Commentary

Mobile Web Visitors Spike With Teens and Seniors

According to a recent release from The Nielsen Company, web visitors using a mobile device increased 34% year-over-year, from 42.5 million mobile Web visitors in July 2008 to 56.9 million in July 2009. Overall, year-over-year growth among the 13-17 and 65+ age groups outpaced the growth of the total mobile Web audience, with a youth increase of 45% and seniors surging upwards 67% in July.

While men continue to make up a larger portion of mobile Web users versus women, comprising 53% of the audience in July, the growth of female visitors outpaced the growth of male visitors during the month, with women increasing 43% YOY as compared to a 26% growth among men.

Chris Quick, client services manager, mobile media, notes "... men were early-adopters of the mobile Web... (but) women are quickly embracing the benefits as ‘connected consumers,' tapping the convenience of Web access on mobile phones to network, browse the latest shopping deals and get ideas for dinner, all while on the go."

Mobile Web Audience Profile

Audience

% Composition July '09

YOY Growth %

Female

47%

43%

Male

53

26

Age Groups

 

 

   13-17

12

45

   18-24

11

13

   25-34

28

40

   35-54

38

31

   55-64

9

37

   65+

3

67

Source: The Nielsen Company, September 2009  

From celebrity news to shopping, mobile Web usage by women traversed a variety of subjects and actions in July, including online shopping and social networking. Women were 1.4 times more likely to visit People.com and use AT&T search via a mobile Web device in July.

Top 10 Mobile Web Sites Among Women (July 2009, U.S.)

Rank

Site

% Unique Audience Composition

Composition Index By Unique Audience

Unique Audience (000)

1

People

68%

143

1,146

2

AT&T Search

68

142

564

3

Horoscope.com

66

138

558

4

Target

63

133

678

5

MySpace.com

58

121

4,116

6

Kraft Foods

58

121

438

7

T-Mobile

56

118

1,522

8

AOL Search

56

119

747

9

Facebook

55

117

8,171

10

Sprint News

55

116

630

Source: The Nielsen Company

In July, men's mobile Web interests centered on news, sports and online games. Men were 1.8 times more likely to visit Gizmodo - the technology news site - via a mobile phone, making it the No. 1 Web site visited by men on their mobile devices in July in terms of unique audience composition.

Top 10 Mobile Web Sites Among Men (July 2009, U.S.)

Rank

Site

% Unique Audience Composition

Composition Index By Unique Audience

Unique Audience (000)

1

Gizmodo

95%

180

826

2

Maxim

94

179

566

3

NBA

91

172

1,214

4

IGN

91

173

916

5

NFL

89

168

1,819

6

Drudge Report

89

168

626

7

Business Week

88

167

536

8

CNET

86

162

1,759

9

CBS Sports

86

163

1,162

10

Wired

86

162

523

Source: The Nielsen Company

Teen usage of mobile phones focuses heavily on texting, both sending and receiving. In Q2 2009, the top-ranked mobile activity for teens was messaging, with 84% of teens sending a text message and 55% of teens sending a picture message.

Top 10 Teen Mobile Media Usage (% of Teens 13-17)

Media

% of Teens Using

Text messaging

84%

Picture messaging/MMS

55

Ringtone downloads

44

Instant messaging

42

Picture downloads

35

Wallpaper/screensavers

32

Email

30

Text alerts

30

Content uploads

27

Game downloads

21

Source: The Nielsen Company, September 2009

For more information from the NielsenWire, please visit here.

 

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