Consumers are truly engaged with mobile content: AdMob

By Giselle Tsirulnik

May 28, 2009

Smart tomes on smartphones

Smartphones accounted for nearly three times more usage than their relative market share, according to AdMob's April 2009 Mobile Metrics Report.

The report compares usage of mobile Web sites to usage of HTML sites on mobile devices. The study found that relative usage of both is highest on Apple and Android devices.

"We were very interested and excited to see the strong usage of mobile Web sites across all the major mobile operating systems," said Nicole Leverich, director of corporate communications at AdMob, San Mateo, CA. "It demonstrates that consumers are truly engaged with mobile content and there is a strong demand for good mobile Internet experiences."

AdMob stores and analyzes handset and operator data from every ad request in its network to optimize ad serving. Each month, the AdMob Mobile Metrics Report aggregates this data to provide insights into major trends in the mobile ecosystem.

Market researcher Gartner estimated global smartphone sales to represent 12 percent of total device sales in 2008. However, 35 percent of AdMob's worldwide ad requests in April came from smartphones.

The iPhone operating system had 8 percent of the smartphone market, but generated 43 percent of mobile Web requests and 65 percent of HTML usage.

The study also found that the Android operating system share of the smartphone market was less than 1 percent, but generated 3 percent of mobile Web requests and 9 percent of HTML usage.

The Symbian operating system had a whopping 52 percent of the smartphone market, but generated only 36 percent of mobile Web usage and 7 percent of HTML usage.

Usage of mobile Web sites greatly outpaces usage of HTML sites on smartphones running the Symbian and RIM Operating System.

Additionally, 24 percent of U.S. requests were made over a Wi-Fi network. The top five Wi-Fi devices in terms of usage were the iPhone, iPod touch, Sony PSP, HTC Dream (G1) and HTC Dash.

"Mobile marketers should look at these findings and take them into account as they target their mobile advertising campaigns," Ms. Leverich said.