Mobile advertisements rising in Asia

More advertisers are reaching out to buyers through their mobile phones, with growth in the Asia-Pacific region outpacing the global rate, international mobile ad network InMobi said Tuesday.

Advertisements on mobile phones reached 17.6 billion "impressions" in March this year, up 26 percent from just four months earlier, it said in a report. The increase was 21 percent globally during the same period, it added.

InMobi, which acts as a middleman between advertisers and mobile phone users, said the market was being driven by the phenomenal growth in smartphones, which now account for 22 percent of all mobile ads in the region.

Smartphone users usually get interactive advertisements while surfing the web or playing games on their high-tech devices.

This allows users, for example, to view different car models being advertised or even "meet" characters of the Pirates of the Caribbean 4 movie in a click.

"The continued growth of mobile media consumption in Asia highlights the advertising opportunity for local, regional and global brands," said Atul Satija, InMobi's regional vice-president and managing director.

"The mobile phone screen is the primary screen for Internet use in Asia, a fact which will drive Asia to innovate in the mobile space potentially ahead of the world's most advanced media markets."

James Lamberti, vice president for global research and marketing at InMobi, said the introduction of the Android operating system to compete with Apple's iPhones "has significantly accelerated smartphone growth".

"With the increased focus on mobile from global publishers, advertisers and developers, the mobile experience has reached the next phase of its evolution," said Lamberti.

A joint study by InMobi and the Mobile Marketing Association reported that 80 percent of Asian mobile web users shop while on the move, buying products including music, movies, games and clothes.