A study published by the IAB has revealed that mobile advertising is being treated with caution by marketers, agencies and online publishers.

The research, which questioned UK brands, agencies and media owners found that the success of the medium will be related to how the mobile advertising industry deals with the lack of standards, measurement, evidence and creative, coupled with the notoriously slow user experience of mobile web access.

The qualitative research, among UK brands, agencies and media owners, coincides with the IAB formally announcing its commitment to mobile advertising with the launch of a dedicated Mobile Council and a raft of initiatives.

The next two years will be critical to the industry’s success according to 40 senior-levels marketers who were questioned as part of the survey. They also predicted that mobile advertising will not become mainstream until 2010.

The advantages of advertising on mobile handsets were acknowledged by all respondents, with the personal and interactive nature making the medium highly appealing to marketers. However, the industry is lacking the necessary expertise and infrastructure to roll out mobile marketing effectively.

The research coincides with the IAB announcing the launch of a dedicated Mobile Council, underlining the body’s commitment to the industry. The first report from this initiative will be a joint industry report: "Mobile Advertising: the Emerging UK Market", produced in partnership with the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA). The report will detail the formats available for use right now in the mobile advertising industry, such as search, display and video.

Chief executive of the IAB, Guy Phillipson, said, "As the trade body for Internet advertising the move into mobile is a natural progression. The IAB has spent the past year researching the mobile advertising industry and finding out first hand from marketers what they want to know. 

"As mobile Internet technology becomes increasingly sophisticated and consumers become more comfortable with the mobile experience, brands will have a wealth of opportunities to reach audiences with highly-targeted and relevant campaigns.  It is the job of the IAB to show them how."