So Long, 2012: Analyzing The Evolving Mobile Landscape

As we prepare for a new year in the online marketing world, it’s interesting to reflect on where 2012 has brought us. The Web experienced another year of fantastic growth. In the US alone, over 240 million consumers now access the Web – a market penetration of 78%.

This overall growth is driven by an equally impressive increase in mobile usage. In many parts of the world, mobile phones have long been the primary means for people to access the Internet. Now, that’s becoming true in the US, as well.

By Q4 2012, the US saw over 170 million smartphone subscribers, meaning smartphone owners are now the majority. This massive level of market penetration casts ripples across the Web. In November 2012, over a quarter of all Web traffic on the Chitika Advertising Network originated from mobile devices (both smartphones and tablets).

Consumers can now check social networks, watch the latest YouTube video, and even make a purchase – all from their mobile devices.

In a study published in July 2012, Chitika Insights found tablet usage to spike by almost 95% during prime time TV hours. This stat is highly indicative of elevated use of second screen devices. These are some of the larger scale trends that signify the coming change across the traditional online landscape as it becomes increasingly more mobile.

In the face of a shifting online environment – split between diverging mobile platforms – Chitika Insights conducted a research study to isolate click-through-rates (CTR) of the major mobile operating systems.

The data used in this study was drawn from the Chitika Advertising Network from November 24th to November 30th 2012. This sample was composed of tens of millions of mobile impressions from the US and Canada.

If you are an advertiser or marketer doing business online, the following statistics and analysis will help you best capitalize on these developments:

Based on the chart above, we can see that the iOS user base holds the keys to the proverbial mobile kingdom with an average CTR of 0.92%. Compared to the average Android CTR of 0.86%, iOS users click on ads approximately 7% more frequently than Android users.

As growing mobile volume increases the potential impact of mobile traffic on the bottom line, new opportunities emerge for advertisers and marketers to maximize the ROI of their campaigns.

Recent data from the IAB shows that overall mobile advertising spend grew 95% from $636 million during the first half of 2011 to $1.2 billion during the same period in 2012.

With these impressive growth rates, mobile advertising is clearly the way of the future and a method of reaching out to audiences that advertisers and marketers simply cannot afford to ignore.