “Mobile advertising efficiently serves the expectations of advertisers, mobile operators, and even subscribers when offered in a highly targeted, non-intrusive manner.”

 

Operators are developing new campaigns for both on-deck and off-deck advertising. Mobile advertising may disturb the privacy of mobile users. This has been a major concern among telecom users.

 

On the privacy issue, the study advised, operators should be prudent while sharing the personal information of their subscribers to ensure that their subscribers do not suffer overzealous marketing efforts.

 

“Though advertisers will want to delineate their target audience by demographics, location, handset, and other parameters, mobile operators should be cautious while providing information to preserve their subscribers’ privacy,” the report added.