Mobile advertising is continuing on its upward trajectory, according to the latest quarterly report on mobile advertising trends from BuzzCity, based on activity in its network.

The number of ads delivered in the network in Q1, 2012 is 95 per cent up on Q1,2012, with smartphones now accounting for 32 per cent of the devices that ads are served to. Android phones now account for 11 per cent of ads served, fuelled largely by Samsung’s growth.

Countries experiencing rapid growth include the UK, S. Africa and Nigeria, while Kenya, Pakistan and Argentina have all experienced triple-digit growth. Globally in Q1, more than 45bn ads were delivered across the company’s entire network of more than 10,000 publisher sites, reaching an average of over 300m unique users per month.

“The consumer love affair with smartphones is showing no sign of waning,” says BuzzCity CEO, Dr KF Lai. “Smartphones and the functionality that they bring enhance consumers’ lifestyles and fulfil their desire to stay connected whatever they are doing, whenever they are doing it – messaging, shopping, updating and sharing on social networks or making calls. What marketers need to take advantage of is how they can engage with their target consumer, as mobile as a channel is a multiple touchpoint for engagement.

“With this backdrop of increased smartphone usage, merchants will want to take advantage of the plethora of mobile payments services being offered by various providers, but will need to be aware that the user experience is fragmented over three screens – PC, TV, mobile devices. Delivering performance and a unified user experience across this range of media will be a challenge for many.  It will come down to all parties in the mobile ecosystem –  developers, marketers and retailers – looking at the whole customer journey to determine where best to target their mobile efforts.”