Mobile advertising made noise this quarter, but 97 percent of agencies claim their clients are not requesting platforms such as Apple's iAd, according to media buying and selling software provider Strata.

The No. 1 mobile advertising avenue is display advertising, with 48 percent of agencies claiming their clients have requested including the channel in their media mix. Advertising through SMS is on the to-do list for 23.3 percent of agency clients.

?One of the main mobile takeaways from the survey is that Apple has lost a bit of its luster,? said John Shelton, CEO of Strata, New York. ?The buzz around Apple?s advertising platforms, iAd and Apple TV, seem to be falling short at advertising agencies.

?Although mobile is strong, it is still behind Internet and TV,? he said. ?There is also not a lot of confidence around building content. There is more confidence in display ads and other established mobile avenues.? 

Strata surveyed 70 media buying advertising agencies to get an idea of trends and challenges they may be facing. 

Mobile findings 
For digital spend, 81.5 percent of agencies say online display is the No. 1 choice of digital advertising, followed by search at 67.7 percent.

But mobile, which came in third with 30.8 percent, had the largest jump, up 91 percent from the first quarter.

Of the mobile advertisers, iPhone remains the top choice with 82.7 percent. But iPhone is losing ground to Android devices that have witnessed a 9 percent boost since the last quarter and are now at 50 percent.

The buzz of Apple?s advertising and products seem to fall short with ad agencies. A whopping 97 percent of agencies report that their clients are not requesting to advertising on platforms like iAd or Apple TV. 
Also, 61 percent of agencies say that Apple TV will not change the game for advertising spend. 

The hype of location-based advertising fell short as well, with 57.4 percent saying that location-based advertising will not be in their plans for 2011. 

Those that are dipping their toes into this medium are choosing Facebook Places (24 percent) or Foursquare (22 percent). 

Also notable is that 66.7 percent are opting to advertise on display ads on other mobile content, while only 41 percent are choosing to build their own mobile Web site or microsite.

Drivers
Per Strata, the lack of interest in location-based advertising and Apple platforms are some of the more surprising findings of the third quarter survey. TV?s firm position as the strongest medium is another notable factoid. 

?Accessibility is the main factor growing mobile advertising,? Mr. Shelton said. ?Many people are going so far as to say that their phone is their third, primary screen. This provides tremendous opportunity for advertisers to reach their target demographic intelligently and at a more frequent basis. 

?A primary requirement for mobile advertising to take the next step is that it must gain wider consumer acceptance,? he said. ?Developers should also be conscious of creating applications that make sense, focusing on such areas as Google maps and bar code scanner applications.

?Increasing the size of a mobile phone screen would also assist reaching mobile phone users.? 

Final take
Giselle Tsirulnik is senior editor of Mobile Marketer
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