Mobile Hotspots: Latin America 2014

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Rising smartphone penetration and cheaper phones are leading mobile advertisers to take a fresh look at Latin America, where there are now more mobile devices than people.

Brazil and Mexico are attracting the most attention.

But we are also seeing significant advertiser interest in Argentina, Costa Rica, Columbia and Guatemala.

In the fourth quarter of last year, the BuzzCity Network served nearly 3.5 billion ads across the region, up 55% from the previous quarter. We expect more than 4 billion impressions in the first quarter of this year.

Mexico : M-Commerce Profile

Mobile advertising has grown more than 400% in Mexico over the last year; by the end of 2011 more than 1.3 billion banner ads were served to Mexican audiences.

Mexico is a market with a high rate (35%) of female  adoption of the mobile internet and the presence of users over 35 years old (19% compared to a global average of 15%). The influence of these mature users are disproportionately high when mobile purchases are made. Over-35's account for 25% of grocery purchases and 25% of travel related purchases.

Exploring North African Markets

The demand for Value-Added Services (VAS) in North African markets is rising as telecoms and media converge further. If you are a VAS provider looking to expand in this region, here are the questions you should be asking:

1. What are the key North African hotspots?

	Country	Q1	Q2	Q on Q Growth
1	Egypt	288,800,000	497,200,000	72%
2	Sudan	125,500,000	278,500,000	122%
3	Morocco	30,600,000	105,800,000	246%
4	Tunisia	23,800,000	36,600,000	54%
5	Algeria	4,700,000	9,200,000	96%
6	Libya	164,700,000	100,000	-100%
	North African Growth	638,100,000	927,400,000	45%

Traffic in North African countries has seen tremendous growth in the last 18 months.  Surfing activity in the first half of 2011 generated as much traffic as during the preceding year.  And in the second quarter of this year, we served nearly 1 billion ads in the region.