Mobile phone advertising in China will generate nearly 500 million yuan (US$62.5 million) in revenue this year - double last year's market value, according to an industry report.

The market, which includes ads delivered to mobile users through short messages or integrated in handsets, will continue to grow rapidly in the next four years, with a compound annual growth rate of 38 percent, thanks to the large number of mobile users, said iResearch, a leading research company in China.

"The market potential for mobile phone ads is huge, as advertisers are still trying out new publicity methods and their investment is still limited," said Hou Tao, vice supervisor of iResearch.

The market value is expected to rise to 710 million yuan (US$89.10 million) next year and hit 1.8 billion yuan in 2010. Mobile phone ads come in the form of short messages, videos and pictures sent by the network operator or integrated in the handsets during production.

The ads work best for wireless products such as new features from mobile service providers and mobile network operators, and digital products. The target audience is handset users between 18 and 28 years old, the report said.

The company's research found that 91.3 percent of mobile users have received ads in short messages and nearly 40 percent of them said they are willing to try the advertised products or services.

By the end of last year, China has 390 million mobile phone users and more than 80,000 independent Wireless Application Protocol service providers such as KongZhong Corporation, whose Kong.net Website had more than 20 million daily visits on average.

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