Google representatives, especially those high up on the ladder, are no stranger to major events. This is especially true for Eric Schmidt who, over the years, has given keynote addresses at almost every top technology and business event even slightly related to his industry. It’s no surprise, then, that he would be selected for the opening keynote at the IAB Leadership Conference.
While Schmidt covered many talking points directly relevant to the event itself, he also went into the details of one particularly booming industry: mobile. He stated that the world of mobility had “finally caught up with the promises we talked about for so long,” and that the medium is growing in popularity faster than anyone had predicted.
To support this claim, Schmidt gave various facts and figures, including the huge jump in mobile traffic for advertisers who aired commercials during the Super Bowl; Chrysler saw their mobile figures multiply by 102 (opposed to their 48 times multiplication on the desktop platform for that same time period), while GoDaddy saw a 315 multiplier (contrasted with just 38 multiplier via desktop browsers). Additionally, 78% of smartphone owners use their web and applications as a part of their shopping experience, a trend which Schmidt thinks will continue in years to come. Perhaps most telling, though, is the popularity of sites with strong mobile features, such as YouTube, which gets roughly 200 million playbacks per day on the mobile platform alone.
To wrap up his discussion of the mobile platform, Schmidt stated that display advertising should link to mobile and that the mobile advertising industry will grow notably to help match this demand. He claims that the industry, currently about a $17 billion business, will (according to Schmidt) reach the $200 billion mark in years to come.
[via Mashable]