Mobile Social Networking Has 12.3 Million Friends in US and Western Europe

12.3 million consumers in the US and Western Europe report accessing a social networking site with a mobile device in June, according to the first measurement by M:Metrix of mobile social networking, writes MarketingCharts (via CNET's Tech News Blog).

Some findings from the study:

* The US audience for mobile social networking sites is the largest, with 7.5 million, or 3.5 percent of mobile subscribers. Italy follows with 1.3 million, or 2.8 percent; then the UK with 1.1 million, or 2.5 percent; Spain with 751,000 (2.3 percent), Germany (1.9 percent) and France (1.7 percent).

* MySpace garnered the most mobile users in the United States and United Kingdom, whereas MSN was the forum of choice for mobile Web 2.0 users in the other geographies surveyed.

* MySpace attracts 3.7 million US and 440,000 UK mobile users. In America, Facebook's mobile audience is about 2 million, and in Britain, about 307,000.

* Rounding out the top three is YouTube in the US, with 901,000 mobile visitors, and Bebo in the UK, with 288,000.

M:Metrics also tracks the availability of content across all operator portals and found that in June, the top three US mobile social networking sites had strong distribution, with MySpace appearing on the decks of Amp'd, AT&T, Helio and Nextel:

* Facebook was accessible on the Sprint, AT&T, Virgin and Amp'd decks and YouTube on the Verizon deck*.

* In the UK, MySpace has distribution on Vodafone, Bebo is on the 3 deck, but No. 2 MSN Live Spaces is offered nowhere on portal.
* Those under 25 are the most active users of mobile social networking sites across all geographies studied.
* In France, Germany, Italy and Spain, the age demographic with the largest percentage of use is 13-17-year-olds, whereas college-aged consumers (18-24) are the most avid users in the United States and the United Kingdom.

*YouTube is also on the iPhone deck, which was not under measurement at the time of the survey.

Mobile advertising hits wireless Web first

CNet reports, as mobile operators take the slow road toward adding advertising on cell phones, big media brands with mobile Web sites are fast-tracking plans to add advertising to those sites.

Fox News announced that it is partnering with Third Screen Media to help it inject advertising throughout its mobile properties. Initially, Third Screen Media will insert banner advertising on Fox News' mobile Web site. While no further plans have been announced, Fox News will likely add video advertising and other forms of advertising using Third Screen's technology at a later date.

Fox is joining other big media brands, such as ESPN, Weather.com, USA Today and The New York Times, that have all added advertising to their mobile Web sites, which are accessed directly through a mobile browser and not through a mobile operator's menu or "deck."

Even though cellular operators have touted mobile advertising's potential revenue-generating opportunity, so far they've moved cautiously for fear of annoying customers and sparking defections to competitors. In the U.S., Sprint Nextel is the only major operator to have announced a major initiative. Verizon Wireless and AT&T have said they are testing advertising plans and technology, but haven't yet announced details.

Operators in Europe, and in particular the U.K., seem to be moving more quickly. Last week, 3, an operator in the U.K., said it will launch an ad-funded video content service, giving users who visit its Planet 3 portal free video clips including news, comedy, gossip, animations and film. At least three other operators in the U.K are also rumored to be gearing up to include advertising on their portals, including O2, T-Mobile and Virgin Mobile.

As an industry, mobile advertising is still in its infancy. Mobile advertising generated about $871 million in 2006, according to Informa Telcoms & Media. That compares with a worldwide advertising market across all mediums that was valued in the billions. But with nearly 3 billion cell phone users in the world, more than 200 million of whom are in the U.S., it's clear that mobile advertising represents a huge opportunity.

Recent studies are also showing that subscribers are willing to tolerate advertising if they are able to get something in return. Today roughly 75 percent of all mobile subscribers in the U.S. and Western Europe can access the mobile Internet from their mobile devices. And of those people with access, about one-third say they would watch advertising in exchange for free mobile content, according to a study called "Going Mobile" from the Online Publishers Association.

The huge potential of mobile advertising has created somewhat of a land rush, as everyone from marketers to big media companies to handset makers to Internet search companies to mobile operators hopes to get a piece of the action.