UK's Top 5 Mobile Networks Appoint IAB As Trade Body For Mobile Advertising

Coincidence? Just on the day that Google's Android is supposed to be launched, the top five mobile companies in UK have assigned the task of measuring their advertising performance to the Internet Advertising Bureau through a new Mobile Steering Group (MSG).

The MSG and the IAB will work together to educate the advertisers and agencies about the benefits of mobile advertising, something that Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, O2 and 3 will be keen to look into.

Mobile advertising is worth a mere GBP 30 million so far this year, an indication that although the market is pushing for mobile advertising, the fact that mobile advertising lacks proper guidelines to back major advertising campaigns has been a significant issue which the MSG and the IAB will almost certainly look into.

The IAB will, in parallel, work to standardise mobile advertising together with the Mobile Marketing Association and will partner with PwC to setup a scheme to evaluate how much the mobile advertising industry could be worth.

Dean Simon, head of UK content and i-mode at O2 said: “As a member of the IAB’s Mobile Steering Group, we intend to be actively involved in shaping their strategy to promote mobile advertising in the UK. Together we are planning an exciting programme of research, presentations and events to educate and inspire advertisers and agencies.”

Recent surveys have shown that mobile phone users are not as reluctant to mobile advertising as one could expect especially if it goes towards alleviating their phone bills to some extent.
Tags: Advertising, Mobiles, Telecoms