Travelers have been leading the mobile charge for some time now, toting tables and clutching phones on trips all over the world.
With all of these connected travelers roaming localities around the world, mobile advertising is poised to grow - already travelers are searching constantly on their mobile devices, with searches increasing as tablet and smartphone penetration mirrors WiFi, 4G and LTE growth.
Two recent studies, one of 2,500 mobile ad campaigns by Verve Mobile and another by Marin Software, show how the reliance on smartphones for location-specific searches is set to take the lion's share of search revenues, as the smartphone supplants a desktop for many meaningful searches.
Search giant Google is projected to see over $20 billion in revenues from mobile advertising in just 3 years - a nearly 10x increase from 2011.
Retail and restaurants are at the forefront of this shift, as they create geo-fenced and geo-aware advertising that targets locals and visitors alike who happen to be nearby their brick-and-mortar location.
However, all industries are starting to get into the game as they look for more relevant and engaging ways to reach consumers.
In fact, by leveraging location at the core of mobile campaigns, advertisers saw a 2x lift on click-through performance.
Travel brands were in the mix here as well, primarily using DMA and ZIP code targeting in their mobile advertising.
Geo-fencing for travel brands might become more popular as marketers become more comfortable with the interactive potential of these advertisements.
For example, hotels could advertising partnerships with restaurants as a guest roams the city, or a tour company could offer up a special deal on a tour product nearby where a visitor was interacting with their mobile device.
And users are clicking in increasing numbers from mobile devices rather than desktops, with a 9.2% increase in 2012 alone.
Beyond simply gaining visibility, mobile ads also have the potential for increased engagement that leads to other steps in the purchase funnel.
Some of the other types of engagement, and their relative conversion rates:
It's also not just the US that's leading the way in this mobile ad surge: Marin Software found 2012 to be the year when mobile advertising captured a significant share-of-budget for the first time.
This is a very significant increase, showing just how important it is for marketers to have a codified, cohesive mobile marketing strategy in 2013.