A study by analyst firm Juniper Research projects that annual mobile advertising spend will increase to $105 billion globally by 2019 and account for 44 percent of total digital advertising spend – more than doubling from a projected $51 billion this year. A significant portion of the projected increase is attributed to increased digital advertising spend on smartwatches, which could reach $68.6 million by 2019, up from an estimated $1.5 million this year.

The research – Digital Advertising: Online, Mobile & Wearables 2015-2019 – attributed the projected increase in mobile advertising spend to a change in strategy by brands and retailers who now use mobile as the preferred channel through which to engage consumers.

The authors argued that mobile advertising provides advertisers’ with the ability to deliver targeted, personalized and timely advertising via smartphones. Combined with media-stacking trends amongst consumers this leads to high visibility and delivers high response rates to campaigns.

The research also noted an increase in mobile advertising spend across the Far East and China region sparked by widespread uptake of mCommerce retail in China. It projects that the Far East and China region will account for 43 percent of global mobile advertising spend in 2019.

Consumer privacy a concern, ‘opt-in’ approach a must

The research also emphasized growing concerns around consumer privacy, with advertisers often eager to gain insight into consumer behavior, such as shopping habits – both online and offline – through ‘Big Data’ analytics.

It cautioned that consumers are likely to feel that their right to privacy had been violated should it transpire that their information is being used for advertising purposes without their consent. To avoid potential litigation and negative publicity, brands should ensure that consumers are ‘opted-in’ to data sharing, suggested the researchers.

The report also contended that growth in digital advertising will be driven by programmatic advertising (the Real Time Bidding of advertising space) as the technology improves over the next few years. Due to higher engagement rates, video advertising is also set to grow over the projected period.

Viewability concerns, stated the report, remain a barrier to growth and a key issue the mobile advertising industry should address.

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