There seems to be a constant debate as to when the so-called “year of mobile” will come about, or when mobile marketing and advertising will finally make the breakthrough to the masses.  One mobile ad network in particular thinks the year of mobile has already come and gone in 2009, and is already looking ahead to its top 10 mobile predictions for 2010.

Millennial Media, who operates one of the largest mobile advertising networks in the US, looked at advertiser and industry data, surveys, device and technology trends, observations of consumer behaviors and campaign analysis pulled from its network over the past year to pick out what it sees as the top 10 mobile predictions for the coming year.

Starting things off, Millennial predicts 2010 to be a big year for mobile applications in more ways than one.  Competition in the mobile application space will increase dramatically in 2010 with Android and RIM further strengthening their developer platforms in an attempt to give Apple credible competition over the next year.  In addition, Millennial predicts advertisers will shift thinking away from driving traffic to mobile Websites and instead increase its usage of branded mobile apps more than ever before.  In 2010, it predicts, 50 percent of campaigns will direct users to a mobile site and 35-40 percent to a custom mobile application promoting their products and services.

As 2009 comes to an end, Millennial predicts 2010 to be the year many brands start allocating large portions of their media spend to mobile.  More than 25 percent of brands anticipate spending greater than $5M on mobile advertising in 2010, up from 12.5 percent spending more than $5M in 2009.  The past year has proved to many brands that mobile is a serious channel that brings unmatched ROI and effectiveness, and as the new year approaches and marketing budgets are being worked out, more dollars will go to mobile in 2010 than ever before.

Millennial predicts the three most important aspects of mobile advertising in 2010 will be location, relevancy and immediacy, equaling an aptly named mobile triple-play for 2010.  While location and relevancy certainly had its place in 2009, I see immediacy in mobile campaigns becoming as important as ever over the next year.  Getting the right message in front of the right audience at the exact moment they’re most likely to engage will become a significant piece of the puzzle for marketers in 2010.

It’s estimated that consumers will increase their average browsing time from the 4 minute 40 second average in 2009 to the 5 minute 30 second range in 2010 while average pageviews will increase from 105 to 120 pages per month.  As usage increases, Millennial predicts advertisers will increasingly buy audiences over buying media properties.  Instead of relying on old-school methods of using basic carrier, country and demographic targeting, Millennial predicts advertisers will leverage mobile ad networks’ ability to create and target custom audiences at scale.

2010 will undoubtedly be another exciting year for mobile, and I think Millennial is dead on with its predictions for 2010.  Head over and check out the full report here, and let us know what you think are the best mobile predictions for the coming year.