Mobile Internet going strong; advertisers pay attention
Remember the days when you rolled out of bed, turned on your computer and checked the news, weather and your Facebook account? That's so 2008. An increasing number of people are going straight to their mobile phones for all that information, according to a ComScore study released today. The number of U.S. cellphone users who accessed the mobile Internet daily in January reached 22 million, double that of a year earlier.
"Consumers have more and more choices, and they're finding a pretty good experience using the mobile Web," said Mark Donovan, a senior analyst at ComScore.
The number of people using the mobile Web to access a social networking site quadrupled to 9 million, Donovan said, while the number of people who used the mobile Web to trade stocks or access a financial account nearly tripled to 3 million. (Phones might be useful for panic trading.)
Usage is increasing as more smartphones land in people's hands, Donovan said. The number of people with smartphones increased 81% over the past year, to 24.8 million from 13.7 million.
That trend is likely to continue as phones drop in price. ISuppli, an El Segundo research firm, predicts 11% growth in global smartphone sales in 2009, even as ...
... the overall mobile handset market slogs along. And Juniper Research predicts that smartphones will account for 23% of all new mobile phones by 2013, as demand for complicated applications draw consumers to more technically savvy handsets.
Popular content also is driving the on-the-go Internet numbers, Donovan said, as media properties such as CNN and Google perfect their mobile sites. That's motivated phone users without smartphones to start using the mobile Web too, he said.
This is all good news for advertisers, who are struggling to find an effective place to reach people in a year in which their budgets are significantly smaller than last. Donovan says internal ComScore studies have found that ads viewed on mobile phones can have higher click-through rates than those viewed on computers. Some mobile ads are viewed by users who are otherwise difficult to reach, such as those who don't use computers as much and mostly check the Web on their phones, he said.
Half of males 18 to 34 access news and information via the mobile Web, according to ComScore.
"Mobile marketing seems recession-proof due to the well-known fact that the number of mobile users is still growing and will continue to grow," Alexandre Mars, head of Mobile Publicis Groupe, said in a recent white paper.
His proof? There are 30 countries where the mobile penetration rate is above 100%, India boasts 9 million new users each month and China adds as many users as the population of Miami each month.
"Mobile marketing will give the advertising industry a complete face-lift," he said.
-- Alana Semuels
Mobile marketing will not achieve its promise unless it can reach beyond the current, poor, small screen user experience that currently hampers e-commerce transactions - save the download of iPhone apps and MP3s.
I look forward to whatever the next step is in helping me see what I'm buying rather than using a magnifying glass or slight of hand (or fingers in the case my iPhone).
Posted by: Joe Fredericks | March 16, 2009 at 04:15 PM
What you didn't mention is that in these tough economic times, more and more folks are turning off the Internet connection to to home and using their mobile Internet connection as their primary link to the web. This changes everything!
The good folks over at Sprint / Clearwire are basically betting the farm on WiMax as being the next big thing and indeed it could be if everyone is hooked on mobile access - WiMax will be the fastest show in town at least for awhile.
The good folks at the other telecommunications firms are planning on pushing out LTE over the next few years to compete with WiMax, but these plans just might get moved up if Apple roles out an interesting next generation iPhone that everyone just has to have.
What is that Chinese saying? Oh yeah, "May you live in interesting times." It's starting to look more and more like we are...
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Posted by: Dr. Jim Anderson | March 17, 2009 at 07:12 PM
U.S. mobile phone users are increasingly seeking content and social media access, although the 22 million January figure pales by comparison to growth in Asia (especially India), Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Mobile phone advertisers and advertising networks are already growing rapidly in these markets while the US catches up.
Brian Prows, IM-Mobile
Posted by: Brian Prows | March 18, 2009 at 07:04 AM
As a student I’ve recently discovered the undeniably handiness of a smart phone. Having a constant connection to research opportunities and my email makes me wonder how I ever survived before. There are however a bundle of issues with the technology and the simple fact that you are consistently connected to the internet. I have complete faith that these issues will be addressed and we’ll have a full proof tool in the end.
Posted by: Nathan. O | March 22, 2009 at 04:21 PM