InMobi Grows U.S. Ad Net Business

Smartphone-Blackberry

Mobile ad network InMobi said total ad impressions on its system in North America increased 17% from January to April as the company continues to build its presence in the market. The increase was driven by a 37% gain in impressions coming from smartphones, which account for 80% of all mobile ads in North America, according to InMobi.

Smartphones in particular are boosting advertising within mobile applications, with in-app ads surging 58% during the first quarter. Android in April claimed the largest share of impressions on the InMobi network, with 37%.

But that was up only about 1 percentage point from January, while the iPhone jumped nearly 10 points to 33% as a result of the rollout of the Verizon iPhone in February. Rounding out the top three was Research in Motion's BlackBerry OS, with 10.3%, down a point from January.

Worldwide, ad impressions increased 11%, and smartphones accounted for 39% of the total. Android had the biggest gain in the first quarter, with its share growing 3.3% to almost 17%. Nokia accounted for the largest share of impressions at 19.5%, but that figure was down 0.6%. Symbian had 18.1%, the iPhone was just behind Android, at 16.3%, while BlackBerry dipped further, at 4.9%. Other phone operating systems made up 24.5% of impressions.

"Following the global smartphone revolution, 'in-application' advertising continues to outpace mobile Web ad growth," stated James Lamberti, vice president, global research and marketing, at InMobi. "With a large global contingent of mobile app developers for iOS, Android and now Windows Phone 7, these developers represent an invaluable part of the mobile ecosystem."

InMobi formally entered the U.S. market last year after establishing footprints in Asia, Africa and Europe during the prior three years. While the company's network is growing, it still has not caught up with larger rivals in North America including AdMob, Millennial Media, and Jumptap.

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