InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile ad network, has reported a triple digit growth for its ad impressions in North Africa and the Middle East.
InMobi’s second quarter resultsfor the 2012 fiscal year showed a growth of 248 percent in ad impressions in the two regions compared to the same period last year.
Some 76 percent of the impressions came from smartphones, demonstrating the fact that more such devices have become increasingly available to users.
In the same quarter last year, the company recorded 56 percent ad impressions from smartphones.
“Behind the iPhone, the Nokia handset is still dominant in this market, however the greatest growth from an Operating System standpoint is from Android that grew by 8 percent,” said Daryn Smith of Inmobi Research.
The figures give credence to the growth of mobile web advertising in Africa with more people having access to the Internet on Web-enabled phones.
As a result, more mobile web advertising companies have set up shop in Africa and the market is yet to grow to its full potential, according to InMobi.
Inmobi set up shop in Africa in January this year. Since then, other players have joined the African market scene including TwinPine Network, a Nigerian-based company. TwinPine now reports over 500 million ad impressions each month after one year of operations.
Inmobi’s report also shows that more people in North Africa and the Middle East still prefer using mobile Web to mobile apps; only 19 percent of mobile subscribers are active users of mobile apps, leaving 81 percent still using mobile Internet.
