June 13, 2013

Google earned more than half of the $8.8 billion advertisers worldwide spent on mobile internet ads last year, helping propel the company to take in nearly one-third of all digital ad dollars spent globally, according to eMarketer’s first-ever figures on worldwide digital and mobile advertising revenues at major internet companies.

eMarketer previously covered US and UK revenues for select companies, and worldwide revenues at Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

After making nearly half a billion dollars worldwide on mobile ads last year, Facebook—which had no mobile revenue in 2011—is expected to increase mobile revenues by more than 333% to just over $2 billion in 2013, and account for a 12.9% share of the global net mobile advertising market.

eMarketer estimates that Google made $4.61 billion in mobile internet ad revenues last year, more than triple its earnings in 2011. This year’s mobile revenues will be up a further 92.1% to $8.85 billion.

Twitter is also expected to see its worldwide mobile ad spending share increase this year to about 2% of the total, eMarketer estimates. In the US, however, Twitter will have a higher, 3.6% share, eMarketer estimates.

Combined, three companies—Google, Facebook and Twitter—account for a consolidating share of mobile advertising revenues worldwide, as other players, such as YP, Pandora, Apple and Millennial Media, see their shares decrease, despite maintaining relatively strong businesses growing at rapid rates.

This is also eMarketer’s first estimate of ad revenues at YP. The company, thanks to its strong mobile search business, is well positioned in the mobile search market, accounting for more than 2.86% of mobile internet ad revenues last year.

Across all digital platforms, Google continues to reign as not only the largest beneficiary of digital ad spending in the US, but worldwide as well, eMarketer estimates. The search giant made $32.73 billion in net digital ad revenues in 2012, equivalent to nearly 31.5% of total worldwide digital ad spending that year. This year, Google will increase revenues faster than the overall market thanks to continued monetization of YouTube and growing adoption of mobile advertising, eMarketer believes, leading to a gain in share of the total digital advertising market.

Facebook came in second in 2012 with $4.28 billion in net digital ad revenues, or 4.11% of the worldwide market. Its share will also grow this year, to 5%.

This is also eMarketer’s first estimate for revenues at IAC. The company, which also benefits as a large recipient of Google’s traffic acquisition costs (TAC) paid back to partners who provide search traffic, earns a respectable market share compared with other longtime players like AOL.

While both Google and Facebook are increasing revenues at faster rates than the overall digital ad spend market, dramatic increases in ad revenues are more difficult for companies with such high earnings. Twitter will post the fastest growth rate in worldwide ad revenues among the companies eMarketer analyzed, with a 102.2% increase expected this year after a 106.7% increase in 2012. That’s compared with 12.3% growth in total digital ad spending projected for 2013, and 20.4% growth estimated for 2012.

Overall, eMarketer’s forecast for digital ad revenues at select major publishers indicates that online ad spending, like mobile advertising, continues to consolidate among a few major ad sellers. In 2011, eMarketer estimates, 55.59% of all digital ad revenues worldwide went to companies in the “other” category. By the end of this year, their share will drop to 52.28%. However, with plenty of room for growth in the worldwide mobile market, eMarketer continues to believe there is space for other players to emerge and potentially gain significant share.

eMarketer bases its estimates of digital and mobile ad spending on the analysis of various elements related to the ad spending market, including macro-level economic conditions; historical trends of the advertising market; historical trends of each medium in relation to other media; reported revenues from major ad publishers; estimates from other research firms; consumer media consumption trends; and eMarketer interviews with executives at ad agencies, brands, media publishers and other industry leaders.