According to a report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, mobile ad buyers in Europe and Asia are spending almost three times more on search: a combined $2,284 million versus $858 million. In North America, the discrepancy is smaller but still tilted heavily in favor of search over display: $811 million versus $572 million. Ads related to mobile messaging make up a much smaller category.
Research firm eMarketer predicts U.S. mobile advertising will grow five fold to $10 billion by 2016 and the spending split between search and display will be about equal.