Mobile Marketing Watch reports that Continental Airlines ran a test campaign a while back in which it partnered with WhitePages.com to target banner ads aimed at business and leisure travelers. An identical ad was placed on the WhitePages.com mobile site, as well as in its mobile application. 

Contrary to the expectations, the mobile Web ads (on the iPhone) delivered a higher click-through rate than the actual app versions.  Without providing actual rates, WhitePages said the mobile web banners had a 135% higher CTR (click-through rate) than ads on the iPhone app.

In terms of placement, ads placed at the top of pages worked better than those at the bottom in both cases.  In the end, the ads on the mobile site sold 80% more airline tickets than that of the iPhone app.

It's early days for traditional banner ads on Mobile, but these significantly different results give food for thought. The Mobile Web is the most potent opportunity longterm, especially when looking at ROI (including cost of production/updating vs apps). For media and other companies reliant on ad revenues, the news here confirms that opportunity further.