Mobile advertising shake up

As the story unfolds, it looks like Apple stole some of the limelight on the day that was meant to be about Google’s new mobile. A mobile advertising power play is taking shape with Apple announcing to have bought a mobile advertising service: Quattro One, earlier this week. This is only a couple of months after Google acquiring AdMob, another advertising service company.

Let’s ask why?

1. rapid increase in 3G mobile devices
According to eMarketer, there will be 656 million 3G enabled smartphones in the US only by 2013, predicting an over 300% increase in only 2 years. (Interesting to note that the other internet-enabled devices are predicted to have some but nowhere near the same increase as 3G enabled smartphones.)



2. increased demand for mobile sites
As the number of 3G handsets will increase so will the demand for mobile sites and mobile content – and as we all know it, advertisers follow eyeballs.

3. ‘show me the money!’
Also according to eMarketer (as quoted in WARC), US mobile ad spend was $416 million (USD) in 2009, but according to forecast, this will reach $1.6 billion by 2013.

So the race is on in the world of mobile. In an obvious attempt, Apple and Google are out there to capture a large chunk of the market now, as among all the internet enabled devices, mobile’s growth is predicted to be the largest.
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