Forecast: U.S. mobile ad spending expected to reach $1.23B in 2011

Advertisers are on pace to spend close to $1.23 billion on mobile campaigns in 2011, up from $743 million a year ago (65% year on year growth), according to a new forecast published by eMarketer. Mobile ad spending which includes display ads (e.g., banners, rich media and video), search and messaging-based campaigns and encompasses promotions viewed on both mobile phones and tablets is expected to climb to almost $4.4 billion a year by 2015, thanks to the increased smartphone penetration and surging mobile web access.

Messaging-based formats remain the primary vehicle for mobile ad campaigns, representing 36.1 percent ($442.6 million) of spending this year. As of 2012, banners and rich media efforts will pull even with search, with each bringing in 33 percent of spending (or $594.8 million), while messaging slips to 28.2 percent. By 2015, search will lead with 40.2 percent of mobile ad spending, followed by banners/rich media (36.4 percent), messaging (14.4 percent) and video (9 percent).

Video is the fastest-growing mobile ad format but comes from the smallest base, eMarketer notes. Mobile video ads will account for 4.7 percent of spending in 2011, or $57.6 million. Video is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 69 percent between 2010 and 2015, with advertiser spending set to reach $395.6 million by the middle of the decade.