U.S. Mobile Ad Spend Up 138 Percent in 2010

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Spending on mobile advertising in the U.S. will reach $877.2 million this year, up 138 percent from the $368 million spent in 2009, according to estimates from market intelligence firm IDC.

Despite the hype surrounding the rivalry between Google and Apple in the mobile ad space, the former attracted the majority of spending through the channel, thanks primarily to its offerings in the mobile search space. Google attracted 59 percent of overall mobile ad spend, IDC estimates, compared with a market share of 8.4 percent for Apple, and 6.8 percent for third place provider Millennial Media.

In the mobile display ad space specifically, however, Google has been far from dominant in 2010. IDC estimates Google and Apple attracted a 19 percent share of spend each, followed closely by Millennial Media with a 15.4 percent share. The firm says it expects Google to outpace Apple in display ad sales in 2011, however, as a result of the fact that sales of Android handsets will outpace those of Apple devices.

In terms of overall spend in 2011, IDC predicts a year-over-year growth rate of 120 percent, which would see overall mobile ad revenues reach almost $2 billion for the year.