Just this morning we received the IABs figures on mobile ad spend in the UK – and now weve got a look at the US market, courtesy of IDC, which found that mobile ad spend hit $4.5bn (£2.9bn) in 2012, a growth of 88 per cent.
Mobile advertising made up 11 per cent of all digital advertising in 2012, up from 7 per cent in 2011.
IDC predicts a slightly slower growth rate in 2013 of 55–65 per cent, bringing spend to a total of $7bn.
The rise of publishers 
One key trend that emerged from the report is the rise of mobile publishers – such as Facebook, Pandora, and The Weather Channel – which held 52 per cent of US mobile display ad spending in 2012. By comparison, in 2011 publishers received just 39 per cent of this spend.
“Mobile ad networks are losing market share to publishers, and we expect them to lose even more going forward,” said Karsten Weide, VP of media and entertainment at IDC. “Networks, especially independent ones, are entering a difficult phase, in which, with an ever smaller share of revenue, theyll have to compete with publishers, which will only grow in strength.”
Facebook came out as the top publisher, with gross revenue of $234m, followed by Pandora ($229m) and Twitter ($117m). Google is still the top ad network and holds the most revenue overall, with $243m. Millennial Media has pushed Apple from the top spot, with $151m and $125m respectively.
