As soon as commercials begin during your television show, you start browsing on your smartphone. While it is a common pattern you may not be conscious of, in many ways the use of mobile web is slowly destroying the goal of television ads.

Ad network Tremor video recently did a study showing this pattern. Peter Kafka, in AllThingsD, looks at the takeaways of the study:

“But if you take a closer look at the way people use their iPhones and Androids during primetime, the data gets even more interesting.

This breakout chart plots ad calls (the red line) against the times that TV ads are airing (the blue lines), and paints a telling picture: People put their phones down at the top of the hour, when new shows start. And as soon as ads come on, they pick up their gadgets again. And yes, Tremor’s takeaway here — people are tuning out TV ads in favor of the Web — is a self-serving one for a Web ad network to tout. But it certainly seems plausible.”

Here is the chart Kafka points to:

Because of this pattern, it makes sense that mobile web ads may prove to be more effective than television ads.

Do you find you’re more likely to notice a mobile web ad over a television ad? Let us know in the comments section.