We all know location-based ads are booming. According to a new report by Berg Insight, the total value of the global real-time mobile location-based advertising and marketing market will grow from 192 million EUR in 2011 at a CAGR of 91% to 4.9 billion EUR in 2016. This will then correspond to 28.3% of all mobile advertising and marketing, 4% of digital advertising, or 1% of the total global ad spend for all media.
Mobile advertisers have been experimenting with such ads for several years, and the industry is now well poised to hit mainstream thanks to the growing number of handsets shipping with location-based technologies like GPS receivers and other sensors.
Berg’s Telecom Analyst Berg Insight argues that both major brands and local merchants are progressively embracing location-based advertising across the range of mobile formats.
However, the industry is still in its infant phase, consisting of a large number of players involved in the ecosystem. Major digital and telecom players such as Google, Apple and Nokia are competing to gain market shares in the space alongside mobile operators, LBS players, location-aware apps and media, mobile coupon providers, mobile search companies and proximity marketing providers. Needless to say, further consolidation is expected with bigger companies acquiring smaller rivals… Additional information on Berg’s report is available from the this PDF file.