From driving foot traffic into dealerships to helping users research, mobile ad spend from automotive brands has taken off this year, according to a new study from Millennial Media.

In Millennial Media?s December Smart report, the company found that mobile ad spend is up more than 100 percent in ten different verticals. The study also breaks down which devices are most popular on Millennial?s platform.

?Four different verticals grew their mobile ad spend by over 400 percent year-over-year on the Millennial Media platform, led by the automotive vertical, which grew 574 percent,? said Marcus Startzel, general manager of North America at Millennial Media, Baltimore.

?Many of these verticals were already heavily invested in mobile too, so this impressive growth came from an established base level of spend,? he said.

Mobile spend
Four verticals ? automotive, travel, education and sports ? increased mobile advertising spend by more than 400 percent year-over-year.

Mobile ad spend for the travel industry for instance grew by 431 percent year-over-year, showing how online travel agencies, airlines and accommodations businesses are increasingly relying on mobile to drive bookings and reservations.

Fueled by the November presidential elections, the government services vertical increased mobile ad spend 300 percent year-over-year.

The top vertical on Millennial?s platform was the telecom industry. Telecom held the top vertical on Millennial Media?s platform for the first nine months of 2012.

Retail and restaurants, finance, automotive and travel round out the top five verticals on Millennial Media?s platform.

Marketer goals
When it comes to campaign goals, marketers are interested in keeping a presence in mobile, driving site traffic and increasing registration numbers.

Brand building, launching new products and increasing foot traffic were also top goals of advertisers.

Marketers looking to drive Web traffic made up 41 percent of post-click actions.

Twenty-eight percent of Millennial Media?s campaigns included social media as a post-click action, and 32 percent included an application download.

Mobile commerce made up 24 percent of post-click actions and options asking users to opt-in, join or subscribe to a company?s program made up 23 percent of post-click actions.

Smartphones make up 75 percent of impressions on Millennial?s platform.

Non-phone connected devices, which include smartphones and ereaders, generate 20 percent of impressions. The remaining five percent of impressions come from feature phones.

The top five tablets on Millennial?s platform are Apple?s iPad, Samsung?s Galaxy Tab, Amazon?s Kindle Fire, Acer?s Iconia and Motorola?s Xoom.

Additionally, the report looks at how operating systems break down on Millennial?s platform.

Android represents 52 percent of operating system share, and 34 percent of impressions come from iOS devices.

The remaining of the operating system mix is split between BlackBerry, Windows and Symbian.

?Telecom has been the top spending vertical on our platform for the first 9 months of 2012, and these advertisers have placed a strong emphasis on reaching specific consumer audiences,? Mr. Startzel said.

?Business travelers, parents and vacationers were all among the top audiences targeted by telecom advertisers, and we saw them create unique and innovative campaigns to reach these consumers,? he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Marketer, New York