• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, January 8, 2008

Mobile devices may be among the fastest growing consumer technologies, but the platform has yet to catch on as a significant advertising medium and if some new research on the plans of big advertisers and agencies is any indication, it won't be caching on anytime soon. More than half of advertisers and agency media executives do not currently use and have no plans ot utilize mobile advertising, according to findings of a fall 2007 survey conducted by Advertiser Perceptions.

The survey, which polled 2,047 ad executives on a variety of media issues and perceptions found that only 26% currently use mobile advertising, and only 20% plan to use it in the next six months. That is about the same level of usage indicated among ad executives when Advertiser Perceptions conducted its last semi-annual survey in the Spring of 2007, and is not a strong indicator for the burgeoning mobile marketing industry, says Ken Pearl, a partner at Advertiser Perceptions.

The research also indicates that when ad executives do use mobile advertising, they tend to utilize simple text advertising formats vs. banner ads, podcasts, video and search ads (see table below).

Plans For Mobile Advertising
	Fall ‘07	Spring ‘07
Not Using/Not Planning To Use	54%	54%
Currently Using	26%	25%
Plan To Use In Next Six Months	20%	21%

Source: Advertiser Perceptions. Survey of 2,047 advertiser and agency executives conducted online in October/November 2007. Spring 2007 survey conducted in April and May.

Types Of Mobile Advertising Used/ Will Use In Next Six Months
	Currently Use	Will Use
Text	70%	69%
Banner	46%	51%
Podcasts	24%	30%
Video	29%	42%
Search	36%	45%
Other	8%	6%

Source: Advertiser Perceptions. Base = Those who said they currently use mobile advertising as part of a survey of 2,047 advertiser and agency executives conducted online in October/November 2007.