Considering that most observers see online ad spending rising in the low single digits this year, mobile ad spend is still sprinting ahead nicely, if at a somewhat more relaxed pace. Fueled by the growth of iPhones and other smart phone makers rushing to catch up, the mobile ad spend market will rise 36 percent to $229 million this year, according to Interpublic Group’s Magna.

SEE ALSO: Magna: Video Ad Spend On Track For Rapid Growth; Still Dwarfed By TV

While that represents a small drop in the ad revenue bucket—even compared to the $23.4 billion the IAB said was spent on the web last year—it means that mobile is finally set to break out of the “next big thing” status it’s been stuck in for the past several years. Brian Wieser, Magna’s head of global forecasting, predicts that 2010 will see a “re-acceleration” of mobile ad activity thanks to the emergence of the mobile apps market. After apps, consumers’ increasing use of their phones for more than just making voice calls will also drive mobile ads up. As comScore (NSDQ: SCOR) recently noted, the number of daily mobile web users doubled to 22 million individuals.