The FINANCIAL — Hit games offered free with ad support, and the rise of platforms like the iAd, are helping boost spending on mobile game advertisements around the world as mobile becomes a key channel for casual gaming.
According to Juniper Research, marketers spent $87 million worldwide advertising on mobile games last year. By 2015, the amount will be 10 times greater, at nearly $900 million.
Ads make up only a small portion of total mobile gaming revenues; end-user revenues from paid downloads account for the bulk of dollars in the market. Juniper expects that ad spending will grow more quickly than revenues from users, but that in 2015 user payments will still total 10 times the amount of mobile game ad spending.
eMarketer projects similar shifts in the US mobile gaming market, with ad spending rising from $55.5 million in 2010 to $185.9 million in 2014, when it will make up a larger proportion of total mobile gaming revenues—but still be dwarfed by paid revenues. By the end of eMarketer’s forecast period, ad support will drive 12.3% of US mobile gaming revenues.
In the same year, eMarketer predicts nearly 95 million US mobile users, or 36% of the total, will play games on their devices.
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