According to a mobile commerce study performed by BIA/Kelsey, by the year 2015,
local search volume over smartphones and tablets will have exceeded that from desktops.
This same research is indicating that by the following year, the annual mobile local search will be greater than that performed from a desktop by over 27 billion queries.
BIA/Kelsey senior analyst and program director of mobile local media, Michael Boland, explained that “Among the drivers of mobile local search is the fact that it happens further down the purchase funnel, compared with desktop search.” Boland went on to state that “We’re seeing that play out in the growth of local query volume, and in performance metrics like clickthrough rates.”
As the local search queries continue to grow, it is also forecasted that the related mobile commerce ad revenues will rise right along with them. The predictions of BIA/Kelsey are that there will be a 160.4 percent compound annual growth rate for mobile local search revenues from last year’s $400 million, until they reach $3.2 billion in 2016.
Within that same time frame, there should be a growth from last year’s $5.7 billion over desktop to reach $10.2 billion in 2016.
Boland stated that it should be noted that though the volume of local searches performed over mobile will be greater than those done using desktop and laptop computers, the advertising revenues will still be lower over the mobile channel. The reason for this is that marketers aren’t yet capable of keeping up with the rate at which the mobile local advertising inventory is growing. That said, this is expected to undergo an obvious evolution over time.
The opportunities being presented by local media over the mobile channel will be central to the one-day BIA/Kelsey conference which will be held on June 27, 2012. It will be located in San Francisco at the University of California San Francisco’s Mission Bay Conference Center.
In attendance will be some of the leading mobile commerce strategists in the industry, who will address questions that include the various opportunities for the short- and long-term where social, local, and mobile (SoLoMo) come together.
Article: Study shows mobile commerce local search will exceed desktop in 3 years
Article Source: Mobile Commerce Press – BIA/Kelsey Report
Author: Stephanie Beck
Study shows mobile commerce local search will exceed desktop in 3 years