• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, January 22, 2016

MaxPoint, a marketing tech firm, saw 85% of its customers’ mobile ad spend focused on location-targeted ads during the 2015 holiday season (November 26 to December 25).

Mobile advertising also accounted for 57.7% of all the digital ad impressions served by MaxPoint during the same period, up from 30.6%  in 2014.

With location-targeted mobile ad revenues set to grow from $4.3 billion in 2014 to $18.2 billion in 2019, according to BIA/Kelsey, 2016 looks to be a pivotal year as budgets start to shift from non-location targeted ads, which accounted for 60% of spending in 2015), to those with location targeting or 40% of spending in 2015.

Companies like search marketing firm Yieldbot, which saw its first profitable quarter in 2015, are seeing their mobile business outgrow other portions of their company. (mobile accounted for 55% of Yieldbot’s revenue in 2015.)

As a result, Yieldbot has begun to focus on mobile location targeting to round out its offering.

MaxPoint customers see mobile advertising as a means to drive off-line actions, like visiting retail stores or test-driving cars. Location is also a valuable tool in determining the intent of consumers as they move through various physical locations.

However, location data must be accurate to do anything of value for brands and consumers. Stumbling blocks for the industry rest largely on inaccurate interpretations of data and a lack of accuracy standards within the market.