More advertisers reach customers through their mobile phones, with growth in the Asia-Pacific region that the overall rate international mobile ad Inmoba said Tuesday.

Advertising on mobile phones reached 17.6 billion “impressions” in March this year, up 26 percent just four months earlier, said in a report. The increase was 21 percent worldwide during the same period, he added.

Inmoba, which acts as an intermediary between advertisers and users of mobile phones, said the market was fueled by the phenomenal growth in smartphones, which now account for 22 percent of all mobile ads in the region.

Smartphones tend to rise on interactive advertising and surf the Internet, or play for their high-tech equipment.

This allows users, for example, to see different car models or even announced to “meet” the characters in Pirates of the Caribbean 4 movies in one click.

“The continued growth of mobile media consumption in Asia highlights the possibility of advertising for local brands, regional and global,” said Atul Satija, Inmoba Regional Vice President and Chief Executive Officer.

“Mobile phone display screen is the primary use of the Internet in Asia, which drive innovation in Asia for mobile devices, possibly after the market’s most advanced media world.”

James Lamberti, vice president of research and marketing on Inmoba said that the introduction of the Android operating system to compete with Apple’s iPhone “has significantly increased the growth smartphone.”

“With the emphasis on moving from global publishers, advertisers and developers, the mobile experience has reached its next phase of its evolution,” said Lamberti.

A joint investigation by Inmoba and Mobile Marketing Association reported that 80 percent of Asian mobile Web users shop on the go, buying products, including music, movies, games and clothing.