Presently, the US is the second largest mobile advertising market in the world, behind Japan. In 2010, the US mobile advertising market will be worth $797.6 million, rising to $5.04 billion in 2015.

Aligned with this increase in mobile advertising spend, will be an increase in US mobile users engaging with advertisements on their mobile. Consumer research for mobile^SQUARED by Lightspeed Research reveals that 53% of US mobile users claimed not to have seen  advertising on their mobile. That figure will inevitably increase. Primarily because 49 million mobile users already claim to have actively engaged with an advertisement on their mobile, and if just one-third of that 53% start to engage with mobile advertising, that would contribute an additional 50 million mobile users.

“Mobile is a conversation that all DDB clients want to have now,” says Jeff Swystun, Chief Communications Officer, DDB Worldwide. ”And we are happy to share our experience that when mobile is used effectively it makes all media work harder. We believe that mobile can be an integral component of a larger campaign as long as it works to connect people with people, not just people with brands.”

Following years of promise, the US mobile advertising marketplace has sprung into life, and will become the second billion dollar market ‑ after Japan – during 2011. Yet the true potential of mobile, and the market realisation of advertising on the medium, remains some distance away.

By the end of 2010, mobile advertising will represent 1% of total ad spend in the US. And although mobile is growing faster than online, that is only to be expected given digital was an entirely nascent medium 10 years ago, and has laid down the foundations for mobile to flourish. And flourish the United States of mobile Advertising will.

MOBILE USAGE

• 303 million Americans reported that they own a mobile device (CTIA)
• 96% of the U.S. Population owns a wireless device (CTIA)
• 26.6% of U.S. households are mobile-only, meaning that they do not own a landline phone (CTIA)
• 63.2 million Americans own a smartphone (comScore)
• 50% of consumers ages 25-34 have smartphones (comScore)
• 35% of smartphone users access the mobile Internet from their device (comScore)
• Two-year growth (2008 – 2010) of more than 2,000 percent in mobile-ready web sites. (DotMobi)

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

• 82% of consumers have used their mobile phones in a store (Insight Express)
• 55% percent in a doctor’s office or hospital (Insight Express)
• 17% during a movie at the theater (Insight Express)
• 14% while flying on a plane (Insight Express)
• 7% percent during church service (Insight Express)
• 17% of mobile users have shown a clerk in a store a picture of a product on their mobile phone
• 45% of users check their mobile devices first thing in the morning (Insight Express)
• 1/3 mobile searches have local intent (The Kelsey Group)
• 1/3 of all mobile users already actively engage with Web content on their mobile phones (comScore)
• 53% of smartphone users routinely engage in mobile Web browsing activities
• E-mail represents 41.6% of mobile Internet time for users in the United States (Nielsen)
• 86% of mobile internet users are using their device while watching TV
• Average US mobile user spends 2.7 hours socializing per day on a mobile device

MOBILE ECOMMERCE

• 8% of total eCommerce sales will come from mobile by 2014 (ABI Research)
• Mobile coupon users in North America increased more than tenfold in 2010. Triple-digit increases are expected in both 2011 and 2012. (Yankee Group)
• $2.37 billion of mobile coupon transactions will take place in North America in 2013, up from $5 million in 2010. (Yankee Group)

APPS

• Apple hosts more than 350,000 mobile apps in the Apple App Store
• Apple offers more than 65,000 iPad apps
• Currently more than 150,000 apps in the Android Market
• There were 10.9 billion worldwide app downloads in 2010 (International Data Corp)

