The increase in mobile ad revenue is a clear sign that the Twitter audience continues to grow and expand. Perhaps most telling about the huge growth in mobile is the fact that mobile ad revenue was only a very small
percentage of ad revenue in 2011. The information from eMarketer reveals that in 2011, total ad revenue was just over $139 million. According to the report from eMarketer, “The upward revision comes as advertisers have shown more interest in spending money on mobile advertisements on Twitter, and as recent audience figures from multiple research sources analyzed by eMarketer have suggested Twitter’s reach is improving.” Mobile users clearly make up a huge portion of Twitter users. Twitter is expected to earn more in mobile ad revenue this year than what it made last year from all ad revenue combined. This year, mobile ads are expected to account for 53% of Twitter’s total ad revenue. By 2015, this percentage is expected to jump to 60% of total ad revenue.
Amazingly, the estimates from eMarketer are considered to be low by some in the industry. In fact, it was reported last year that sources that are close to Twitter think that by 2014 the company will surpass the $1 billion mark for ad revenue. eMarketer attributes some of the growth to an overall increase in the focus on mobile markets by other companies such as Google and Facebook, which has helped advertisers make the shift to mobile devices.
