Election Survey Pops Up On Mobile Phones

There’s growing concern that public opinion polls, which do not include cellphones aren’t accurate because of the rising number of younger people who have dropped their landlines. For instance, polling in the 2008 presidential election shows a very tight race between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain, but if you add cellphones, Obama, which has a younger following, takes the lead, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.

Because of this trend, it’s baffling that we don’t see more cell phone-based polling solutions, but today one comes out of the woodwork just in time for the election. Zogby International, a traditional pollster which is currently reporting that Obama holds a slight 2.4 percent lead over McCain, is announcing today a partnership with JumpTap, a mobile search and advertising company. This one is hardly qualifies as scientific, but today they are launching a mobile advertising campaign that will survey voters nationwide about the presidential election and top issues ahead of the Nov. 4 general election. Mobile banners started running today across popular mobile websites, and results will be available on the companies’ Web sites. Paran Johar, CMO of JumpTap, said: “Given there are over 270 million cell phones in the U.S., many businesses and advertisers are experimenting with mobile as a new way to reach their audiences, and the polling industry is no different…The Zogby/JumpTap partnership marks the opening of a new horizon in using mobile as the center of next generation communication and new media, and pioneers an innovative effort to demonstrate how readily people will engage via their mobiles with information that is important and relevant.” Release.

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