• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, November 4, 2011

Just as search has dominated marketing plans and spending on the Web, it is poised for a repeat performance on mobile platforms, according to the latest projections from U.K. market researcher mobileSquared. The company projects total mobile ad revenues of $2.35 billion in the U.S. for 2012, representing growth of 65% over the $1.42 billion of this year.

Search revenues will be the growth driver, itself topping $1 billion. In all, search will account for 43.1% of 2012 mobile ad revenues -- up 90% in value from 2011.

While SMS and other opt-in messaging once fully dominated mobile advertising in its early years, banner ads now have become the second-most successful format, representing 27.8% of projected revenues in 2012. Mobile display will show 48% growth in value next year, netting $442.2 million in revenues.

Opt-in messaging will be close behind, with 23.9% of revenues, up 47% to 383.8 million. Ad-related app revenue will account for 2.4% of market and video and mobile TV advertising will grab 2.7% of revenues.

Google has already projected that its revenue from mobile was moving at a rate of $2.5 billion a year, although the company did not specify how much of that is driven by search and how much by display. Some analysts are already predicting that the overall mobile ad market will exceed the value of Web display in short order.