Mobile Web Stats

location based services

There’s a real dearth of good data about the mobile web. If I want to find out the top websites in any country in the world, region or even globally, there’s any number of free and paid-for stats I could access.
The same isn’t true of the mobile web at all, as it seems to be off the radar for many analysts and marketers alike. I’m involved in the mobile web on a day-to-day basis through AdMob and via our partnerships with mobile websites and via talks with actual and potential advertisers throughout the world. But I’m constantly surprised at how vibrant the mobile web ecosystem actually is and how relatively low awareness is among decision makers and the people who influence them.
To put this in perspective in 1996 (if you can remember that far back) you couldn’t open a newspaper or business magazine without talk of this Internet thing and how it was going to change our lives. But at that time only 19% of US adults used it and the stats would have been even lower in Europe.
However, results of a tracking survey by ComScore Networks released yesterday showed that 19% of US adults use the mobile Internet today and yet the mobile web scarcely gets a mention in the press. Furthermore, Europe is even higher, with Germany and Italy leading the way with 34% each, then France (28%), Spain (26%) and the Uk at 24% - though stats I’ve seen from M:Metrics puts the UK at 29%.
I also know that these probably aren’t the biggest markets from AdMob stats - I’m sure that S Africa and India would be even higher than that.
So why is the world ignoring this - which is every bit as revolutionary as the PC-web before? After all, if you believe some pundits (well, OK, me) the mobile will become the single most important device for accessing the web, even in developed markets within a 5 year time frame.
I don’t have an answer, but I can speculate.
Since most usage is probably led by early adopting youth markets, older people - the decision makers and influencers - just aren’t aware of what’s going on around them. If 25% of the population started wearing berets and stripey T-shirts, it would be blindingly obvious that something was happening. Well, OK maybe not in France, but you get the picture. Whereas what you do on your mobile is essentially a private thing and it’s not getting seen.
So, do the industry a favour and point out to a few people and the mobile web is here and it’s being used by a big enough percentage of the population to be called mainstream - and it’s happening right under our noses.
Maybe we should have a Mobile Web Day and spread the good news - any takers?