Nearly half of those who noticed any ads while using location-based services took at least some action, indicating that consumers respond well to ads through location-based services. This was a significantly higher rate than for those who noticed advertisements while sending/receiving text messages (37%) and almost twice the rate of those who saw an ad while browsing Web sites (28%).

  The survey's other key findings include:

• Among cell phone owners surveyed, 10% use mobile location services at least once a week.

• 63% of Apple iPhone owners use location services at least once per week.

• Adults ages 25-34 are frequent users of location services, with 22% using them at least once a week.

• Respondents said they use these services most frequently to "locate nearby points of interest, shops or services."

• Consumers are interested in allowing their phone to automatically share their location in exchange for perks, such as free use of mobile applications and mobile coupons.

"By law, mobile phones sold over the past several years have included GPS or another location technology, creating an enormous addressable market for location-based services," said Peter A. Johnson, vice president of market intelligence, MMA, and author of the study.  "The Consumer Briefing shows that consumers believe location-based services offer them significant benefits in functionality and relevance. Consumers' significant adoption and appreciation of location-based services opens up enormous new opportunities for brands and agencies to leverage this unique virtue of the mobile channel."

"Location-based services are a compelling audience engagement feature unique to the mobile platform. By providing more location-aware services and products, brands can now create a much more intimate presence in consumers' lives," said Jacqueline Rosales, EVP, Business Development & Client Service, Luth Research.