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Cell phone advertising

Janet Babin Oct 27, 2006
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Cell phone advertising

Janet Babin Oct 27, 2006
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TEXT OF STORY

MARK AUSTIN THOMAS: Think hard. Do you know anyone that doesn’t own a cell phone? More than three-quarters of Americans have one and new research says a lot of them will be getting some kind of advertising on those phones if they’re not already. From the Marketplace Innovations Desk at North Carolina Public Radio, Janet Babin reports.


JANET BABIN: Companies will spend more than a billion dollars this year reaching out to cell phone users.

But a new study from Jupiter Research finds that spending will likely double to almost $3 billion in just 5 years.

Marketers like mobile ads because the messages reach a very personal device that people use all the time, instead of, say, sending e-mails to a shared computer.

Jupiter’s Julie Ask is the study’s author. She says cell phone messages must be targeted to consumers who want to see them or companies could face a backlash.

JULIE ASK:“Because consumers pay for the messages they send, and they also pay for the messages they receive. Already one of the biggest concerns that consumers have is that they’re going to have to pay for text messages from commercial entities that they don’t want.”

For the most part, advertisers only send their messages to consumers who’ve already agreed to be contacted.

I’m Janet Babin for Marketplace.

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