SA's high mobile penetration rate has made it one of the more lucrative countries for generating mobile Internet advertising revenue; however, South African companies are not taking home the bacon.
International mobile Internet advertising business Admob says SA sees 140 million hits on advertising content a month, and there is still room for growth.
“Just to give you an idea of how much of an opportunity this space is, for Admob alone, SA is second only to the US in bringing in advertising revenue on the platform,” says local country manager, Brett St Clair.
He says, while some of the traffic driving the growth is from the high-end smartphone, the low-end handsets are increasingly generating traffic on mobile Internet sites. “Some 70% of the phones in SA can connect to the Internet and, of those, 60% do connect to the Internet.”
Despite the opportunity for advertising income on the platform, St Clair says South African companies have not taken to advertising on the platform with enough vigour. “Local brands are slow to move into the space. However, the banks and insurance companies are more enthusiastic about the platform.”
SA's financial industry is well known for trying out new technologies and has often been hailed as a technology leader globally.
While St Clair says there is a trickle of South African businesses taking on the platform, he is concerned that 2010 will create a last minute rush to start advertising on mobile Internet. “We are expecting an influx of smartphones when all the tourists arrive. It will be a great way for local businesses to make themselves known.”
He adds that most of the 2010 World Cup advertising on local sites or local platforms is being taken up by international companies hoping to make it in SA during the soccer next year.
“With both cost per click and cost per 1 000 impressions, there are options available to advertisers that are not present in traditional media, and average click-through ratios are proving this method of advertising is the wave of the future,” he concludes.
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