There’s no denying the popularity of smartphones these days.  Smartphone ownership worldwide is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 37 percent until 2016, and by that time one-third of the world’s population will already be smartphone users, according to a recent report from Millennial Media.  The mobile advertising platform, released their S.M.A.R.T. Report for the month of October which features the top global trends in the mobile space.

Because of this growth, the global infrastructure to support smartphone use will also continue to develop, from WiFi to data plans, trickling down the ecosystem to support markets for advertising and targeted services.  And the latter is becoming Millennial Media’s sweet spot, noting a particular trend towards app downloads as a top form of advertising.

According to MM, the application download rate is at 44 percent with Cable and Network Programming advertisers in the Telecommunications vertical using such tactics to drive their subscribers into watching their favorite programs on their mobile device via the mobile app.

Millennial Media points out that on their advertising platform, clients are utilizing  a variety of audience targeting techniques with the most frequently targeted audiences being IT Decision Makers, Gadget Geeks, Movie Buffs and Moms.

It was also noted in the report that In-Market Auto Intenders were the leading audience on Millennial’s platform for the first quarter of 2012, and it generated a sustained interest until the second quarter.

According to a recent eMarketer report, mobile advertising viewers increased nearly 30 percent globally, uncovering the biggest clue as to why so many are investing heavily in mobile advertising.

For the big spenders in mobile advertising, Millennial noted that three verticals experienced triple-digit growth with Automotive manufacturers in the lead, experiencing a 372 percent growth rate year-over-year in overall spending for mobile advertising.  Automotive manufacturers are followed by Personal and Home Services with 353 percent growth, and Education with 222 percent growth in mobile advertising spending.

Others are also seeing the huge potential of automotive mobile advertising. Symbiotic Infotech, for one, is developing an app to help automotive manufacturers keep their userbase abreast with upcoming launches, learn more about the car’s features, as well as the price.  Everything a customer needs to know about the automobile will be made available to them via this mobile app.