Welcome to the sixth annual edition of Mobile Marketer?s Classic Guide to Mobile Advertising. 

As consumer engagement on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets matures, so does willingness to engage with mobile advertising. Indeed, the mere act of becoming mainstream has made mobile more attractive to advertisers looking to reach consumers where they conduct their work, home and play lives.

Since the iPhone launched in 2007 and the iPad in 2010, much has changed in the way advertising and marketing is run on mobile. No longer is the banner ad on the mobile site or application the sole tool for branding or customer acquisition or retention. Mobile advertising currently makes extensive use of the device?s capabilities to serve timely and place-sensitive ads, supplemented by knowledge of user behavior and response. 

In other words, mobile is on its way to truly being the medium of the future for branding and direct marketing purposes.

However, much progress needs to be made. It is estimated that mobile advertising will account for an estimated $8 billion or so in ad spend in 2013, although double-digit growth is expected for the next five years. That is still a drop in the bucket compared to advertising dollars allocated to online advertising, print media or even television. Why the disparity in ad-dollar allocation despite mass consumption of content and growing commerce on mobile? Much has to do with education ? both of advertiser and agency.

This publication?s Classic Guide to Mobile Advertising is geared to serve that need. In this edition are thought pieces and best-practice tips on the ins and outs of mobile advertising. There are discussions on the mobile ad ecosystem, building apps for small to midsized businesses, Big Data, audio and video mobile advertising, mobile Web preroll ads, cross-screen strategy, cookies and their limitations, real-time bidding, programmatic buying, measuring ROI and analyzing campaign performance. 

Please read each piece thoroughly and engage with the authors, each one of them experts in the field. We thank these industry stalwarts for their time and effort to educate fellow marketers. 

Many thanks also to Kargo, a premium mobile ad network that underwrote this year?s edition. Kargo connects brands with publisher audiences and counts several Fortune 500 companies as clients.

Finally, thank you to our graphics team and also to editors and reporters Chantal Tode, Lauren Johnson and Rebecca Borison for their help. Their hard work is much appreciated. 

Do read this Classic Guide and forward the link to colleagues and clients. Feel free to reach out to the authors. They represent the best in mobile advertising and seek nothing but the same for others.