By Dash Teter

Despite mobile being everywhere you turn these days, with soaring usage and engagement rates, mobile advertising revenue continues to lag significantly behind desktop display. Why is there such a mismatch?

There are many possible reasons why mobile ad revenue lags mobile adoption.

First off, many mobile sites are not up to par, so consumers abandon them. A recent survey found that 80 percent of users would abandon a mobile site if the experience was not up to par. 

When a consumer abandons, it also means that she is not buying.

However, these are basic challenges and should not be predictive of the future of mobile advertising.

Call to click
Mobile engagement rates are only going to continue to rise and many advertisers could tap into this huge opportunity with something as simple as optimizing their landing pages for mobile devices.

According to data from Nielsen?s Mobile Insights study from July 2011, smartphone market penetration nationwide has reached 40 percent and shows no signs of stopping. 

With mobile phones reaching 97 percent of U.S. residents and the Internet reaching merely 78 percent, the smartphone is an even better place than typical Internet browsing to reach your consumer.

Mobile users are sophisticated and have come to expect well-targeted advertising, with a high quality user experience.

Advertisers now have the ability to reach their audience anywhere they go, but they must follow through with a mobile-optimized user experience to fully capitalize on these valuable impressions.

After all, what good is well-targeted advertising when the post-click experience is lacking?

WITH THE UBIQUITY of mobile phones, in general, and the large and growing penetration of smartphones, mobile campaigns are one of the best places to focus your campaigns and advertising dollars.

But do not forget to have creative and landing pages that are mobile-optimized so that your click-through and conversion rates properly reflect the effect of these valuable impressions.

Dash Teter is director of analytics at LiveIntent, New York. Reach him at .