India witnessed a phenomenal growth in the mobile advertising space in the first half of 2011. According to the third issue of The BuzzCity Report, 2011, India continued to maintain its top position of the first quarter, with a growth of 29% and 7470 million ad impression served. The BuzzCity Report is a summary of the trends and forces which shape the mobile advertising arena.

The country



eached its highest level of traffic in May 2011, with 2.6 billion ads being served to 59.4 million users on all platforms. BuzzCity attributes this growth to the falling data rates, availability of cheaper handsets, heavy promotion of mobile internet and better content on mobile.

The continued growth of user activity in India has been matched with advertiser interest thus resulting in an increase of 27% in banner ads served to the Indian audiences. The promotion of mobile content, specifically games and videos, remained the primary products to be advertised. The second quarter of the year also saw an increase in movie-related campaigns on mobile phones, further consolidating the role of mobiles in the entertainment industry.

There was a noticeable increase in activities amongst brand advertisers, particularly in the sectors of automobile, financial services and consumer health sectors. Brand campaigns involved awareness followed by lead generation activities.

In terms of the kind of handsets used to access the mobile net, Nokia retained its dominant position in India with grabbing 54% market share against Apple’s iPhone, Blackberry and Android based handsets.

“India has a great scope for mobile advertising. In the last few years India has given has great revenue. Mobile advertising is no longer dominated by a handful of markets.Mobile internet advertising is now a pervasive force for marketers to spread their message, build brands and transact – a medium that we cannot afford to ignore. Also, an important fact that brand managers need to take into consideration is that feature based phones and not smartphones dominate mobile internet usage,” sa




eat revenue. Mobile advertising is no longer dominated by a handful of markets.Mobile internet advertising is now a pervasive force for marketers to spread their message, build brands and transact – a medium that we cannot afford to ignore. Also, an important fact that brand managers need to take into consideration is that feature based phones and not smartphones dominate mobile internet usage,” says Dr. K. F. Lai, CEO, BuzzCity.