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Mobile internet ad spending to reach $ 4.14 billion in Asia Pacific: eMarketer Report
MUMBAI: A recent global media intelligence report conducted by eMarketer and Starcom MediaVest Group says that nearly 2.5 billion of the world‘s 4.3 billion mobile phone users this year will be in Asia-Pacific.
The report by eMarketer estimates that 2.43 billion people in Asia-Pacific will use a mobile phone at least monthly this year, translating to 56.3 per cent of the world’s mobile phone users. More than one billion of these mobile users will be in China alone, and about half that number will reside in India. By 2017, eMarketer estimates, Asia-Pacific will have nearly three billion mobile phone users out of a total 5.1 billion across the globe.
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The most astounding of these figures in Asia-Pacific’s trajectory is its smartphone user growth. In 2009, Asia-Pacific had just 86.2 million smartphone users. This year, Asia-Pacific will have more than four times as many smartphone users— 738.2 million total—than the next largest region in that category, Western Europe, which will have 161.1 million by the end of the year, and North America, which will have 152.2 million.
Advertisers are lining up to reach these users, many of whom are part of a rising middle class across several emerging markets in the region. eMarketer estimates spending on mobile internet ads, including display and search but excluding messaging-based formats, will reach $4.14 billion across the region this year, up from $2.69 billion in 2012.
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That will represent 26.2 per cent of all mobile internet ad spending in the world, making Asia-Pacific second only to North America by this metric. The region is expected to lose share in the coming years, however, as mobile internet ad spending in Western Europe grows more quickly.
Overall, Asia-Pacific will account for 27.7 per cent of total media ad spending and 28.7 per cent of digital ad spending in the world, ranking it second for both types of ad expenditure.
The global media intelligence report is eMarketer‘s largest and most comprehensive snapshot of the state of media usage and spending globally. The report contains more than 700 charts collected from more than 150 global research sources, which SMG helped identify and gather for local and core global markets, in addition to benchmarks, analysis and context provided by eMarketer.
Key figures on Asia-Pacific media usage and spending from the report include:
Population: 3.94 billion in Asia-Pacific this year, up from 3.75 in 2008.
Internet Users: 1.21 billion this year, from just 583 million in 2008.
Mobile phone users: 2.4 billion this year, up from 1.56 billion in 2008.
Smartphone Users: 738.2 million this year, up from 86.2 million in 2008.
Social Network Users: 777 million this year, up from 195 million in 2008.
Total ad spending: $143.23 billion in 2013, up from $120 billion in 2008.
Digital ad spending: $33.76 billion in 2013, up from $13 billion in 2008.
Mobile ad spending: $4.14 billion this year, up from $745 million in 2008.
Applications
Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
