Erica DeWolf of DeWolf eMarketing & Design put together an interesting report about statistics surrounding mobile ads. In it, she writes:

According to a March 2008 Nielsen Company study, Nielsen’s Mobile Advertising Report, 58 million mobile phone users have been exposed to advertising on their phones in the past 30 days. That’s 23% of all United States mobile subscribers. Over half, or 28 million of these subscribers have responded to the mobile ad they were exposed to.

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Mobile Ad Acceptance

• 51% of those who received mobile ads responded.
  • 26% responded by sending an SMS text-message
  • 9% responded by using “click-to-call”
• 32% of mobile phone users would be open to mobile advertising if it would lower their monthly cell phone bill.
• 14% say they care currently open to mobile advertising so long as the ads are relevant to their interests.
• 23% say they expect to see more mobile ads in the future.
• Only 10% of mobile phone users said mobile ads are acceptable, although an increasing number of individuals seem to be understanding the value proposition that will soon be associated with mobile advertising.

Some of the stats are a little surprising, but the overall message is that mobile advertising is becoming more and more acceptable in the marketplace, as long as the ads relevant or provide a tangible benefit to the recipient.