Consumer controlled, incentive-based advertising can increase ad relevancy, consumer sentiment and attention toward the advertisement, according to a survey from Forrester Consulting commissioned by app monetisation company Tapjoy.

According to the poll, while in-app advertising is a “massive market poised to grow further”, about half of respondents said they completely ignore automatically-served in-app adds.

Of the US consumers surveyed, 70 percent said they found automatically served in-app adds interruptive. In addition, marketers are not making a good impression with current advertising inventory. Only 17 percent of respondents found current in-app adds interesting, 14 percent found them relevant, and 12 percent found them engaging.

In contrast, handing control to the consumer can lead to “higher attention levels and relevancy”. Almost 40 percent of those surveyed said they want to select an ad from several options and pick the most relevant, with 68 percent stating that they prefer ads that do not interrupt their use of the apps.

Further, 59 percent said they want to be offered a reward in exchange of interacting with or watching an in-app ad.

It was also suggested that marketers should take advantage of the “influx of data (and consumer attitudes toward their own data)” to adapt targeting tools and app usage profiles.

Of those responding to the survey, 49 percent want to see ads relevant to their personal interest, and 43 percent want ads relevant to their current location. This is said to offer a “huge opportunity for marketers”, as only 31 percent of those surveyed said that ads that show up automatically in an app are relevant to them.

Forrester conducted an online survey of 2,000 smartphone owners in the US who use mobile applications monthly or more, as well as interviewing “three experts and marketing agencies and one marketer”.