28/03/2008

Analysts are expecting mobile search services such as those on Blackberry to generate annual revenues of $4.8 billion by 2013.

Juniper Research published a report analysing how the mobile search market will grow over the next five years, looking at how trends and challenges will affect the sector in the future.

The report found that local search services will prove to be the most popular with advertisers, with 40 per cent of mobile search advertising to be spent over the 2008-13 period, while it warned that an "advertising overload" could disenchant users to take up the service.

China and the Far East meanwhile are expected to be the most profitable regions in this sector in the next five years.

A reduction in data costs and an increase in availability in flat rate data tariffs is expected to be one factor in the sector's growth as well as enhanced user features.