February 26, 2001 – Advertisements on handheld devices got a tentative thumb's up from U.S. users, according to a new survey from Telephia, Inc., a San Francisco-based wireless market research group, especially if that advertising offered discounts.

The survey, which polled Telephia's panel of 3,600 phone, PDA, laptop and 2-way pager users, found that 53 percent were "at least somewhat enthusiastic" when asked how willing they were to receive advertising for products or services on their wireless devices.

The remaining 47 percent of respondents were resistant to accepting ads on their devices.

Interest in advertising spiked when respondents were asked whether ads that included discounts would be in the offing. Of those who described themselves as "somewhat," "not very" or "not at all" willing to accept advertising, 19 percent either joined the "extremely willing" category (five percent) or the "very willing" category (14 percent) with the "possibility of tangible compensation," according to Telephia.

Of those who were opposed to the idea of ads, interest increased if consumers were allowed "greater control over the flow of such information to their devices." Given this scenario, an additional 17 percent of users changed their response to either "extremely willing" (two percent) or "very willing" (15 percent).

"The jury is still out with regard to wireless advertising, but we are pleased to see already such a high level of consumer interest, which increases significantly when consumers are offered compensation and other incentives," said John Dee Fair, vice president of research and development for Telephia.

Telephia Survey: Willingness to Receive Ads

• Extremely Willing: 6 percent
  
• Very Willing: 13 percent
  
• Somewhat Willing: 34 percent
  
• Not Very Willing: 26 percent
  
• Not At All Willing: 21 percent