• by Tyler Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_tyler, April 1, 2015

Global ad spend via real-time bidding (RTB) more than doubled from 2013 to 2014, rising 141%. The amount of inventory available for RTB trades rose as well, jumping 72% year-over-year.

Comparing Q1 2014 to Q4 2014, RTB marketers spent 291% more on mobile and 245% more on desktop.

The data comes from PulsePoint’s 2014 Programmatic Intelligence Report, which examines global data collected from its exchange over the course of the year. The data deals only with open RTB exchange inventory. Private marketplaces, “programmatic direct” and other methods of programmatic trading are not accounted for.

While the amount of global desktop inventory available on PulsePoint’s programmatic exchange grew at a rapid clip in 2014 — rising 80% year-over-year — mobile was the key driver. The amount of mobile inventory available for open RTB rose 159% last year, nearly double the rate of desktop inventory growth.

North America still dominates the total market in terms of spend, as 63% of all open RTB ad spend came from the region. Europe accounted for another 21%, while Asia commanded 9%. The rest of the globe took in 8%. 

Asia is rapidly rising, however. PulsePoint notes that the region outpaced both North America and Europe in both desktop and mobile open RTB ad spend last year, with 329% growth.

Asia also led in terms of mobile inventory growth, seeing a 192% rise last year compared to 150% in the U.S. and 177% in Europe.