• by Wayne Friedman , June 23, 2011

Much of mobile advertising spending will be locally targeted in four years -- and higher-priced.

Locally targeted mobile ads will have a 70% share ($2.8 billion) of the expected $4 billion in overall U.S. mobile ad spending by 2015, according to Chantilly, Va.-based BIA/Kelsey.

In 2010, overall U.S. mobile advertising was at $790 million. Local mobile advertising's piece of the pie is $404 million -- 51% of the whole mobile advertising market.

BIA/Kelsey, the media consultant/researcher, says much of this gain will come from large brand advertisers that will adapt their marketing goals for the mobile device. That's thanks to a growing awareness of retail locations, driven by consumers' increasing smartphone ownership.

After large advertisers move in, BIA/Kelsey says small and medium-sized businesses will also push marketing efforts on mobile. All advertisers will benefit from the clearer return on investment and shorter purchasing funnel.

Mobile advertising sellers will also garner premium pricing on location-targeted ads.

Michael Boland, senior analyst and program director of BIA/Kelsey's Mobile Local Media practice, stated: "These premiums result from higher performance for locally targeted mobile ads when compared with non-local ads, due to higher relevance, immediacy and consumer buying intent, all of which are more prevalent in mobile than many other print and digital media."