Mobile advertising spend grew by 116% in the UK in 2010

"The adoption of smartphones has boosted traditional advertisers’ confidence in the mobile space, according to new research from the Internet Advertising Bureau and PwC.
Mobile advertising has experienced a staggering 116% year on year growth (on a like for like basis), up from 32% growth in 2009. Advertisers spent £83 million on mobile advertising in 2010, according to the third annual IAB and PwC mobile study.
Entertainment and media has dominated the spend for the past couple of years, but its dominance is reducing as other advertisers – in particular financial, telecom providers and consumer good brands – see the opportunity the sector has to offer.
Smartphone adoption isn’t the only driver for the growth in spend. The way consumers are using mobile to access media has changed dramatically over the past few years.
Advertisers’ spend on search on mobile has nearly tripled from 2009, going up from £20.2 million to £54.9 million. Display advertising in the form of banner ads, text links, and tenancies experienced a rise of 62% to £23.7 million, from £14.6 million in 2009. The mobile format of pre-and post-roll adverts also experienced a rise of 492% to £1.1 million, up from £0.2 million in 2009, showing that the rich media opportunities that smartphones offer are being taken advantage of by advertisers."
Source:  Data from the IAB & PwC, reported on the IAB UK website, 22nd March 2011