The UK mobile environment is starting to see the right conditions for strong take-up of location-based advertising, according to M:Metrics.
Research by the analyst firm has revealed 66.3% year-on-year growth in the use of mobile maps; a 49.4% rise in accessing restaurant information and a 34.7% increase in accessing web search services.
Handset manufacturer Nokia has already announced that mapping will be at the heart of its service, having paid $8.1bn (£4.3bn) for mapping company Navteq (NMA 31.07.08). The latest M:Metrics figures also show a high interest in sports content, with more than 3.3m users accessing sports information in June 2008, a rise of 14% year on year. Other key indicators include a 48.5% rise in accessing stock information, an 18.8% rise in accessing movie information and an almost 30% rise in accessing traffic information.