Mobile Share of Digital Ad Spend to Rise Sharply

Given the fact that an ever larger share of internet usage happens on mobile devices, it is no surprise that advertising dollars are shifted to mobile as well. According to a new forecast published by eMarketer, the mobile share of digital ad spend in the U.S. could increase from 12 percent in 2012 to more than 50 percent in 2017.

Search advertising is tipped to see the quickest shift to mobile. By 2017, eMarketer predicts, the mobile share of search advertising expenditure could reach 60 percent or $15.2 billion. Given these numbers, Google’s decision to develop a mobile operating system and give it away for free makes a lot of sense. After all, Android has helped Google to seamlessly carry its dominant position to the mobile marketplace as well.