[ press Release ]

MOBILE VIDEO ADVERTISERS MISSING OPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT WITH WILLING CONSUMERS – NEW KNOWLEDGE NETWORKS/SRI STUDY

Less than 30% of users see mobile ads as relevant to their interests, needs; proportion who pay for mobile video drops

Menlo Park, CA; July 11, 2007: Four in five consumers who watch mobile video say they are willing to view mobile advertising if the reward is free content; but less than 30% feel that mobile ads are relevant to them. These are among the findings from a new Knowledge Networks/SRI report, How People Use® Mobile Video 2007.

Expanding upon its predecessor in 2006, How People Use® Mobile Video 2007 details mobile video usage and interest among those with video iPods, video-capable cellphones, and laptop computers, making distinctions between those who actually use mobile video functions and those who do not. The report also offers trends for 2006 versus 2007; for example, use of iPods and cell phones to view video has doubled in the past year.

"Advertisers wisely have entered the mobile video space in a big way; but so far many seem to have missed the chance to leverage the unique qualities of mobile video, such as intimacy and immediacy," said David Tice, Vice President and Managing Director of Knowledge Networks/SRI. "While mobile can indeed be part of larger campaigns, we need to recognize its differences, as well as the ways that different target groups use the medium."

The report – which is part of KN/SRI's The Home Technology Monitor™ – reveals that mobile video users see little or no difference between mobile video advertising and ads on regular television, in terms of either personal relevance or contextual integration with the content. And, not surprisingly, most of these consumers say that mobile video ads are no more influential for them than those on traditional TV.

The new report also shows that:

• the proportion of users paying for mobile video dropped notably in the past year among both video iPod users (from 81% to 61%) and among video cell phone users (from 64% to 50%)
• the average viewing session is quite different for video cell phones (46% of users report an average session of 5 minutes or less) compared with video iPods or laptops (53% of these users report an average session of 30 minutes or more)
• viewing of movies has risen dramatically among those use who use the video functions on iPods (from 1% to 54%) and laptops (2% to 34%)

With trending data that reaches back as far as 1981, The Home Technology Monitor™ is an ongoing service that provides reliable data on consumers' ownership and use of key media technologies and services.

Knowledge Networks specializes in solving complex, high-impact problems, providing extraordinary quality and service to leaders in business, government and academia. We work closely with clients to create healthy consumer-brand connections, effective marketing and advertising, sound public policies, and accurate social science research. We have established respected practices in media, marketing, advertising, and government & academic studies. KN excels in study design, analytics, and custom panel creation; we deliver affordable, statistically valid online research through KnowledgePanel® – the only available probability selected, nationally representative Internet panel.

In 2001, Knowledge Networks acquired assets and expertise from Statistical Research, creating Knowledge Networks/SRI. KN/SRI is one of the country's leading authorities on consumers' use and ownership of media and technology. The company is the leading measurement provider for Yellow Pages directories; other specialties include cross-media allocation ("MultiMedia Mentor"™) and studies of consumers' interactions with media ("How People Use"® research).