Context-aware mobile services to drive LBS market forwards
The mobile context and location services market will reach $43.3 billion in revenue by 2019, rising from an estimated $12.2 billion in 2014, states new research today.
Over two thirds of revenues will be driven through highly targeted and contextually aware ad-supported apps by the end of the forecast period, said Juniper Research.
According to the report social apps are forecast to be the primary driver behind app ad-supported revenues. Apps such as Facebook enable marketers to focus on specific audience segments using location and other user generated contexts.
Local search apps will follow in terms of ad-spend, and although these will not generate the equivalent of mobile web search, Google's opening of its deep linking API to developers will undoubtedly close that gap, Juniper predicted.
Additionally, the report found that the in-app purchase (IAP) model will grow on average over three times as rapidly per annum as the classic pay-to-download model. IAP will be particularly prevalent in navigation, social and tracking apps, with consumers preferring the low to zero entry cost and developers using lifetime value rather than one-off sales.
'Even in the case of navigation apps where paid-for apps have remained popular, large brands such as Garmin are beginning to emphasise this revenue model,' added report author, Steffen Sorrell.
Mobile ad presentation and delivery must still mature before the success of other media forms can be replicated, with a failure to connect at the correct emotional level with the consumer cited as a limiting factor, the report said.
Also, the manner by which mobile apps are accessed is set to be transformed due to the rise of persistent search, deep linking and the birth of mobile ambient intelligence.
