AdMob: Monthly mobile ad requests nearing 7 billion

Worldwide mobile advertising requests increased 8 percent month-over-month to 6.8 billion according to mobile advertising marketplace AdMob's January 2009 Mobile Metrics Report, which credits double-digit growth in Western Europe and Asia as the catalyst behind the surge. AdMob reports mobile ad traffic from Western Europe increased 132 percent in the last year to total 550 million requests in January; Spain and Italy experienced the fastest growth, with Apple's iPhone now responsible for 21 percent of total requests by Western European subscribers. AdMob adds that Nokia devices now generate 22 percent of mobile ad requests from Western European consumers; the handset maker continues to dominate the smartphone category, accounting for 11 of the top 15 devices. Sony Ericsson follows in third with 17 percent of mobile ad requests in Western Europe, followed by Windows Mobile at 5 percent.

It's no coincidence AdMob's focus is on the Western European marketplace: Earlier this week, the firm announced [1] a strategic partnership with European mobile advertising solutions provider MADS. Per terms of the agreement, the MADS network of more than 150 publisher and operator clients across 15 European nations may now integrate ads directly from the AdMob marketplace. According to MADS, its network currently generates more than 300 million monthly ad requests in Europe alone, and reaches more than 60 million European subscribers each month--AdMob, meanwhile, presently serves about 4.6 billion mobile banner and text ads per month.

AdMob's January 2009 Mobile Metrics Report also spotlights the impact of WiFi on mobile web growth in the U.S. AdMob reports that while a growing number of consumers across the U.S. are turning to WiFi to access the mobile Internet, during the previous month the West and Northeast experienced heavier WiFi usage by population than the South and Midwest. California generated the most WiFi traffic of any state with 18 percent, followed by New York with 14 percent and Texas at 8 percent.

For more on AdMob's January 2009 Mobile Metrics Report:
- read this release [2]

Related articles:
AdMob [3]: iPhone generating 10% of U.S. mobile ad requests
AdMob [4] closes $15.7 million Series C round
AdMob [5] debuts mobile analytics solution