Mobile marketing revenues are expected to increase to over $24 billion worldwide in 2013, galvanized by flat-rate data plans and advertising-supported mobile search, video and gaming content services according to a new forecast issued by market analysis firm ABI Research. In the study "Mobile Marketing and Advertising," ABI reports that consumers are initially wary of mobile marketing, with 54 percent of survey respondents stating their opposition to marketing on handsets--however, 70 percent of the same sample population said incentives like ringtones or free songs can sway their opinion.

ABI adds that the market is still in its earliest developmental stages, resembling the Internet advertising gold rush of the late 1990s. "In these early stages, many of the technology platform players are also doubling as the interactive agencies for large brands," said ABI Research director Michael Wolf in a prepared statement. "However, we see large ad agencies and their interactive divisions or partners increasingly working with key platform providers as roles become more defined."

For more on the ABI mobile marketing report:
- read this release [1]

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Study: One in four interested in mobile marketing [2]
Mobile Marketing Association [3] issues EMEA guidelines