Mobile Ad Revenues to Ramp Up in 2010, Heavy Reading Predicts

Continued wrestling with formats, standards, and pricing strategies will impede growth of the mobile advertising market, according to Heavy Reading

PRNewswire
NEW YORK
May 15, 2008

NEW YORK, May 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Spending on mobile advertising is beginning to develop worldwide, but mobile ad revenues aren't likely to reach any significant volume until 2010, as market participants continue to wrestle with formats, standards, and pricing strategies, according to a major new report from Heavy Reading (http://www.heavyreading.com/), the market research division of TechWeb's Light Reading (http://www.lightreading.com/).

Mobile Advertising: The Service Provider Revenue Opportunity defines and examines the value chain for mobile advertising and analyzes the potential benefits and challenges for mobile ad market participants, focusing on the key issues relating to mobile network operators. The report evaluates the various mobile advertising formats available today and provides a realistic, analytic perspective on the evolution and growth of this market.

The report delivers a complete accounting of the mobile advertising ecosystem and analyzes the market positioning of 25 key participants in the mobile ad value chain, including advertising agencies, content aggregators, ad networks, search providers, network operators, technology suppliers, and mobile content optimizers.

For a list of companies profiled and analyzed in this report, go to: http://img.lightreading.com/heavyreading/pdf/hr20080515_companies.pdf

"Mobile advertising offers some significant advantages over other media, but also has some limitations," says Aditya Kishore, Senior Analyst with Heavy Reading and author of Mobile Advertising: The Service Provider Revenue Opportunity. "Before selecting mobile as an ad medium, advertisers, vendors, and carriers will need to identify the objectives of their ad campaign, the requirements of the creative products and cost, and the responses required."

Once technology and business model issues are worked out, mobile advertising revenues will show significant and sustained long-term growth worldwide, Kishore says, adding that mobile network operators stand to gain a large percentage of the mobile ad revenue stream. "Mobile advertising offers carriers the greatest opportunity to insert themselves into the advertising value chain," he explains. "Unlike with TV and Internet advertising, which developed before the service providers got involved, carriers have been involved with mobile advertising from the start."

Other key findings of Mobile Advertising: The Service Provider Revenue Opportunity include the following:

Mobile advertising revenues will grow very rapidly, but initial growth will not be as rapid as many anticipate. The mobile advertising ecosystem is still very much in a state of evolution today, with a very high degree of unpredictability. This ecosystem will need more time to develop, and the industry will only exceed $10 billion in annual revenue in 2013.

Wireless carriers' share of mobile advertising revenue will grow to $3.4 billion in 2012. While this represents less than 1 percent of total wireless service provider revenue, it is also just the tip of the iceberg. Mobile advertising revenue will ramp up steadily for the foreseeable future. Carriers now have an opportunity to enter this market at its early stage and influence its development as it expands into a sizeable market.

Mobile ad revenues will not flow evenly to all network operators. Carriers that are aggressive in building their content, search, and advertising businesses will gain a disproportionate share of mobile advertising revenues. The market also will vary significantly by geography, with Japan, the U.S., and the U.K. now best positioned for mobile ad revenues.

Service providers that leverage their "multi-screen" advantage will have the most success in attracting advertising revenues. Advertisers are increasingly interested in "cocooning" their customers within their brand, and thus want their brand messages to be available across device platforms. Service providers offering wireline and wireless services have a unique ability to integrate advertising across the TV, PC, and mobile device. This could offer advertisers significant value, provided it is packaged correctly.

Mobile Advertising: The Service Provider Revenue Opportunity is essential reading for a wide range of industry participants, including the following:

  -- Suppliers of technologies that enable mobile advertising services: How
     will the growing interest of wireless network operators in mobile
     advertising affect your business? Where are the new opportunities for
     market growth? Are your products and marketing messages in line with
     network operator plans and expectations? Is your company clearly and
     correctly aligned in the emerging mobile ad value chain?

  -- Mobile network operators: What is the realistic revenue potential from
     mobile advertising for your organization? What types of technologies
     will your company require to maximize that revenue potential? How will
     ongoing changes in the mobile ecosystem affect your plans and your
     ability to tap into new revenue streams efficiently and profitably?
     Which technology suppliers are in the best position to deliver the
     products you need?

  -- Mobile content providers and mobile advertising enablers: What role
     will mobile network operators play in the emerging mobile advertising
     ecosystem? Will network operators be partners or competitors for mobile
     advertising revenues? Which operators are likely to be most aggressive
     in trying to tap into the mobile advertising market?

  -- Investors: How will the development of mobile advertising affect the
     overall advertising ecosystem? Which technologies and companies are
     emerging as the most likely leaders in this new environment? What role
     are mobile network operators most likely to play in the mobile
     advertising business, and how will that role affect other players in
     this sector?

Mobile Advertising: The Service Provider Revenue Opportunity costs $3,995 and is published in PDF format. The price includes an enterprise license covering all of the employees at the purchaser's company.

  For more information, or to request a free executive summary, contact:

  Dave Williams
  Sales Director, Heavy Reading
  858-485-8870
  dave.williams@heavyreading.com

  Press/analyst contact:
  Dennis Mendyk
  Managing Director, Heavy Reading
  201-587-2154
  mendyk@heavyreading.com


  About Heavy Reading

Heavy Reading is an independent market research organization offering quantitative analysis of telecom technology to service providers, vendors, and investors. Its mandate is to provide the comprehensive competitive analysis needed today for the deployment of profitable networks based on next- generation hardware and software.

About TechWeb

TechWeb (techweb.com/aboutus), the global leader in business technology media, is an innovative business focused on serving the needs of technology decision-makers and marketers worldwide. TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed media brands in the business technology market. Today, more than 13.3 million* business technology professionals actively engage in our communities created around our global face-to-face events Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; online resources such as the TechWeb Network, Light Reading, Intelligent Enterprise, InformationWeek.com, bMighty.com, and The Financial Technology Network; and the market leading, award-winning InformationWeek, TechNet Magazine, MSDN Magazine, Wall Street & Technology magazines. TechWeb also provides end-to-end services ranging from next- generation performance marketing, integrated media, research, and analyst services. TechWeb is a division of United Business Media, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

* 13.3 million business decision-makers: based on # of monthly connections

SOURCE: Heavy Reading

CONTACT: Dave Williams, Sales Director, Heavy Reading, +1-858-485-8870,
dave.williams@heavyreading.com; or Press-analyst contact, Dennis Mendyk,
Managing Director, Heavy Reading, +1-201-587-2154, mendyk@heavyreading.com

Web site: http://www.heavyreading.com/
http://www.lightreading.com/
http://www.techweb.com/aboutus