Total advertising spend on mobile search and discovery is expected to triple in the next four years, according to hi-tech analysts, Juniper Research.
A figure of $16.8 billion is forecasted for 2018 as mobile search advertising in web search, local search apps and discovery apps make their mark on consumers as they become increasingly reliant on smartphones.
The greatest volume of spend will come from the more established markets such as North America, western Europe, the far east and China. However, Juniper states that the market is fairly nascent in the more developing nations.
GPS and personalisation
The Mobile Search & Discovery: Market Prospects 2014-2018 report, reveals how improvements to location-based technologies such as GPS and map apps, aided by their wider roll-out, will make it easier for advertisers to target nearby consumers.
If users are attempting a local search on their smartphone, there’s a chance that they are further along the purchase funnel and could be persuaded to convert with the help of several personalised campaigns.
Looking to the future, Juniper’s white paper predicts that search engines and device manufacturers will develop natural language search solutions, which is where intelligent personal assistants such as Apple’s Siri will come into their own.