New advertising opportunities are often the most cost effective (for a while)

The majority of mobile applications that will be downloaded by consumers this year are to be supported by advertising and marketing, according to new research. 

Figures from Gartner, which may be of interest to internet consultants, show that consumers will spend $6.2 billion (£3.8 million) in the mobile app market this year. However, the majority (82 per cent) of those downloaded will not be purchased but will instead be free software that features advertising in order to generate revenue. 

And Gartner forecast that the trend will continue, stating that 87 per cent of all apps will be free but ad-supported in three years' time. Stephanie Baghdassarian, research director at Gartner - which was founded in 1979 and claims to be the world's leading provider of information technology research - said that downloadable games are to be the most popular among mobile users. 

"Mobile shopping, social networking, utilities and productivity tools continue to grow and attract increasing amounts of money," she noted. Ms Baghdassarian added that although increasing sales of smartphones will not necessarily result in more consumers paying to download apps, it will create a wider market for advertising agencies to tap into.