42pc users unaware of involuntary mobile data use by video ads

NEW DELHI, INDIA:Despite being cautious about the mobile data spends, a majority of smartphone users in India are not aware about their data consumption source.

A survey by mobile VoIP app, nanu found that 64% of smartphone users have indicated an increase of more than 10% in their data charges and 21% noticed an unbelievable surge of more than 50% in their data cost.

The survey conducted over 3 days, among 14,154 people from 23 key states in India shows that 81% of Indians spending below Rs. 500 on data connectivity, while 64% of Indian smartphone users do not even exceed Rs.300 as their monthly spend for mobile data consumption.

The findings of the report suggest that 42% of Indians are not aware of the fact that their data is extensively consumed by video adverts even if they are not clicking on it.

89% of Indians have shown reluctance towards consistently clicking on mobile video adverts while 35% prefer to stay away from clicking video adverts. 54% prefer selective clicking on video adverts.

Furthermore, 25% of Indians are somewhat aware of the situation and upset by the brands consuming data through video adverts. Interestingly, only 17% of Indians are broadly aware of this, but never considered its impact on their mobile data expenses.

But, even after observing such an adverse effect of video adverts on increasing data consumption, only 10% of Indians have installed ad blocking software in their phones.

Martin Nygate, Founder & CEO, nanu said, “With mobile advertising growing exponentially, there is an increasing possibility of consumers facing hidden data charges without their knowledge. We are glad that TRAI has made meaningful efforts in this direction and we are hopeful that the operators will join this movement to safeguard consumers’ interest.”

Excessive competition amongst marketers to promote their brands in order to get ‘top of the mind’ recall has resulted in uncontrolled usage of consumers’ data further increasing the amount of data billing. It’s important that marketers become more responsible towards their consumers and engage in non-intrusive ways of mobile advertising to prevent consumers’ data from getting consumed involuntarily, added he.