Mobile search advertising is growing rapidly with almost 30% of paid search links being served onto smartphones and tablets according to a report by technology analyst firm Telsyte.

The report also found the mobile paid search market is growing at a 17% compound quarterly rate, making it possibly the fastest growing advertising medium in Australia and predicts the market will reach $430 million this year. This equates to almost 25% share of the $1.74 billion paid search market.

Search advertisers appear to be following their audience to their mobile devices with an increasing number of ad listings appearing on smartphones and tablets as ordinary Australians shift their digital habits to mobile devices.

Telsyte research director Foad Fadaghi says there has been a lack of clarity about the consumption of, and spending on, mobile search advertising in Australia.

“Not withstanding the difficulties in measuring mobile search, many advertisers are serving their search ads on tablets and smartphones by default following changes to Google’s targeting options,” he says.

“Mobile device search advertising is growing faster than most observers realise so we have published a complimentary report to assist marketers in understanding this significant trend.”