Search Ads Account for 52.8% of World's Mobile Ad Revenue in 2012

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Mobile advertising revenue is up across the globe, according to the latest findings from the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). The report showed mobile ad revenue grew 82.8 percent in 2012 to a total of $8.9 billion. This is up from $5.3 billion in 2011.

The study looked at mobile advertising types such as search, display, and messaging. Of the three, search ads brought in the majority of global revenue at 52.8 percent, totaling $4.7 billion worldwide.

Following behind was display advertising accounting for 38.7 percent of global mobile revenue and messaging at 8.5 percent.

So which parts of the world saw the most monetary gain from mobile ads in 2012? The Asia-Pacific region was the leader, claiming approximately 40 percent of the world’s mobile ad revenue. In a near-tie was North America at 39.8 percent.

And North America experienced a 111 percent growth in mobile ad revenue in 2012, according to IAB, with search ads being a key driver of that growth:

The IAB cited several factors that contributed to overall global growth in 2012:

"Key factors for the impressive increase in mobile advertising revenue are rising smartphone adoption/3G and 4G penetration, more time spent on mobile devices and better advertising monetization through targeting ad inventory consolidation."

How did mobile ad revenue stack up against all Internet ad revenue in the U.S. in 2012? According to a recent report, IAB showed mobile accounted for 9 percent of the total online ad revenue.

For more information and specific stats for other areas of the world including Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, check out the study here.

This article was originally published on Search Engine Watch.