• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, May 1, 2012

In its 2012 U.S. advertising forecast released today, MagnaGlobal predicts mobile advertising will grow 53% this year to $2.4 billion. That would represent a marked slowdown from the 149% increase in mobile ad spending to $1.6 billion estimated by the Internet Advertising Bureau, though starting from a larger base.

“Encouraged by the rise of smartphone and tablet usage and the availability of scalable platforms, mainstream advertisers are now fully embracing all mobile formats (display, search, video, in-app)” said Vincent Letang, EVP, head of global forecasting at MagnaGlobal, the strategic global media unit of IPG Mediabrands.

He added that iAd and Facebook in particular would create new opportunities for marketers in various mobile environments. To date, Facebook has had no meaningful mobile ad revenue. MagnaGlobal projects Internet ad revenue overall will increased 12.2% (revised from 10.9%) to $35.6 billion this year, driven by paid search spending.