As Facebooks initial public offering, and the introduction of mobile adverts, approaches, the 2012 Digital Advertising Attitudes Report from Upstream warns that a backlash caused by the ads could lose the social network as many as a quarter of its users.

The study, carried out by YouGov, polled over 2,000 adults in both the UK and US, and found that 27 per cent of Brits and 20 per cent of American would stop using a product or service like Facebook if they were subjected to too much advertising.

Upstream says its findings come as a warning to all consumer-facing companies, as 66 per cent of consumers in the UK and US already feel they are subjected to excessive digital advertising and promotions.

“The volume-based advertising era is dead on both sides of the Atlantic, and companies need to reduce the frequency with which they speak to consumers and deliver only high-quality, relevant and timely messages,” says Marco Veremis, president of Upstream. “While the specific appeal of Facebook to investors is its ability to target advertising to consumers based on interests, location and context, advertisers should be aware that marketing technology allows them to cover two other equally important aspects: making sure the frequency of advert exposure is right for the person in question, and that the phrasing of any advert is proven to be the most likely to elicit a positive response.”