Aussies click yes to mobile ads

Beverley Head
Tuesday, 08 February 2011 11:42

Your IT - Mobility

Australians prove to be curiously accepting when it comes to being bombarded with advertisements on the mobile phone - with 75 per cent of us claiming to be relatively comfortable with the phenomenon. In fact we're more comfortable than any other nation on the planet.

But according to mobile advertising network InMobi, which today released the findings of an international survey of its audience, in spite of this consumer acceptance, the mobile advertising market is still finding its feet despite predictions that it will grow to be a $US20 billion business in the next three years.

According to Rob Marston, the recently appointed regional director for the company, who is based in Sydney; 'There is a rush to build an app in the same was as there was a rush to build web sites in the past. Mobile has not really found its place yet.

'It's clear that consumers are using it - but advertisers are not using it yet,' he said.

According to Surag Patel, InMobi's director of global research, the Australian enthusiasm for mobile advertising could in part be due to the rapid penetration of smartphones which make a more attractive advertising platform than older phones. He said that in the three months to December there were 310 million impressions served to Australian phones which was up 33 per cent from July.

That he said was being supercharged by smartphone impressions which surged 72 per cent in the same period to 193 million impressions.

Mr Patel said that 62 per cent of impressions were made via smartphones, with iPhones currently the platform of choice, being chased by Android.