The advertising-based digital-media economy took the better part of two decades to develop, but the realities of an exceptionally rapid shift from desktop to mobile platforms is creating the most disruptive event in the industry’s history. Marketers are having to contend with a platform that has significant size limitations, while publishers are faced with the possibility of trading dollars for dimes as consumers move from the digital “big screen” to the “small screen.” Consider that more than half of all digital time spent online already occurs using smartphones and tablets (See Figure 1)—a stark change from just three years ago, when tablets were being introduced to the market and smartphone activity was still considered a rounding error in the grand scheme of digital engagement.

Although the shift in digital usage from desktop to mobile has been rapid, a realignment in advertising spending continues to lag considerably. A comparison of share of mobile advertising dollars and share of media time spent by consumers on mobile devices reveals a sizeable gap. That difference must decrease or the variance will present a risk to the existing revenue streams of many established digital-advertising businesses (See Figure 2).