Mobile search spend to hit $17B by 2018: study

Although mobile Web will continue to dominate search budgets in the next four years, there will also be a shift towards more in-application spend, according to a new study from Juniper Research.

Juniper’s new “Mobile Search & Discovery: Market Prospects 2014-2018” report looks at how mobile search will grow primarily through location-based apps and hyperlocal targeting in the next four years. With more time-sensitive searches taking place on smartphones and tablets, mobile is increasingly becoming the platform that marketers are investing more in versus desktop with specific, targeted keywords.

The expected $16.8 billion mobile search industry in 2018 represents a jump from $6.4 billion in 2013. When it comes to tactics that marketers use, mobile Web will continue to dominate the majority of mobile search spend, demonstrating the power that Google will continue to show in the years ahead. Juniper’s study also looks at which markets will spend the most in terms of mobile search.

The Far East and China will bring in the majority of mobile search spend by 2018. In 2013, North America represented the area with the largest amount of mobile spend in 2013, indicating that the growth in mobile search advertising will grow globally in the next few years. Juniper expects that North America will be the No. 2 area in terms of mobile search spend by 2018, followed by Western Europe. Other key areas include the rest of the Asia Pacific region and India.