Mobile Users: Still Not That Into The Ads

Another year, another bevy of predictions over whether this is "the year" -- that mythic one when advertisers adopt the mobile phone. Here's a disturbing stat for the hopeful: Only 7% of mobile users say they trust ads they see on their mobile phones, and only 1% copped to having ever clicked on an ad, according to Forrester Research.

But here's the disconnect: 85% of marketers believe mobile phones will be a more effective ad platform over the next three years.

So, there you have it. Marketers are bullish on mobile advertising, while consumers, well, are really not at all into ads on their mobile phones. Part of this is probably related to the fact that most people still find surfing the Web on mobile phones pretty annoying. Only 23% told Forrester they found using the Web on a mobile an "enjoyable experience." (And only 13% of the U.S. mobile market uses the Web on their phones, according to research firm M:Metrics.)

That will gradually change as better Web browsers and user interfaces make it into the market via Apple's (AAPL) iPhone, Google's (GOOG) Android, and potentially via a forthcoming, mobile version of Firefox. But we don't think that will make mobile ads much more appealing.

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