GfK NOP: 78 million watched mobile ad in Q4

Mobile ads may be catching on at a faster clip than researchers previously thought. According to a recent study from mobile entertainment company Limbo and research firm GfK NOP, 78 million mobile ads were viewed in the last three months of 2007.

by Kristina Knight

The study found that SMS messaging is still the strongest service (non-voice) with consumers. More than 50% of mobile users send text messages. Meanwhile about 25% of users say they play mobile games or surf the mobile 'Net. Only about 10% of those surveyed admitted they watch mobile television offerings.

What this means is that users are quickly catching on to non-voice offerings from mobile providers. That means mobiles aren't just for talking any longer and advertisers need to pay attention.

So far about 33% of users have seen some type of mobile ad on their phone; most of these are still SMS messages. Mobile advertising does seem to have strong brand recognition. Of those surveyed for this study more than 30% remembered the brand whose message they saw. Men have higher advertising recall (20% higher than women) among mobile users, but by far young users have the best recall. Young mobile users remembered 24% more ads than 50 year olds.