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.

Falling Smartphone Prices Means Greater Penetration

By Hisham Isa, Vice President (Marketing)

Where can you buy the world's cheapest smartphones?

I'll share that answer in a moment. First, though, it seems that most discussions about smartphones have been about iPhones, Android or Android vs iPhones. A host of new producers, though - some of whom have been building other brands' smartphones for years - are driving down handset prices. And the story set to dominate this week's Mobile World Congress is the advent of inexpensive smartphones.

For many consumers, smartphones are finally becoming affordable!

Publisher Alert : High Latent Demand Among Advertisers

In this advisory, we highlight markets where there is a strong latent demand among advertisers. Demand is particularly high in Indonesia, Thailand and South Africa where competitive bids are driving maximum bids upwards. This is also true in key markets in Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Guatemala) where maximum bids are in the double digits as more advertisers vie for audiences.

Demand is not expected to ease in the first half of 2014 as more campaigns are deployed in our network with the direct benefits to publishers and ad supported mobile services.

Please download the latest advisory for a full list of high-earning markets.

The BuzzCity Report - Vol.4, Issue 1 (Jan 2014)

In the latest edition of The BuzzCity Report, we look at how the robust return of mobile content players over the past twelve months has driven up advertising spending.

The opportunity to engage consumers via their handsets is driving mobile commerce. In some markets mobile commerce grew in step with e-commerce while in others, m-commerce streaked ahead.

In the BuzzCity Report, we look at consumer surfing behaviour as well as planned purchases over the next year. We also cover the fourth quarter of 2013 during which time The BuzCity Network delivered more than 72 billion paid ads.

We look at hotspots that have attracted advertising dollars and are likely to continue doing so in the months ahead. We also highlight a few countries outside the Top 10 that we think may interest advertisers.

Read more in Volume 4, Issue 1 of The BuzzCity Report.