The statistics were derived from the 16.7 million mobile users than use location-based services and check-in with Facebook Places, Foursquare and Gowalla among others.  That’s 7.1% of the entire mobile population.  Out of those 16.7 million that check-in, 12.7 million of them did it on a smartphone.

The check-in population is split pretty evenly when it comes to sex, with females edging out males by 1.6%.  As far as age, young people are the ones who are doing the bulk of the check-ins.  Users aged 18-24 accounted for 26% of the check-in users and those aged 25-34 accounted for 32.5% of the check-in population.

The majority of check-in service users are employed full-time (46.6%) or a full-time student (23.3%).  Also, check-ins are most frequently taking place on Android and iOS phones.  36.6% of check-in service users do so on Android and 33.7% do so on an iPhone.  When the amount of the total smartphone population each OS represents is taken into account, however, Apple has the higher check-in participation per user.

Not surprisingly, check-in service users are also more likely to access other forms of mobile media.  Nearly 62% of the that specific population accesses news – 40.3% tech news.  Also, 28.2% of check-in service users reported owning a tablet, which is higher than the percentage for all smartphone users (19.6).  Moral of the story: people who check-in are more likely to keep up with new tech.

“Although still in their relative infancy, location-based mobile check-in services are seeing rather impressive adoption among smartphone users,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president of mobile. “The ability to interact with consumers on this micro-local level through special offers, deals and other incentives provides brands with the real-time opportunity to engage consumers through their mobile device.”

In other check-in news, Beyond recently put out this infographic that shows how social location apps are used by those who have adopted them, why non-users would consider trying them and what people are talking about on the web in terms of location apps.

They found that 90% of users check-in via Facebook places, 22% via Foursquare and 6% via Gowalla.  Of those who do not use location apps, 55% said they would consider using Facebook Places and only 6% would consider using Foursquare.

Half (28 million) of all mobile users who remember seeing a mobile ad in the last 30 days say they responded to the ad in some way. The number of mobile user who recalled seeing mobile advertising between the second and fourth quarters of 2007 rose 38 percent (from 42 to 58 million subscribers).

Teen mobile users (ages 13-17) were the most likely demographic to remember seeing mobile advertising (46% recalled seeing some type of mobile ad, compared to 29% of all mobile users).

Asian-Americans and African-Americans are more likely to recall mobile advertising (42% and 40%, respectively) than all mobile users. Out of those who saw an ad 26 percent responded at least once by sending an SMS text-message, the most popular ad response.

Jeff Herrmann – VP Of Mobile Media At Nielsen Media

Thirty-two percent of mobile users are open to mobile advertising if it decreases their overall bill. Thirteen percent said they are open to mobile advertising if it improves the media and content that is currently available.

Fourteen percent said they are prepared for mobile advertising as long as it is relevant to their interests. Twenty-three percent believe they will see more mobile advertising in the future (up from 15% in Q1 2007).

"Increasing levels of consumer recall, interaction and receptivity to mobile advertising reinforce the validity of the mobile marketing medium," said Jeff Herrmann, VP of Mobile Media at Nielsen Mobile.

"We see an increasing trend of consumers willing to trade off and receive advertising to gain more — and better — mobile content," said Herrmann.
 

The most widely used form of mobile search was 411 used by 18.1 million users, followed closely by SMS based searching used by 14.1 million users. Local listings were the leading search objective in terms of users with 27.1 million. Close to 15 million (14.8) said they searched for information about news, weather, sports scores, while 11.3 million said they searched for mobile content.

  "As more mobile users turn to their phone for the answers they need, mobile search has quickly escalated as a critical part of the mobile media and advertising landscape," said Kanishka Agarwal, VP of Mobile Media for Nielsen Mobile.

"Knowing how mobile searchers find information — and what they’re looking for — will help us intelligently engage with consumers through mobile search."

Demographics vary by search method. Sixty-one percent of 411 search users are female, while 60 percent of WAP search users are male. SMS-based searching skews younger when compared to other methods of search. Thirty-three percent of SMS searchers are under 25.

For the report Nielsen surveyed over 5,700 mobile search users who use at least one mobile data service.
 

Mobile Users Want Better Internet Access

"The combination of unlimited data plans and next-generation Internet-enabled mobile devices, like Apple’s iPhone, suggests mobile Web access will grow to become ubiquitous," said Matt Booth, senior vice president and program director, Interactive Local Media, The Kelsey Group.

"Growing mobile Internet usage and increased satisfaction with mobile Internet applications are among the converging factors that we believe point to a breakthrough year ahead for mobile ad adoption."

The Kelsey Group said last month that it estimates U.S. mobile search advertising revenues to rise from $33.2 million in 2007 to $1.4 billion in 2012, which would be a compound annual growth rate of 112 percent.

According to the study maps and local search are the most used mobile Internet applications. In the past six months, 9 percent of respondents used their mobile phones to perform Internet searches for products and services in their local area. In the same period 10 percent downloaded or looked at maps and 10 percent said they had downloaded search or mapping applications in addition to those that came with their mobile phones.

The study was conducted online among 500 U.S. mobile phone user aged 18 and over.

That is almost equal to the 53.7 million who went online at work or home on a pc.

Mobile Web is a significant opportunity," said Maru Sato, managing director of comScore, Japan. "Advertisers can now reach 53 million consumers online. The mobile audience is especially important to marketers trying to reach younger audiences."

Seventy-five percent of mobile Web users checked their email by phone. More than 50 percent accessed news and information and an equal number searched or got directions from their mobile device.

Japanese consumers still spend less time surfing on their mobile phones than on PCs. Mobile phone Internet usage averages 8.1 hours per month compared to 18.9 hours by PC.

Internet users under age 34 accounted for 64 percent of mobile Web users and 45 percent of PC Web users.

comScore surveyed 3,100 Internet users age 15 and over.

Just 11 percent of respondents had made a purchase or signed up for an offer because of an online ad from their mobile carrier.

Three-quarters of 45-to 54 year olds and 78 percent of 55-to64 year olds viewed the ads they received as irrelevant to them. Over half of teenagers and young adults felt the same way.

Around half of 25-to-34-year olds said that they would be open to switching carriers if it offered them ads and services that fit their lifestyles.

"On one hand [the findings about mobile carriers] show that their inability to tailor services and content to the individual user’s interests and situation is not only failing to attract new revenue streams but – even worse – it’s alienating their customer base," Guy Talmi, senior marketing director at Pontis.

"On the other hand, it clearly points to a major opportunity for those operators who can harness vital information about a user’s interests and behavior and offer them relevant services at the right time, as a large number of users would be willing to change suppliers for just such a service."