Mobile Local Ad Spend Set to Grow at a Rapid 49.3% Annual Clip

Increasing smartphone penetration, growing consumption of the mobile internet, and concurrent increases in ad inventory should spur 49.3% annual growth in local mobile ad spending through 2017, according to a new forecast from BIA/Kelsey. That would bring local mobile ad spend from $1.2 billion last year all the way to $9.1 billion in 2017. While remaining a fraction of the total local media equation, mobile’s share of the pie would grow from 0.9% last year to 6.1% at the end of the forecast period. (more…)