More than three in ten mobile users - some 78 million US consumers - saw or heard advertising on their mobile phones in the fourth quarter of 2007, according to a study by Gfk/NOP Research conducted for mobile entertainment community Limbo, writes MarketingCharts.

More than 250 million Americans are mobile phone users, and SMS (text) leads in all non-voice data or communications services: some 56 percent of mobile users, or 141 million people, are SMS users - 60 percent higher than the next-ranked service (MMS):

Though SMS usage skews young (82 percent of those under 25 are active users), for all ages under 50, more than half are active users; moreover, African-Americans and Hispanics are 50 percent more likely to be SMS users:

Some 31 percent of all US mobile users recall seeing advertising on their handsets, with the largest segment - 16 percent of users - seeing SMS ads:

• Men are 20 percent more likely than woman to recall having seen mobile advertising.
• Also, those under 24 and African-Americans are nearly twice as likely to recall having seen mobile ads.

"The exciting news for marketers is that mobile advertising penetration is both broad – hitting one in three mobile phone users, and deep - with high recall statistics, especially among text messaging users and the ever-elusive 'Millennials' demographic," said Rob Lawson, president and cofounder of Limbo.

"There is a clear disparity between the high reach of mobile media and the low percentage of marketing budget currently spent on the medium, which creates an obvious opportunity for savvy media buyers."

The Mobile Advertising Report also highlights the brands and sectors that consumers remember seeing advertised in the mobile channel:

• Mobile carriers (notably Verizon and AT&T).
• Handset manufactures (Motorola, Blackberry)
• Entertainment brands (BET, Fox, MTV, various movies, music artists)
• CPG (Coke, Pepsi)
• Sports brands (NFL, Nike)
• Mobile services (Limbo, ringtones)
• Electronics (HP, Yahoo, SBC)
• Automotive (Chevrolet)
• QSR (McDonalds)

About the study: Limbo's Mobile Advertising Report is based on a survey of 1,000 representative American adults interviewed by telephone.

Note: All graphics courtesy of Limbo.