Trust in online advertising is increasing, as is trust in ads on TV, radio and movie screens, according to Nielsen’s Trust In Advertising report.

Word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and family, often referred to as earned advertising, are still the most influential;  84 percent of global respondents across 58 countries to the Nielsen online survey said this source was the most trustworthy.

Trust in advertising on branded websites increased 9 percentage points to 69 percent in 2013 as the second most trusted format in 2013, a jump from fourth-place ranking in 2007. Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents indicated that they trust consumer opinions posted online, which ranked third in 2013, up 7 percentage points from 2007.

In addition to an increase in trust in messages on branded websites, more than half (56%) of respondents said they trust consumer-consented email messages, an increase of 7 percentage points since 2007.

For other online advertising, almost half (48%) said they trust ads in search engine results, online video ads and ads on social networks. More than four in 10 (42%) trust online banner ads, up from 26 percent in 2007. Advertisers spent 26 percent more on this form of advertising in the first quarter of this year.

Forty-five percent of respondents in Nielsen’s 2013 survey believed display ads on mobile phones were credible, and 37 percent trusted text ads on mobile phones, up from 18 percent in 2007.

Ads on television, in newspapers and in magazines continue to be among the most trusted forms of paid advertising. Trust in television ads increased from 56 percent in 2007 to 62 percent in 2013. Six-in-10 respondents trusted ads in magazines, a rise of 4 percentage points from 2007.

Newspaper ads were the only format to decline in the six-year period—61 percent of respondents found newspaper ads credible in 2013, down from 63 percent in 2007. Although global ad spend grew only a marginal 1.9 percent in the first quarter of 2013, traditional paid media continues to own the majority share of spend, with TV in the top spot owning 59 percent, according to Nielsen’s most recent Global AdView Pulse Report.

Ads on radio (57%) and before movies (56%) both gained consumer trust as well, reporting increases of 3 and 18 percentage points, respectively, since 2007. Trust in brand sponsorships (61%) increased 12 percentage points from 2007.

Trust in billboards and outdoor advertising (57%), TV program product placements (55%) and editorial content such as newspaper articles (67%), an earned form of traditional advertising, were not included in Nielsen’s 2007 survey.

The Nielsen Global Survey of Trust in Advertising was conducted between February 18 and March 8, 2013, and polled more than 29,000 consumers in 58 countries throughout Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Africa and North America.