Mobile advertising is expected to quadruple over the next five years, from $313 million in spending today to more than $1.2 billion in 2015, according to ABI Research.

A survey conducted by ABI Research in February found that 28 percent of mobile subscribers access the mobile Internet daily. This is a huge increase and is a powerful driver for the mobile marketing and advertising market.

?The key finding is there is more money coming for mobile marketing,? said Neil Strother, Kirkland, WA-based practice director at ABI. ?We are in a time of growth for mobile marketing and the data I look at points to that.

?If you look at what is happening with iAd and other networks, people are getting real proposals for real campaigns,? he said. 

Mobile display ads, which are the smaller version of online banner ads, are only one method available to aspiring mobile marketers.

The others are:
- Text messaging
- Search advertising
- Ads within applications (in-app)
- Video (streaming and on-demand)
 
The report notes that increased smartphone usage is a primary driver of this new and still fragmented industry, with penetration in the United States at about 20 percent.

Consumer?s insatiable appetites for mobile data, such as applications, mobile Internet and video is also driving mobile advertising. 

Mr. Strother said that marketers have increasingly been shifting budgets into mobile campaigns. This became evident during ABI?s research interviews with advertising agency executives, technology vendors and mobile ad network operators, who said they have been seeing year-over-year increases of 25 percent 30 percent in campaign spending.

Big technology firms are proving the effectiveness and viability of mobile advertising just by getting involved in the space.

Apple?s acquisition of Quattro Wireless and Google?s takeover of AdMob. But independent ad networks are also serving this market, companies such as Millennial Media, Jumptap, and Greystripe.

?This is a good time to be looking at mobile marketing as it is finally being taken seriously,? Mr. Strother said.  ?We clearly have a critical mass of smartphone users using their phones to browse the Web, apps and search the Internet.

?It is an elusive audience but growing in size,? he said. ?My advice is it is not too early to get in, but you need to know your goals.

?Don?t just follow the crowd. Figure out how mobile fits in and how you can leverage it for your audience."

Final take
See what happens when Mobile Marketer's Giselle Tsirulnik randomly opens iPhone applications from her device. What ads will she be served?