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Mobile advocates everywhere (including me) are predicting significant growth in mobile advertising in the United States in 2010. One of the market measures we look at is the growth of mobile marketing in other areas of the world where mobile got an earlier start, such as the United Kingdom. So how did the UK do last year? Well, according to the International Advertising Bureau (IAB), mobile advertising in the UK grew by 32% in 2009, up to an impressive £37.6 million ($57 million USD).

Here are some of the highlights from the report:

Both paid-for search and display formats performed above expectations.

Mobile search was the fastest growing format – up 41% to a new high of £20.2 million ($30.6 million) and a market share of 54% (50% in 2008).

Mobile display – which includes banners, text links, tenancies pre- and post-roll and in-game advertising – grew by 24% to £17.4 million ($26.4 million) and a market share of 46% (50% in 2008).

Driving mobile display was expenditure on banners and text links, which were up 26% year on year to £14.6 million ($22.1 million) - £11.7m in 2008 ($17.7 million), to a new market share of 39% (41% in 2008).

Tenancies were up 17% year on year to £1.4m ($2.1m) - £1.2m ($1.8m) in 2008 - and a market share of 3.8% (4.3% in 2008).

Other formats including display advertising within SMS / MMS were up 26% year on year, to £1.2 million ($1.8 million) - £1m ($1.5m) in 2008 - and a market share of 3.2% (3.4% in 2008).

Watch for growth in the United States to match or exceed that in the UK this year.