Survey Reveals Growing Opportunities for Mobile Advertising

By Narayan Bhat

TMCnet Contributing Editor

 

 A majority of Americans own a cell phone, but very few of them respond to the advertisements they receive via their mobile handset, says a new survey commissioned by Ingenio, Inc.

 Research found that of the overwhelming majority of U.S. consumers, only a minority of mobile phone owners (30 percent) can recall seeing or hearing an advertisement on their mobile phone.

 

 The research, conducted by Harris Interactive (News - Alert), showcases that a dominant advertising model which caters to a growing demographic of mobile phone users, is yet to take hold in the world’s most advanced country.

 

 "Advertising on the Internet has grown into a multibillion dollar industry within a few short years. The mobile environment is of course different from the PC, yet it presents a similar opportunity for new ad models. What is most important is that the ad model should be on lines with specific needs of mobile users," says Marc Barach, chief marketing officer, Ingenio, Inc. in a statement.

 

 The survey, which reached out to 4,123 adults, aged 18-years or over, was commissioned by the Ingenio, Inc., a provider of Pay Per Call advertising. The idea behind the survey was to gather a better understanding of peoples' attitudes towards, and usage of, their mobile phones.

 Among those surveyed, nearly two-thirds of mobile phone owners (63 percent) made it clear that their phone is very personal to them.

A majority of the participants in the survey also noted they favored “sponsored text links”, which appear because of Internet searches and some others recalled that they listened to audio ads that play instead of ringing when waiting for someone to answer a call.

 When asked about their current and anticipated cell phone use, about half of mobile phone owners (49 percent) indicated that they are already using their phones for multiple purposes, including for sending and receiving text messages (36 percent), and taking, sending and receiving photos (24 percent).

"An inherent difference between the mobile and PC environments is that mobile searchers want to find information and then immediately act on it," commented Marc Barach, chief marketing officer, Ingenio, Inc.

 "The mobile environment lets advertisers reach consumers immediately. So, an advertising model that connects the two, when the intent is at its highest, will do for mobile what clicks did for the web," Barach also said.