Canadian mobile advertising revenues skyrocketed in 2008, jumping 347% over the previous year, according to Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) of Canada.
In an announcement Wednesday, the IAB reported that revenue for Canadian mobile ads reached over $11.9 million for 2008, blasting past its initial prediction of $5.2 million. The IAB believes the total for 2009 will be closer to $18 million.
The IAB said the 2008 numbers were delayed because it took “longer than expected” to get the necessary number of responses for a complete Canadian picture, and is going back into the field right away to get the total 2009 spend with estimates for 2010.
“It’s exciting to be able to watch this channel catch fire as consumer time with mobile devices increases on a daily basis,” said Paula Gignac, president of IAB Canada, in a release.
Due to rapid growth in mobile content ($5.1 million), as well as mobile ad display/sponsorship ($3.3 million), mobile advertising’s recent revenue rise is much higher than for other major media.
To compare, the growth rate of online ad revenue was 29% for 2008–meaning that mobile ads are growing more than 10 times faster than online ads in Canada.
Mobile messaging (SMS), which was once the dominant mobile advertising vehicle, grew 54% in 2008, but garnered just $3.2 million, less than mobile content and ad display/sponsorship. Together, the three mediums generated 98% of all mobile ad revenue in Canada.
Also, more than half (52%) of all reported Canadian revenue came from telecommunications campaigns. Over one-quarter of total ad revenue also came from the packaged goods (15%) and automotive (11%) categories.
