A third generation of location based services (LBS) is underway in western markets, which could give a huge boost to location based advertising, claims ABI Research.
ABI forecasts that the next five years will see the emergence of retail/shopping, ambient intelligence, hyperlocal social and personal asset tracking/BLE beacon applications as the next type of crucial location based services.
As local deals/offers market is experiencing a robust growth, the value of location services has not diminished. A four-fold increase in revenues is predicted in the segment by 2019.
According to ABI senior analyst Patrick Connolly, LBS downloads will cross 4 billion in 2019 in the Asian market.
Recognising the need of location, major Chinese online firms are either acquiring or integrating as they shift to mobile.
Tencent, an online major, acquired 11.28% stake in mapping firm NavInfo for $200m. This is followed by acquisition of AutoNavi by Alibaba, another internet giant.
In contrast to the earlier LBS application trends, several firms will expand into overseas markets, predicts ABI Research.
