In 5 Years, 4.4% of All Ads will Appear on a Phone Screen

Mobile ads may be a tough market to crack today, but the analysts at Berg Insight believe it will get sorted out — and in a big way.

It estimates that in 2017 4.4 percent of the total global ad spend across all media will be targeted at the phone screen. We’re not just talking about digital advertising — Berg estimates mobile will be 15.5 percent of the total online ad spend. Rather, we’re talking 4.4 percent of all ads, whether they’re shown on TV, staring at you from a billboard or embedded in a website. What’s more, Berg said it was careful how it quantified “mobile.” Ads you view on tablets or other optimized browsing devices don’t count. This would be strictly adverting and marketing that appears on the mobile phone. In real numbers, Berg estimated that mobile ads and marketing comprised a €3.8 billion (U.S. $5 billion) market in 2011, dominated by Google’s AdMob and Apple’s iAd platforms. But Berg is predicting that number will grow by a factor of five into a €19.7 billion market in 2017.