Report: Tablets present new advertising opportunities, challenges

As tablets continue to take a more central role in people's computing habits, advertisers are adjusting their strategies to capture the burgeoning market. While the devices offer new opportunities to advertisers, they also present several challenges.

This is a point raised by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, which has published its first Tablet Buyers Guide for the US mobile marketplace. The IAB notes that tablets "combine the best of both worlds of interactive media." Like PCs, tablets feature large screens and powerful hardware, while also leveraging the simplicity and immediacy of smartphones.

However, best practices for advertising on tablet computers have not yet been established, as many marketers are still adjusting to in-app and mobile web advertising.

"As an industry we need to define and address the challenges that come with such a rapid development of a medium," says Ulla McGee, vice president of mobile products at IDG and a member of the IAB Mobile Advertising Committee.

Financial media company BIA/Kelsey estimates that the US mobile advertising market will reach $1.2 billion in 2011, up from $790 million in 2010. Tablets will represent a larger portion of that market as businesses learn to take advantage of the technology and cope with the challenges.