Mobile Ad Revenue to Grow Despite Privacy Concerns: Study

A new forecast by market research firm Frost & Sullivan predicts that mobile advertising revenues will hit $1.9 billion in 2012 in the United States, MediaPost reports.

“With nearly 85% of Americans using cell phones, [wireless carriers] have a customer base of almost 250 million to be tapped for mobile ad revenues, according to Frost & Sullivan,” including for both carrier portals (or “decks”) as well as off-deck opportunities.

Privacy concerns remain on the radar, however, especially with the rise of location-based services that rely on cell phone GPS chipsets, as well as more sophisticated mobile browsers that store “cookies” with user info in a similar manner as on desktop and laptop PCs.

“Although advertisers will want to delineate their target audience by demographics, location, handset, and other parameters, mobile operators should be cautious while providing information to preserve their subscribers’ privacy,” the study said.

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