ADVERTISING

• U.S. mobile advertising spend was estimated at $743.1 million in 2010 (eMarketer)
• Display mobile advertising spend will reach $334.5 million in total ad spend by the end of 2011, up from $202.5 million in 2010 (eMarketer)
• Spending for ads delivered via mobile apps in the U.S. will explode from $305 million in 2010 to $685 million in 2011 and more than $8 billion by 2015 (Borrell Associates)
• Google currently dominates mobile search advertising, with an ad revenue market share of 91.4 percent.
• 21% of Google’s largest advertisers have a mobile-optimized Web presence. (Google)
• 47% of mobile application users say they click or tap on mobile ads by mistake more than they do on purpose. (Harris Interactive Survey)
• Mobile search advertising spend will reach $295.1 million in 2011 (eMarketer)
• Mobile video advertising spend will reach $50.8 million in 2011, up from $28.3 million in 2010 (eMarketer)
• Mobile made up 3% of total online advertising budgets in 2010. This number will grow to 5% in 2011. (IDC)
• Mobile advertising is four-to-five times more effective than online advertising (InsightExpress)
• iPhone users are more likely to respond to a mobile Web ad than owners of other smartphones. (Luth Research on behalf of the Mobile Marketing Association)
• For smartphone users, seeing a mobile ad triggers a response with 43% of consumers seeing an ad (Luth Research on behalf of the Mobile Marketing Association)

QR CODES

• 65% of consumers have seen a QR code (MGH)
• 49% Of those respondents who had previously seen a QR code have used one (MGH)
• 72% of smartphone users would be likely to recall an ad featuring a QR code. (MGH)
• 35% of U.S. shoppers were interested in using QR codes as shopping tools (In-Store Marketing Institute conducted by Catapult and Ipsos OTX)
• Among those who were identified as being interested in QR Codes, 87% responded with an interest in using QR codes to gain coupons, deals or discounts. (MGH)
• 60% of those interested in using QR codes would use them to make a purchase. (MGH)

SMS / TEXT MESSAGING

• SMS will make up 24% of total U.S. ad spend in 2014, down from 44 percent in 2010 (eMarketer)
• Consumers worldwide will send more than 7 trillion SMS messages in 2011. (ABI Research)
• 36% respond to ads within text alerts, while only 11 percent responded to display ads on mobile Web sites.
• The US sends 187.7 billion text messages every month. (CTIA)

VIDEO

• Mobile video has higher viewer retention than online video, with 94 percent in the first 10 seconds compared to only 81 percent on the PC Internet. (Rhythm NewMedia)
• The number of U.S. mobile users who watch videos on their devices has increased more than 40 percent year-over-year in both the third and fourth quarters of 2010, ending the year at a grand total of almost 25 million people, according to a mobile video report from Nielsen
• These consumers watched an average of four hours and 20 minutes of mobile video per month in both the third and fourth quarter of 2010, which equals a 33 percent and 20 percent year-over-year bump in each quarter (Nielsen.)

TABLETS

• 10.3 million tablet users in 2010 and that number is expected to reach 82.1 million by 2015 (Yahoo Research)
• Tablet sales will grow to 36% of U.S. PC sales, outselling notebooks/mini-PCs, which are expected to be 32% of overall PC sales (Yahoo Research)
• iPad users are open to advertising, especially if coupled with an interesting video (49 percent) or interactive features (46 percent) (Yahoo Research)

SOCIAL MEDIA

• 80 Million Twitter mobile users
• 200 million Facebook users use the service on their mobile phone (Facebook Blog)
• 200 million YouTube views per day (YouTube Blog)
• Women aged 35 – 54 are the most active group in accessing social networks with mobile (Nielsen)
• 30% of smartphone owners have accessed social networks via browser (comScore)
• Nearly 1 in 5 Smartphone Owners Access Check-In Services Via their Mobile Device (comScore)

MOBILE ECOMMERCE
8% of total eCommerce sales will come from mobile by 2014 (ABI Research)
Mobile coupon users in North America increased more than tenfold in 2010. Triple-digit increases are expected in both 2011 and 2012. (Yankee Group)
$2.37 billion of mobile coupon transactions will take place in North America in 2013, up from $5 million in 2010. (Yankee Group)

