• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, September 1, 2009

Credit the iPhone with not only rescuing mobile advertising but for helping to prop up the battered ad industry itself. Among all product categories that spent at least $200 million in the first half of 2009, smartphones and PDAs had the biggest increase in spending, at 104%, according to new data from Nielsen.

Campaigns promoting the launch of devices including the new iPhone 3G S, the Palm Pre and T-Mobile Sidekick in the first six months of the year helped lead the surge in spending in the category. Smartphones have been selling briskly despite the overall decline in mobile phone market, with unit sales up 27% in the second quarter, according to Gartner Inc.

With a new Android phone from Motorola and other high-end devices launching this fall, smartphones will likely continue to generate higher ad spend through the rest of the year. Spending by wireless carriers hasn't doubled like that of handset makers, but is still slightly ahead of last year, up 1.3% to $1.9 billion through the first half of 2009.

Among the ten largest product categories by ad dollars, wireless services was one of only four to increase from a year ago along with quick serve restaurants, motion pictures and direct response products. U.S. ad spending overall fell 15.4% during the first six months of the year to $56.9 billion.