Empowered by the rise of smartphone sales and mobile social networking, mobile ad spending is expected to increase by 85% in India, according to eMarketer.

eMarketer estimates that by 2021, mobile will account for just under 62% of digital ad spending’s $2.80bn. Bolstered by increase in the sale of smartphones, the ad spend will further boost overall digital ad spend to $1.21bn.

Mobile social networking in India is projected to scale to 24.3% to reach more than 26.8% of all mobile phone users and 74.9% of social network users.

By 2021, smartphone users will account for 47.4% as compared to the current 36.6% smartphone users.

According to Shelleen Shum, senior forecasting analyst at eMarketer, while television continues to be the most popular advertising medium, digital is the fastest growing, with ad spending recording double-digit growth rates up to 2021.

She said: “Driven by increasing mobile internet penetration, falling data prices and the availability of low-cost handsets, mobile will be a major contributor to the growth of digital advertising in the years to come as marketers embrace this channel to reach a new generation of young and digitally savvy consumers.”

eMarkter has also predicted that digital advertising spend in six Southeast Asia countries - namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam - will increase by double digits in 2017 and 2018.