APPS
Apple hosts more than 350,000 mobile apps in the Apple App Store
Apple offers more than 65,000 iPad apps
Currently more than 150,000 apps in the Android Market
There were 10.9 billion worldwide app downloads in 2010 (International Data Corp)

ADVERTISING
U.S. mobile advertising spend was estimated at $743.1 million in 2010 (eMarketer)
Display mobile advertising spend will reach $334.5 million in total ad spend by the end of 2011, up from $202.5 million in 2010 (eMarketer)
Spending for ads delivered via mobile apps in the U.S. will explode from $305 million in 2010 to $685 million in 2011 and more than $8 billion by 2015 (Borrell Associates)
Google currently dominates mobile search advertising, with an ad revenue market share of 91.4 percent.
21% of Google’s largest advertisers have a mobile-optimized Web presence. (Google)
47% of mobile application users say they click or tap on mobile ads by mistake more than they do on purpose. (Harris Interactive Survey)
Mobile search advertising spend will reach $295.1 million in 2011 (eMarketer)
Mobile video advertising spend will reach $50.8 million in 2011, up from $28.3 million in 2010 (eMarketer)
Mobile made up 3% of total online advertising budgets in 2010. This number will grow to 5% in 2011. (IDC)
Mobile advertising is four-to-five times more effective than online advertising (InsightExpress)
iPhone users are more likely to respond to a mobile Web ad than owners of other smartphones. (Luth Research on behalf of the Mobile Marketing Association)
For smartphone users, seeing a mobile ad triggers a response with 43% of consumers seeing an ad (Luth Research on behalf of the Mobile Marketing Association)

QR CODES
65% of consumers have seen a QR code (MGH)
49% Of those respondents who had previously seen a QR code have used one (MGH)
72% of smartphone users would be likely to recall an ad featuring a QR code. (MGH)
35% of U.S. shoppers were interested in using QR codes as shopping tools (In-Store Marketing Institute conducted by Catapult and Ipsos OTX)
Among those who were identified as being interested in QR Codes, 87% responded with an interest in using QR codes to gain coupons, deals or discounts. (MGH)
60% of those interested in using QR codes would use them to make a purchase. (MGH)
SMS / TEXT MESSAGING
SMS will make up 24% of total U.S. ad spend in 2014, down from 44 percent in 2010 (eMarketer)
Consumers worldwide will send more than 7 trillion SMS messages in 2011. (ABI Research)
36% respond to ads within text alerts, while only 11 percent responded to display ads on mobile Web sites.
The US sends 187.7 billion text messages every month. (CTIA)

VIDEO
Mobile video has higher viewer retention than online video, with 94 percent in the first 10 seconds compared to only 81 percent on the PC Internet. (Rhythm NewMedia)
The number of U.S. mobile users who watch videos on their devices has increased more than 40 percent year-over-year in both the third and fourth quarters of 2010, ending the year at a grand total of almost 25 million people, according to a mobile video report from Nielsen
These consumers watched an average of four hours and 20 minutes of mobile video per month in both the third and fourth quarter of 2010, which equals a 33 percent and 20 percent year-over-year bump in each quarter (Nielsen.)
TABLETS
10.3 million tablet users in 2010 and that number is expected to reach 82.1 million by 2015 (Yahoo Research)
Tablet sales will grow to 36% of U.S. PC sales, outselling notebooks/mini-PCs, which are expected to be 32% of overall PC sales (Yahoo Research)
iPad users are open to advertising, especially if coupled with an interesting video (49 percent) or interactive features (46 percent) (Yahoo Research)

SOCIAL MEDIA
80 Million Twitter mobile users
200 million Facebook users use the service on their mobile phone (Facebook Blog)
200 million YouTube views per day (YouTube Blog)
Women aged 35 – 54 are the most active group in accessing social networks with mobile (Nielsen)
30% of smartphone owners have accessed social networks via browser (comScore)
Nearly 1 in 5 Smartphone Owners Access Check-In Services Via their Mobile Device (comScore)