• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, May 31, 2013

Click-through rates (CTRs) on Samsung mobile devices running Android have begun to rise, closing the gap with Apple iOS in key U.S. and U.K. markets. The company had a CTR index of 1.09 -- 15% stronger than Apple’s in January and growing to 70% by March, according to a report released Friday.

The Adfonic Global AdMetrics Report suggests advertisers that fall into the Entertainment & Media category invested most during the beginning of this year, garnering a 26% increase in CTRs. The Business & Finance advertisers showed a strong conversion rate -- more than doubling average across all verticals -- but also spent more than double at 9%. The report draws data from the company's buying platform during the quarter.

Some 51% of Adfonic's ad inventory served up to males on mobile devices. More than half on devices owned by people ages 20 to 40. Android and iOS continued to dominate the market, accounting for 44% and 40%, respectively, of all ad requests in Q1. RIM took No. 3, accounting for 4%.

Kenshoo CMO Aaron Goldman said the numbers indicate marketers are doing a better job of customizing ads and content for the smaller screens, and thinking much more about multi-device marketing. 

Tablets accounted for 15% of ad requests in Q1 2013, which means nearly one in every seven requests came from a tablet device. Tablet CTR and eCPM performance fell, indicating that advertisers need to work on creatives and experiences that make the most of these devices to capitalize on the increased inventory.

Adfonic's latest Q1 2013 Global AdMetrics report suggests Samsung tablets also could outperform Apple's iPad, which started in January with a 40% higher CTR, but dropped to 18% by March. Samsung tablets rose from 34% below-average CTRs in January to 15% in March.

In April, reports suggested that advertisers spent 75 cents of every mobile ad dollar spent on iOS, though ads on iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch are much higher. "While Android smartphones draw $.50 CPMs (cost per thousand impressions), iPhones pull in $.65 to $.88 CPMs, iPod Touches do $.74 to $.98, and iPads do between $.82 and $1.16," according to Venture Beat.

During the next four years, global mobile data traffic will grow three times faster than fixed IP traffic, according to Cisco Systems. The Visual Networking Index Forecast released earlier this week estimates global mobile data traffic will reach 9% of total IP traffic by 2017, up from 2% in 2012.