The study was conducted by IHS Screen Digest. In addition to revenue, the study also found that mobile gambling applications boosted engagement over the past year.

“This study shows just how much the gambling industry is growing, not only with gambling but with the mobile industry as well,” said Ronan De Renesse, senior analyst and head of mobile at IHS Screen Digest.

IHS Screen Digest is a research, publishing and consulting company located in Englewood, CO.

Gamble on mobile
The study shows that 13 percent of British consumers use mobile gambling apps, compared to 9 percent in 2007.

In particular, gambling organization such as Blue Square attributed 20 percent of its revenue from mobile gambling in 2010, up 300 percent from 2009.

Additionally, the study found that in the next couple of years, mobile gambling is expected to increase the average user’s online revenue by 10 to 20 percent.

According to the study, the rise in revenue is due to location-based services. Users can now bet on games anywhere while on the go. Consumers can also watch more live-streaming games, which makes it easier for them to bet on.

“The strongest trend our study found was just meeting needs of mobile gambling consumers,” Mr. De Renesse said.

“The increase in mobile gambling usage shows that mobile is becoming an undeniably important part of companies’ strategies,” he said.

“By increasing their reach, they are improving the way that users can be reached while on the move with mobile phones.”

Gaming for the future
According to Mr. De Renesse, one of the most interesting trends to observe over the next few years will be to see how young gamblers use games.

“The amount of consumers on mobile devices is significantly higher in 13 to 18 year-olds, so it will be interesting to see if they still have the same level of engagement once they are able to gamble legally,” he said.

“Young users are also more trusting, so they are more likely to purchase things directly from their mobile devices,” he said.

Based on this year’s predictions, Mr. De Renesse said it can be predicted that mobile gambling will continue to grow by approximately 20 million users per year.

“We can see from this study that mobile needs to become a priority for every gambling company,” Mr. De Renesse said.

“Gambling is a competitive industry in general, so gambling companies really need to go into mobile full-force and be on every platform with engaging applications,” he said.