75 Percent of Internet Use Expected to Become Mobile

A new study by Zenith Media confirms that 75% of global internet usage will come strictly from mobile devices by 2017 according to their recently published Mobile Advertising Forecasts report.

As Zenith states further in their report, internet usage has increased rapidly on mobile devices, “from 40 percent in 2012 to 68% in 2016 and we forecast it to reach 79% by 2018.”

The Mobile Advertising Forecasts report looks at mobile advertising and technology in 60 countries and finds statistics based around the amount of time consumers spend on their mobile devices using the internet, the increase of smartphones and tablets, and the cost increase of mobile advertising.

Results show that Spain is in the lead for mobile internet use, expecting to reach 85% of internet use this year; Hong Kong makes second place with 79% mobile internet use; China reaches third place (76%) followed by the United States (74%). Zenith predicts by 2018, Hong Kong will have the highest usage for mobile internet.

The reason for the increase of mobile internet use is the huge success and use of smartphones with Western Europe and Asia being the most common areas for smartphone usage.

Zenith states in their Advertising Expenditure Forecasts for September 2016, “mobile advertising will overtake desktop advertising in 2017, increasing its share of global internet advertising to 52% from 44% this year. In 2018 we expect mobile advertising to account for 60% of all internet advertising.”

Zenith advised that in order for advertisers to keep up-to-date with these rapid changes, all brands need to become mobile-first in their digital communication strategy. Brand websites, video ads and all other important assets need to be considered in order to deliver the best outcomes and experiences on mobile devices.

“Advertisers also need to think about consumer mobility, not just mobile devices.” Consumers are constantly shifting from tablet to desktop to smartphone and sometimes watching TV at the same time. This means advertisers need to develop brand experiences that show consistency on all screens and devices.