The European Parliament's decision to allow direct marketers to
send "spam" messages to e-mail addresses and mobile phones, could
prevent the take-off of mobile marketing according to analyst group
Gartner.
The decision, by the European Parliament's civil liberties
committee, is bad for e-mail users, but will be far worse for
mobile users and companies planning to use the mobile channel for
marketing, said Catherine Nichols, mobile analyst at Gartner G2, a
new business growth research service.
In the next year, the group believes that European mobile phone
users will be hit by an onslaught of spamming.
Gartner G2 warned this tactic would deflate the mobile advertising
market as aggravated consumers reacted against the new marketing
tactic before it got off the ground.
Nichols said, "It's annoying for PC users to have their inbox
clogged up with spam, followed by unsuccessful attempts to opt out
of unwanted advertising, but the situation is a good deal worse for
mobile users.
"E-mail is far less personal than a mobile message and replying to
spam messages to opt-out is more awkward and is likely to cost more
in call charges. This new medium of advertising sounds exciting,
but companies must look at it from a customer's point of view or
they risk seriously damaging their brand and customer
relations."
Gartner G2 recommends that all mobile advertising should be
relevant, unobtrusive and free with the user having the option to
turn off the advertising at any time.