The latest quarterly survey of major advertising firms by media buying/selling software provider STRATA survey has found that ad agencies are increasingly going mobile with TV losing ground quickly.

The Comcast subsidiary believes that the ad economy is seeing big gains despite the dark clouds still lingering around the general economy. In particular, it sees the popularity of smartphones and especially the iPhone as leading advertisers to make major investments in mobile advertising.

Nearly a third of advertisers say that mobile advertising is the focus of their interactive spend, an increase of 107% over the first quarter of 2010. STRATA regards the trend as marking a major increase in spending for a relatively new platform and another sign of how digital advertising is continuing to encroach on TV as an advertising medium of choice.

Not surprisingly, the iPhone ranked as the leading type of mobile device attracting agencies' interest with 87% saying their clients are interested in advertising on the platform, nearly three times as many as those citing the Blackberry (30%) and Android platforms. Despite the fact it only launched in the survey's quarter itself, just over a quarter of agencies (26%) express interest in advertising on an iPad.

Commented John Shelton, STRATA President/CEO, "Advertising on mobile devices is a new frontier that people are rushing to explore. Whether it will provide the necessary ROI for the early advertisers is yet to be seen, but one thing is for sure - many advertisers feel the gamble is worth it."