Data & Research

Despite downturn, ad execs excited about mobile

But location-based advertising more appealing than games

Despite downturn, ad execs excited about mobile
Hot news! Advertising industry executives are worried about the economic downturn!

Okay, so that's not news at all. In fact, more surprising is the fact that only "nearly half" of the 200 execs surveyed by KPMG thought that the downturn was the major trend affecting the ad industry.

However, the interesting thing is that 40 per cent cited growing use of mobile phones for more than just voice calls as a major trend, while 17 per cent said specifically the potential of smartphones for location-based content, advertising and marketing.

"Everyone is beginning to realize the power of handheld phones to become portable PCs in the future," says KPMG partner Brian Hughes. "So I think views are tempered by the economic climate, but not by the opportunity."

The survey also revealed that 87 per cent of execs said media companies will shift more content to mobile devices in the next two years.

However, location-based advertising on mobiles is seen as more promising than other kinds, including ads within mobile games.

In other words, games developers hoping to make money through ads will be competing against other LBS-friendly apps, from social networking apps to city-guides.

Perhaps that's one more reason for developers to be exploring the area of location-based games...

Contributing Editor

Stuart is a freelance journalist and blogger who's been getting paid to write stuff since 1998. In that time, he's focused on topics ranging from Sega's Dreamcast console to robots. That's what you call versatility. (Or a short attention span.)