Mobile Local Ad Revs to Reach $4.5 Billion in 2014

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, April 10, 2014 | 2:37pm CT

U.S. mobile local advertising revenues will reach $4.5 billion in 2014, up from $2.9 billion in 2013, according to BIA/Kelsey, advisor to companies in the local media industry. In its annual U.S. Local Media Forecast (2013-2018), the firm projects mobile local ad revenues to more than triple over the next five years, reaching $15.7 billion in 2018.

According to the forecast, total U.S. mobile ad spending will grow from $11.4 billion in 2014 to $30.3 billion in 2018. By the end of the forecast period, locally targeted mobile ads will represent 52 percent of overall U.S. mobile ad spending.

Driving this localized share of mobile ad revenues is the adoption of mobile local advertising tactics (i.e., geo-fencing, click-to-call, click to map) by national advertisers, who currently account for most U.S. mobile ad spending, and who are expected to take advantage of increasingly available and currently undervalued mobile local ad inventory.

"Advertiser demand will be driven by natural market forces to follow undervalued inventory," said BIA/Kelsey senior analyst and VP/Content Michael Boland. "Mobile advertising's appeal includes higher performance, clearer ROI, tangible conversions and a shorter purchase funnel. These qualities of mobile content and advertising present a rare alignment between typical mobile user intent and advertisers' stated objectives."