• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, July 15, 2013

The mobile revolution has given car-trippers another fun activity to keep busy during their summertime excursions: gas price comparisons. 

Mobile is officially the go-to search medium for gas and convenience searches, according to new research conducted by Nielsen on behalf of mobile ad network xAd/Telmetrics.

Two out of three gas and convenience searchers use mobile exclusively, while 85% of such search time is spent on a smartphone. Monica Ho, vice president, marketing at xAd, thinks the trend bodes well for mobile marketers. 

“With the majority of searchers open to purchase options, advertisers have a strong opportunity to influence mobile gas [and] convenience buying decisions,” according to Ho.

The gas and convenience category does offers one of the highest mobile conversion rates -- nearly 90% -- as most mobile users who search for these services are ultimately making a purchase, according to Nielsen.

More than half of smartphone searchers say they plan to make a purchase within the hour of their search, and 88% of those smartphone and tablet purchases will be made the same day.

While these are relatively quick decisions, gas and convenience searchers spend an average of six minutes per mobile search session -- 50% longer than the average retail mobile search session.

Added Ho, advertisers have an opportunity to impact these searchers as 75% of mobile gas and convenience searchers notice ads, and only 10% have a specific brand or business location in mind.

Price and location are the No. 1 and No. 2 reasons driving gas and convenience mobile searches, while 69% of smartphone searchers made a purchase because of price or location.

According to xAd’s data, mobile consumers prefer gas and convenience apps over Web sites, as app reach and engagement levels are the highest among the categories studied this year (retail, banking and finance and insurance).

About half (49%) of gas and convenience smartphone searchers use apps exclusively and, according to behavioral data, overall mobile searchers are spending 97% of their gas and convenience search time on apps.