According to research carried out by UK market research company YouGov, 79 percent of smartphone users questioned said they found mobile ads to be intrusive.

88 percent said they ignored ads in applications and 86 percent said they ignored ads on the mobile internet.

A mere 5 percent said they thought mobile ads were a good idea.

Getting the message across

However, despite this attitude, users reported a high level of engagement in terms of being aware of ads. 33 percent of respondents said they recognised the in-app ads every time they used an app, and 19 percent recalled ads on apps they use daily.

More generally, 87 percent said they had seen ads while browsing the mobile internet, and 80 percent while using apps.

In terms of in-app activity, 45 percent said they were aware of sponsored apps and games, 44 percent of app recommendations, and 38 percent had seen a full screen ad before an app activated.

The survey was carried out online, with a total of 2,082 smartphone owners, between 2 - 6 June 2011.