Q4, 2012, saw record growth in mobile advertising, according to research from Opera Mediaworks. During the quarter, impressions and revenue grew by more than double any other quarter in 2012.

While iOS is still the top platform in terms of monetisation, Android smartphones had a higher market share of global impression volume, by two percentage points. The growth of the OS is partly driven by the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S3, which accounts for nine per cent of all Android traffic by itself.

In terms of mobile ad requests, North America continues to dominate, accounting for 64 per cent of ad impressions across the whole world, but its lead is shrinking, down from 70 per cent in Q3. Europe is the second biggest region (14.6 per cent), followed by Asia-Pacific (14.4 per cent).

The single biggest country was of course the US, with Indonesia and the UK coming in second and third place. In fourth, meanwhile, was Russia, which jumped from seventh place in Q2, as ad requests grew 60 per cent in six months. That growth driven by adoption of Android devices, which increased by 22 per cent over the same period.