Mobile advertising to reach close to £7bn in 2017

Advertising spending via mobile in the UK is estimated to hit £7bn this year, taking company investments in smartphones and tablets to over one-third of the total advertising spend.

According to research carried out by eMarketer, total digital advertising spending will climb by 11%, as companies flock to move campaigns online.

Total digital advertising spend is expected to increase by at least 11% over the year to £10.89bn, taking it to 57.9% of the overall advertising spend.

Mobile advertising surpassed desktop ad investment for the first time ever in 2016, growing by almost 50% to coincide with the rising popularity of smartphones and tablets.

Google appears to be the big winner according to eMarketer's research, raking in a potential 40.7% of all digital ad revenue in the coming year, with Facebook taking a 16.4% cut.

"Google still attracts the lion's share of digital ad spend in the UK," said eMarketer's UK senior analyst Bill Fisher. "However, Facebook is seeing strong growth thanks to investments in video and a stellar performance from Instagram."

The report added that eMarketer expects further gains in mobile ad spending in the coming years, with yearly outlays to climb above £12bn by 2021.