Mobile and Online Streaming is Booming

With the expansion of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, the mobile video market is quickly expanding, ready to explode.

In 2011, 39 percent of all mobile data usage in America was comprised of video streaming – a whopping 93-percent increase from the previous year. YouTube (News - Alert), owned by Google, is primarily responsible for the growth.

As smartphone adoption continues to grow as devices boast increasingly affordable plans, the amount of users in Latin American countries will make it the fastest growing country for mobile viewing. According to Forbes, by 2016 Latin America will surpass North America and settle into the number-two slot in the world for mobile video users, behind the Asia/Pacific region.

YouTube, launched in 2005, has over 800 million users and the number will continue to grow. Each day there are 72 hours of video uploaded every hour, or over one hour per second.

YouTube also users currently watch over three billion hours of videos a month.

During the first half of 2011, YouTube accounted for 22 percent of all mobile traffic online.

The boom in online viewing is also having an impact on advertising. Although the average viewer uses mobile view as a way to pass time, companies like Deron and Intel are shifting from television ads, over to YouTube and Google (News - Alert)-based advertizing.

A recent market study by Informa Telecoms and Media estimates the online video market will reach $37 billion by 2017. Online video ads have increased to 14.1 percent over the course of the least year.

Naturally, humans comprise an impatient bunch who like things to be as easy as possible, which mobile and online viewing does. With a click of a button, we’re able to access our favorite TV shows and movies.