This summer, Continental Airlines, a U.S. based airline, conducted a campaign to see whether a specific set of ads were more effective on a mobile website versus embedded in a mobile app on an iPhone.

Partnering with MediaVest, Continental ran an ad on WhitePages.com and inside WhitePages corresponding iPhone application.’a0 The summer campaign sought to advertise Continental’s fares to business and leisure travelers.’a0 As a surprise to Continental and Whitepages, the mobile web ads beat out the iPhone application for click through rates (CTR), meaning more users checked out the ad whilst surfing the mobile website.

Not only did more folks click on the mobile web ad, but the web ads sold a whopping 80% more airline tickets than ads in the iPhone app.

For advertisers, this story should serve as a motivator to remember the mobile web when you are planning your mobile advertising strategy.’a0 iPhone and also Android ads are very popular right now but these ad platforms present a problem that some advertisers don’t think about.

The iPhone (and Android, too) has a very minor market share in the global mobile market.’a0 However, the ‘mobile web’ is accessible by any smartphone or iPod Touch that has access to mobile-optimized website.’a0 And, at least according to Continental’s experience, mobile web users are more likely to click on an ad if it interests them.

(Photo credit: Flickr User Deanster198.’a0 Photo used under creative commons)