U.S. Mobile Display Advertisers More than Doubles in Past Two Years

comScore, Inc. SCOR today released results of a U.S. study on mobile advertising, which found that the number of advertisers using mobile display ad campaigns has more than doubled in the past two years, with mobile content and publishing accounting for half of all products advertised on mobile devices. In April 2011, 689 advertisers* used mobile display advertising campaigns to reach consumers, up 128 percent from two years prior, demonstrating the growing use of the mobile channel for advertisers. An analysis of advertised categories revealed that mobile content and publishing accounted for 50 percent of mobile ads, while 26 percent of display advertisements were for consumer discretionary goods. Information technology accounted for 7 percent, while financial services accounted for 6 percent of mobile display ads. Mobile media usage and mobile ad exposure show strong differences between smartphone users and feature phone users. More than 80 percent of smartphone users accessed their mobile browser (82.3 percent) or applications (85.0 percent) during March, while just 19.1 percent of feature phone users utilized their mobile browser and 15.9 percent accessed apps. Smartphone users were also far more likely to see web or in app ads (27.5 percent vs. 5.0 percent) due to their heavier usage of mobile browsers and applications and were also more likely to respond to SMS ads (7.7 percent vs. 3.5 percent). With 31 percent of mobile users now owning a smartphone device, up from just 20 percent a year ago, the opportunity to reach consumers through the mobile channel continues to improve.