Mobile Web traffic grows, not slows, during summer

Mobile Web browsing has defied traditional Internet traffic trends by increasing this summer rather than dropping off.

The onset of summer tends to mark a decline in Web traffic as consumers spend less time at their desktops and more time on vacation and leisure. However, the mobile medium is not experiencing similar traffic slumps, attributable to the convenience of mobile Web browsing, the growth of the mobile sector and the increasing prominence of data plans.

“What we're seeing is continued growth in mobile traffic,” said Jeremy Lockhorn, vice president of emerging media at Razorfish, New York. “There’s such explosive platform growth happening in the space in general that there [doesn't] seem to be any big seasonal swings as of yet.”

Mobile analytics firm Ground Truth has observed similar trends.

“Mobile Web is a constant in consumers’ lives, whether they’re at work, at home, on vacation, day or night,” said Evan Neufeld, vice president of marketing at Ground Truth, Seattle. “The Internet, on the other hand, is not as easily accessible, so its use is, for most, confined to the home, office or coffee shop.

“This has a negative effect on the time and attention one can give to the tethered Web when they are away from those locations,” he said.

Between February and June, Ground Truth found that mobile subscribers were browsing the Web on their handhelds for an average of about three hours per month.

Additionally, the average mobile user accumulated an estimated 1,000 page views per month.

Ground Truth has not seen any significant dip in mobile Web traffic during that time.

“The fact that consumers are spending three hours per month on average browsing the mobile Web should be a real eye-opener for marketers,” Mr. Neufeld said.

“We have found that people browse the mobile Web throughout the day, which emphasizes the fact that the mobile Web — along with the pervasive mobile device — is a significant component to consumers’ media diet, and therefore a tremendously attractive medium for advertising and marketing,” he said.

Mr. Neufeld emphasized the fact that Ground Truth could not accurately forecast mobile trends for the future, but predicted that traffic would continue to surge going into the fall months.

“We would expect to see growth in mobile Internet use as consumers upgrade their mobile devices during the back-to-school and holiday seasons, coupled with the fact that there is more, better content available as advertisers and publishers increase their stakes in mobile,” Mr. Neufeld said.

The Nielsen Co. says that the number of consumers accessing the mobile Internet in the United States has jumped from 54 million in May 2009 to 72 million in May 2010, a year-over-year increase of 34 percent.

“We are seeing aggressive increases in data consumption across all handheld device categories,” said Ed Finegold, executive vice president of analytics at Validas, Missouri City, TX. “Mobile Web and apps are fueling the growth in mobile data usage.”

“I think this trend will continue on an aggressive curve as we see more compelling apps and mobile-centric Web content come online along with more users with smartphones,” he said.

“The bottom line is that people have their devices in hand a lot more as they become more excited about using mobile data,” Mr. Finegold said. “The mobile screen is more central to users’ every day activity as they are downloading, emailing and going online more from their mobile devices.

“The massive growth in data usage is definitely a signal that people are using more apps and doing more online using their mobile devices,” he said. “There’s a big lifestyle trend here that we are just beginning to see, measure and understand.”

Recommendations for Marketers
As the number of U.S. consumers surfing the Internet on their mobile devices inches closer to 100 million, marketers need to fully integrate mobile into their marketing mixes – not merely as an afterthought, but as a vital component.

“At the end of the day, marketers need to stop treating mobile like some experimental, below-the-line medium, and start thinking about where their audience is on mobile,” Mr. Neufeld said.

-Peter Finocchiaro

How mobile makes traditional marketing more measureable

Traditional marketing mediums such as print, inserts and direct mail can usually be appealing in terms of creative, but lack a sense of immediacy and do not have an interactive element – until now.

With the rise of QR codes, SMS, image recognition, 2D bar codes, and other mobile tools, traditional marketing is being taken to new heights. Mobile is augmenting the experience of these traditional channels.

“Print naturally, is not going to go away, and direct mail continues to communicate brands in ways that other online channels cannot,” said Oscar Padilla, director of interactive services at Vertis Communications, New York.

“But what mobile is doing is creating ‘trigger events’ that drive consumers to digital media,” he said. “We're seeing this in text messaging, with the emergence of 2D bar codes and other print-to-Web channels.

“Print programs are often large volume campaigns that have highly targeted penetration. With a mobile call-to-action, marketers are piggy backing on a successful vehicle to close the loop in establishing a digital relationship with an audience.”

Users responding to a mobile coupon are providing a full-cycle data measurement component, from initial opt-in data, subscriber list growth, through full mobile coupon redemption at the point of sale level, per Mr. Padilla.

-Giselle Tsirulnik

Verizon iPhone Reports Won't Relent

Rumors of a Verizon iPhone have existed since AT&T was announced as the exclusive carrier of the Apple smartphone better than three years ago.

But this week, the rumor mill slowed and the fact checking began via an intriguing report from Bloomberg News that cited two sources (supposedly) within Apple claiming that the iPhone will soon be available through Verizon.

If sources are to be believed, Verizon the largest U.S. mobile-phone company will roll out coverage for the iPhone next January at the Consumer Electronics Show.

Bloomberg indicated in its reports this week that Verizon Wireless is still working tirelessly on a high-speed fourth-generation network to accommodate the iPhone 4 and present a caliber of service not presently available through AT&T.

