US : Limbo, one of the largest mobile social communities in the US, and GfK Technology, a leading market search agency, have released the latest joint Mobile Advertising Report (MAR). The second quarter report shows that a high percentage of mobile phone users in the US, UK and India indicate they are receiving advertising messages through their mobile phone; 85 percent in India, 51 percent in the UK, and 37 percent in the US.

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“We’re seeing an increase in consumer awareness of a variety of mobile advertising campaigns, from text message to interactive games to mobile internet banner advertisements,” says Jonathon Linner, CEO of Limbo. “With mobile phone usage growing, it’s logical for more companies to seek mobile marketing as a way to reach their segmented targets in this direct and highly interactive medium.”

Though mobile phone marketing exposure is prevalent in all three countries, the mobile delivery tools vary. Text messaging, however, remains the most common advertising format in all; 74 percent in India, 48 percent in the UK and 22 percent in the US. Mobile web advertising was most prevalent in the UK, with 16 percent of respondents recalling advertising compared with 8 percent of those in the US and 4 percent of those in India. Radio also showed a striking variation with nearly 40 percent of those in India recalling advertisements through radio on their mobile phones compared to only 9 percent in the UK and 3 percent in the US.

The report shows that younger males typically view mobile Internet advertising the most. The brands recalled in advertising via this channel were mainly mobile carriers, handset manufacturers, media brands and digital entertainment companies.

“These findings indicate the degree to which the mobile phone is used as a marketing channel, with enhanced handsets and flat rate data tariffs increasingly common, it is only a matter of time before mobile internet advertising starts to rival the penetration of SMS or text message marketing,” says Colin Strong, head of Mobile Communications Research at GfK Technology.

Though the US lags behind the UK and India in many mobile phone usage categories, it shows strong growth. The number of people using mobile phones in the US has grown from 251 million in Q4 2007 to over 263 million this quarter, up nearly ten percent. The US also shows steady increases in the number of people who recall seeing advertising through their mobile phone, from 31 percent to 37 percent over the same time period.

The Limbo-GfK Technology Mobile Advertising Report is a tool used to help marketers and their agencies understand the fast-changing mobile advertising medium. The report is produced quarterly and is distributed free to marketers. The Q2 2008 report is based on a survey of 1,000 representative American adults, 1,000 UK adults interviewed by telephone, and 1,000 Indian adults interviewed by intercept.