333% jump predicted for Facebook mobile ad revenue

This year Facebook's mobile ad revenue is expected to top $2bn, according to a new eMarketer report.

The internet analysts are equating that to an increase of more than 333% during 2013, with a future increase of a further 92% percent to take the social media giant's revenues to nearly $9bn.

Google currently leads the top tech companies and is again predicted to dominate the overall online ad spend, having reached $4.6bn in mobile ad revenues last year, three times its 2011 total.

Facebook's growth is set to rise as the global market share drops for the other major players such as Amazon and Pandora.

However, Twitter is expected to see worldwide mobile ad spending share continue to rise this year to roughly two percent of the global market and at least 3.6 percent in the US.

Meanwhile there is positive news for Apple, which continues to dominate US users' mobile device purchases, according to a new Forrester report. iOS shoppers are around 30 percent more likely to make a purchase on their device and are about 15% more likely to research products on their smartphones and tablets than Android users.

Both platforms are still being targeted by the majoity of corporates, as BlackBerry and Windows Mobile are still looking expensive to anyone other than larger companies with big budgets. Low cost, cross-platform solutions are becoming increasingly popular, serving to further marginalise BlackBerry and Microsoft.

According to the report, developing for either iOS or Android is a much more resource-intensive affair than it used to be, despite efforts to encourage users to upgrade their software along with easier to build software with compatibility across OS versions and devices.

The survey also found that almost the same number of ebusiness professionals intended to launch either a native, hybrid iOS or Android app by the end of 2013.