According to a bi-annual report from Nielsen Mobile found that 58 million, or 23%, of all U.S. mobile phones users, have viewed mobile advertising in the last 1 month. Of these, 28 million subscribers say they responded to the ad in one way or another.
The findings are based on a study of over 22,000 mobile users, carried out in the last quarter of 2007. Overall there was a big jump in the number of users who recalled seeing mobile advertising, up 38 percent from the last report. In the second quarter of 2007, Nielsen reported 42 million subscribers saw mobile ads, while the number rose to 58 million for the fourth quarter.
The results of the report indicate that:
The number of data users who recalled seeing mobile advertising between the second and fourth quarters of 2007 increased 38% (from 42 to 58 million subscribers)
Teen data users (ages 13"17) were the most likely age segment to recall seeing mobile advertising (46% recalled seeing some type of mobile advertisement, compared to 29% of all data users)
Asian-Americans and African-Americans are more likely to recall mobile advertising (42% and 40%, respectively) than all data users
26% of those who saw an ad responded at least once by sending an SMS text-message, the most popular ad response. 9% say theyve used click-to-call to respond to a mobile ad, where users follow a link on their phone to call a specific number
32% of data users said they are open to mobile advertising if it lowers their overall bill
13% (18% of males) said they are open to mobile advertising if it improves the media and content currently available
14% said they are already open to mobile advertising so long as it is relevant to their interests
23% expect to see more mobile advertising in the future (up from just 15% in Q1 2007)
From an AdWeek study called State of the Media Democracy on Cell Phones:
46% of Millennials embrace their cell phones as an entertainment device.
57% of all consumers text message on their cell phones compared with 84% of Millennials.
56% of all consumers take photos with their phones, including 37% of Matures.
While advertisers continue to look for ways to connect with users through their mobile devices, the quest for acceptable mobile advertising is not complete. A paltry 10% of the users surveyed found mobile advertising acceptable.
As of now there is no benchmark measurement for the performance of mobile ads and Im sure this leads to confusion from advertisers and marketers alike. Google, Microsoft and Yahoo! have launched a number of services for mobile and programs to enable marketers to place ads on mobiles. Clearly there are a lot of revenues at at stake here, but what does it all mean?
First: younger generations love user-generated content and their mobile devices. This would suggest that a local/social mobile application could be a killer app. Second: advertising researchers must better understand how audiences are willing to engage with mobile advertising. Third: 2008 is lining up to be the year where a solid mobile development base, networks, open devices etc., is established. This will set the stage for a breakout in 2009. Lastly: the only way to leap frog Google, Yahoo, MSN is through the potential of Mobile, so there will be no shortage of players working the space.