Apple is going to dramatically increase the number of devices it sells in the U.S. when exclusivity at AT&T ends.

After the Verizon iPhone rumor was given a credible lift from Bloomberg, Yair Reiner of Oppenheimer said that Apple could sell upwards of an additional 12 million iPhones per year if AT&T's exclusive agreement lapses and Verizon hops on the iPhone bandwagon.

Understandably, mobile marketers and digital advertisers of all shapes and sizes are salivating at the obvious exposure potential...if only a fraction of Verizon's 83 million subscribers finally have an opportunity to give the Apple smartphone a look.

USA.gov relaunch includes mobile app store

The Obama administration relaunched the USA.gov website, introducing 18 free mobile applications spanning a host of federal bureaus and initiatives. According to the White House, the USA.gov redesign promises a less bureaucratic approach than in the past, mirroring how private sector websites function, including a search bar powered by Microsoft's Bing technology--the site remains a resource for information on taxes, school loans, consumer protection and other subjects impacting the American population. ""Across the past couple of decades, the private sector has made great gains in productivity and customer service," the White House's Office of Management and Budget deputy director Jeffrey Zients tells CNN.com. "The Federal Government has largely missed out on these gains as it has failed to harness the power of new technologies. Closing this technology gap between the Federal Government and the private sector is key to saving taxpayer dollars and making government services faster, easier and more responsive."

Most of the new mobile applications featured in the USA.gov store are optimized for device browsers, although some target specific smartphone platforms like Apple's iPhone. Apps include FBI's Most Wanted (which encompasses information on criminals and terrorists as well as updates on missing children), Alternative Fuel Locator, Product Recalls, U.S. Postal Service Tools and UV Index.

-Jason Ankeny

Groceries, dining top user interest in mobile marketing alerts

Twenty eight percent of U.S. wireless subscribers say they are "somewhat interested" in opting in for location-based mobile marketing and advertising offers, up 2 percent year-over-year, according to a new study conducted by Harris Interactive and sponsored by location solutions provider Placecast. Younger consumers lead the way: 42 percent of users between the ages of 18 and 34 express some level of interest in mobile offers. Among users receptive to mobile marketing, 68 percent say they would like to receive discounts on groceries, with 64 percent desiring promotions and offers from nationwide restaurant chains--58 percent want alerts tied to entertainment products and availability (e.g. movie tickets and concert tour dates), and 50 percent hope for promotions tied to fast food. Women skew higher in expressing interest for promotions tied to groceries and apparel, while men skew higher in interest for electronics and sporting goods products.

Harris reports that about a third of Americans already signed up for mobile marketing alerts indicate such campaigns shaped their decision to visit a business. Twenty seven percent credit alerts for impacting their purchases.

-Jason Ankeny

Smartphone ownership in the U.S. has surpassed 49.1 million

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Smartphone ownership in the U.S. surpassed 49.1 million at the end of May 2010, an 8.1 percent increase over the previous three-month period, according to new data from market research firm comScore. Although Research In Motion's BlackBerry operating system remains the dominant smartphone platform in the U.S., representing 41.7 percent of the market, its market share dropped 0.4 percent during the period as Google's Android increased 4.0 percent to 13.0 percent. Android was the sole platform to grow its market share during the period: Apple's iPhone slipped 1.0 percent to 24.4 percent, Palm's webOS fell 0.6 percent to 4.8 percent and Microsoft's Windows Mobile dropped 1.9 percent to 13.2 percent. comScore notes that despite losing share to Android, most smartphone platforms continued to gain subscribers during the period; the firm adds its data does not include Apple's new iPhone 4, issued in June.

As smartphone penetration continues to grow, so too does mobile data usage--65.2 percent of U.S. subscribers sent and received text messages, up 1.4 percentage points over the previous three-month period, and 31.9 percent accessed their mobile browsers, up 2.3 percentage points. Thirty percent of subscribers downloaded applications (increasing 2.1 percent); 20.8 percent of users accessed social networks or blogs (up 2.6 percent); 22.5 percent played mobile games (up 0.7 percent); and 14.3 percent listened to music on their phones (increasing 1.2 percent).

-Jason Ankeny

More than a third of U.S. adults now access the mobile Web

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Thirty eight percent of U.S. adults now access the Internet via mobile phone--up from 25 percent a year ago--according to a new survey published by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. With 47 percent of respondents going online via laptop connected to a WiFi connection or mobile broadband card (up from 39 percent in April 2009), Pew notes that 59 percent of American adults now access the web wirelessly using a laptop or handset, an 8 percent year-over-year increase.

African-Americans and English-speaking Latinos are at the forefront of mobile web growth in the U.S. Pew reports that mobile handset ownership is higher among African-Americans and Latinos than among whites (87 percent versus 80 percent), with minority subscribers leveraging a much greater range of mobile data services--64 percent of African-Americans now access the mobile web, growing from 57 percent in 2009.

Although young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 remain the most avid mobile data consumers, the survey notes that older adults are gaining fast, and are now significantly more likely to embrace non-voice functions. Seventy six percent of U.S. adults now snap photos with their phones, up from 66 percent a year ago; 72 percent send and receive text messages (up from 65 percent), 34 percent play mobile games (up from 27 percent), 34 percent record videos (up from 19 percent) and 33 percent play music (up from 21 percent).

- Jason Ankeny