• September 17, 2008

Mobile search is gaining in popularity both in the U.S. and Western Europe, according to new comScore M:Metrics data. Mobile search in the U.S. was up 68% in June compared to the year-earlier period and up 38% on average in Europe (U.K., France, Germany, Spain and Italy).

As a percentage of subscribers, 9.2% used mobile search in the U.S. and 5.6% in Europe. The U.K. was tops, with 9.5% using mobile search.

The study also found the number of U.S. users who accessed mobile search more than once a week has more than doubled as a result of smart phone adoption, the spread of 3G networks and lower-priced data plans. The number of Europeans performing mobile searches at least weekly grew 50%.

Google is the top choice for browser-based searches, with a 60% share of mobile searchers in all countries measured by comScore M:Metrics. In the U.S., Google has a 63% share, followed by Yahoo, with 34.6%. Yahoo also ranks second in Germany, Italy and the U.K., but trails further behind Google.

That should be welcome news to the search giant, which is reportedly launching the first phone powered by its Android operating system with T-Mobile USA and handset maker HTC in late October.--Mark Walsh