Mobile users find advertising irritating

It’s hard to escape local advertising – it’s on most websites, in bricks-and-mortar stores, on television, on billboards, aboard public transport, in toilets and, increasingly, on mobile phones. Is this a channel too far for most people?

by Helen Leggatt

Unsurprisingly, most people aren’t happy with the thought of being advertised to on their mobile phones. In fact, according to WebVisible and Nielsen//NetRatings' recent survey of 2,000 U.S. Internet users, a massive 92 percent said they would be irritated by advertising on their mobile phones.

The report also clarifies that almost three-quarters of those surveyed (74 percent) said they preferred to search for local products and services rather than having ads sent directly to them. This bodes well for the recently announced Google AdSense for Mobile service.

Two thirds of respondents favored more targeted ads. Fifty-six percent of the respondents said they only get ads relevant to them when using the Internet and 53 percent said the same of television.

Other preferred sources of local information were printed versions of the Yellow Pages (65 percent), Internet Yellow Pages (50 percent), newspapers (44 percent), White Pages (33 percent), television (29 percent) and consumer review websites (18 percent).

Tags: AdSense, Google, mobile advertising, mobile search, Nielsen//NetRatings