Mobile Ads Set to Dominate the Market by 2018

For years, television advertising accounted for the highest ad spending, but experts say that’s about to change.

TV usage, which was on top for years, is now surpassed by combined mobile and desktop usage. Mobile usage has also pulled ahead of desktop usage by an extra 29 minutes a day, which can make all the difference to an advertiser. In a couple of years, mobile ad spending will overtake desktop spending, but more industry insiders have their eyes on the big upset predicted for 2018.

Mobile advertising is booming with the explosion of social media and smart phones, and digital ad spending is now expected to overtake television, the long reigning champion of ad spending, for the first time in 2018. According to emarketer, Mobile ad spending specifically is expected to surpass $58 billion in 2018 and account for 71% of digital ad spending in the US.

This change is largely due to the increasing popularity of smart phones. Smartphone brand-targeted audiences are now at 90% ownership, and 85% of people in the US between ages 11 and 64 currently have a smartphone. The total population, however, seems to be remaining at 51% ownership.

Social media usage is just above that statistic at 54%, and now more than 70% of time spent on social media occurs on a smartphone. By the end of 2013, 33% of internet searches were be done from mobile devices, and that number will only increase as more internet users upgrade to smartphones.

More than 60% of all money spent on mobile advertising in the US goes to the biggest social networks: Google, Facebook and Twitter, leading to some concern about lack of competition as we move into a movile ad world. Google alone controls 39% of the money spent on digital ads in the US, and only a handful of companies control the rest of it.

Toms’ chief digital officer, Zita Cassizzi, is referring to the new mobilized social engagement trend as “mocial,” saying that brands need to be mobile in the way they connect socially and social in their mobile activities.

“When it comes to mobile advertising and site design, I simply ask our clients to think about their own behavior,” says Jeremy Simpson, Director of Search Marketing at Suburban Marketing. “It’s hard to argue with yourself.”

According to eMarketer, social ad spending will reach $6.8 billion in the US alone, and a whopping $51 billion will be spent on digital advertising. With most advertising growth being driven by mobile and digital sales, it’s not hard to see how 2018 will change the way we look at advertising.