Smartphones now account for more than 32% of phones that ads are served to across BuzzCity mobile ad network | MMA Global

Smartphones now account for more than 32% of phones that ads are served to across BuzzCity mobile ad network

April 24, 2012

BuzzCity, has today issued its latest quarterly report on the current trends dominating the mobile advertising industry.  Key highlights include the impact of the global growth and adoption of smartphones on mobile marketing, as well as identifying those countries where mobile adoption is on an upward curve, such as United Kingdom, South Africa and Nigeria – the latter being a new addition to BuzzCity’s Billion Club*.  In addition certain countries are experiencing triple-digit growth including Kenya, Pakistan and Argentina. 

BuzzCity has seen tremendous growth across its mobile advertising network with a 95% increase against Q1 of 2011.  In this first quarter, more than 45 billion ad banners were delivered across the entire network of more than 10,000 publisher sites, reaching an average of over 300 million unique users per month.

One of the key findings has been the rise of the smartphone across BuzzCity’s ad network with handsets from Apple, BlackBerry, Samsung and HTC continuing to grow – smartphones now account for more than 32% of the phones that ads are served to.  The growth of Samsung has been reflected in the growth of Android platform (11%) in our network.

With increased smartphone adoption showing no signs of slowing down, there will undoubtedly be an impact on increased m-commerce activities.  Based on BuzzCity’s data the UK, United States Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Thailand and South Africa are in a good position for growth.  At least 25% of mobile users in these countries use smartphones and they are very active users, generating more than a billion ads per quarter in each country.

Dr KF Lai, CEO, BuzzCity comments on the report: “The consumer love affair with smartphones is showing no sign of waning.  Smartphones and the functionality that they bring enhance consumers’ lifestyles and fulfil their desire to stay connected whatever they are doing, whenever they are doing it – messaging, shopping, updating and sharing on social networks or making calls.  What marketers need to take advantage of is how they can engage with their target consumer, as mobile as a channel is a multiple touch point for engagement.”

With this backdrop of increased smartphone usage merchants will want to take advantage of the plethora of mobile payments services being offered by various providers, but will need to be aware that the user experience is fragmented over three screens  - PC, TV, mobile devices.  Dr Lai continues: “Delivering performance and a unified user experience across this range of media will be a challenge for many.  It will come down to all parties in the mobile ecosystem -  developers, marketers and retailers - looking at the whole customer journey to determine where best to target their mobile efforts.”

According to BuzzCity’s report, mobile advertising in the UK grew by 157% across the past year, with the UK demonstrating strong growth (23%) during Q1. In this market, the uptake of mobile commerce is expected to drive further growth this year.

Strong African region growth:
• Nigeria - Due to Nigerian traffic growing by 83% against last quarter it moved up to 4th place and entered the Billion Club for the first time.  BuzzCity sees Nigeria as a mobile hotspot as faster networks are put into place with the launch of 4G services.  Nigeria us also an up-and-running economy already when it comes to m-commerce as it already has eight providers operational.
• South Africa – During Q1, South Africa saw double digit growth (18%) and amongst the 8.6 million users, half of them are females. The South African audience remains attractive to international advertisers.
• Kenyan growth continues (29%) and we expect this market to join the Billion Club soon more advertisers take advantage of mobile audiences

To access the BuzzCity Report, please visit reports.buzzcity.com.