Author: Denny

Local ads are now bringing in more money than they ever have before, and are continuing their rapid increase.

According to a new report that has been released by BIA/Kelsey, the mobile marketing sector’s local advertising revenues in the United States will be reaching $4.5 billion by the end of this year.

This will represent a massive increase over the $2.9 billion that was brought in during 2013.

These details have been published in the mobile marketing local ad revenues report from the firm, which also predicted that these figures will more than triple by the year 2018. At that point, the report predicts that the revenues will have risen to $15.7 billion. This helps to illustrate the importance of local when it comes to advertising online.

The report also showed that mobile marketing spending in the U.S. will rise to $11.4 billion, this year.

That will then continue to grow over the next five years until it reaches $30.3 billion. By the end of the forecast period of this report, mobile ads that are locally targeted will come to represent more than half (52 percent) of all of the mobile ad spending in the United States.

Propelling this localized share of the revenues forward over this channel is the rapid adoption of various tactics to appeal to smartphone users when they are within specific locations or seeking local businesses. These include such options as click to call, click to map, and geo-fencing. These are rapidly becoming more commonplace among national advertisers, who currently make up the majority of ad spending over this channel in the U.S. They are also those that are making the greatest effort to take advantage of the growing availability and yet currently greatly undervalued local advertising category.

Many smaller advertisers have yet to understand that the demand in searches is increasingly headed in a mobile direction as individuals bring their smartphones wherever they go and use them for a growing number of purposes. Therefore, this ad inventory is undervalued, providing an ideal opportunity to step into that mobile marketing space while it is the least expensive and most rewarding to do so.

Legal issues concerning the use of wearable devices attracts notice in Australia

As wearable technology gains more attention, the possible legal issues concerning the use of wearable devices is also attracting more attention from lawmakers in several countries. The Australian Law Reform Commission has begun discussion on how wearable devices could be used for illegal purposes. Google Glass, for instance, could be used to record video and audio without appropriate consent from the subject being recorded. The legal issues that wearable technology has unearthed could prevent the use of devices like Glass in the future.

Organization releases recommendations concerning the legal issues associated with wearable devices

The Australian Law Reform Commission has recommended 47 legislative changes concerning privacy and the use of wearable technology. The organization has suggested that legislation concerning the use of wearable devices to invade someone else’s privacy. Such a legislation would mark the first time the Australian government has taken steps to legally defend the privacy of a single person. The organization is also suggesting the privacy laws be drafted based on those that already exist concerning government surveillance.

Glass has come under fire in the US and elsewhere

Google Glass has been the subject of legal debates throughout the world, but these debates are not always focused on the possibility of invasion of privacy. In some states in the U.S., the use of Glass has already been prohibited amongst drivers. The reasoning behind this ban has to do primarily with the possibility of the device distracting drivers in the same way that other mobile devices do. Glass is not the only wearable device that has come under fire, of course, but it has become the most popular device to receive legal attention.

Legal issues could limit the use of Glass and similar devices

Devices like Glass can easily be used to record conversations and video without consent. These devices can also be used to find out sensitive information about a particular person using facial recognition technology and similar features. Because these devices could be used for potentially malicious purposes, the legal issues concerning the use of these devices in public are beginning to receive more attention.