Reston, Virginia-based ComScore, a firm that tracks digital world statistics, reports that fewer European consumers are receiving ads for mobile products and services, while more receive ads for consumer goods such as food, travel, financial services, fashion and restaurants.

 

Over the past year, the number of people receiving SMS adverts for mobile products and services fell nine percent in Europe, while the number receiving offers for non-mobile consumer goods and services climbed 15 percent.

 

Overall, ComScore shows, slightly fewer Europeans report receiving an SMS ad, with a decline from 112 million in August 2007 to 110 million in August 2008.

 

Here’s a chart showing the research firm’s findings:

 

 

The fastest-growing category of SMS advertising since August of 2007 is food, the company found at a rate of 53 percent, followed by clothing/fashion at 38 percent and restaurants at 37 percent.

 

Advertisements for restaurants and food also boast the highest level of response, with 16 percent of those receiving an advert for a restaurant responding and 13 percent of those receiving an offer for food, such as grocery coupons, responding, ComScore officials say.

 

The number of consumers responding to an offer for a mobile product or service remained flat, at four percent.

 

“While the majority of SMS adverts are still for mobile products and services, the mix is beginning to shift toward consumer goods and services,” observed Alistair Hill, analyst, ComScore. “Mobile advertisers are beginning to show a higher level of sophistication in their targeting efforts, as the targeting criterion is no longer ‘has mobile phone’ but is based on knowledge of consumers’ tastes and behaviors.”

 

ComScore has also announced the results of its August Benchmark Study, finding that mobile social networking posted double-digit growth in all markets except Germany, which happens to show the lowest number of mobile social network users (as a percent of all mobile subscribers) of the five European countries measured by ComScore.

 

A couple of weeks ago, TMCnet reported that ComScore released a study of online gambling in the Asia-Pacific region based on data from the ComScore World Metrix Service, finding that 51 percent of the Asia-Pacific Internet population visited gaming sites in August, spending an average of 87 minutes on the sites, and averaging 11.5 visits per visitor during the month.

China led the Asia-Pacific region in online gambling penetration in August. Nearly 55 percent of China’s online population visited gambling sites during the month, representing more than 90 million users.

Singapore followed with nearly 50 percent penetration, followed by Australia with 45 percent penetration. India reported the lowest penetration with only 27 percent of its online population visiting a gaming site in August.

South Korea’s users led the region in the most time spent on gambling sites with visitors averaging more than three hours per person during the month and visiting gambling sites an average of 13 times.