Social Networking Sites Dominate Mobile Internet Access
Traffic to social networks comprise almost 40% of the mobile Web according to a traffic analysis report published by Opera Software. The results both show healthy growth in the numbers of consumers accessing the Web from their mobile devices and provide insight into aggregate consumer preferences when browsing from their phones.
Select global highlights from the first quarter report:
- Social networking consumes almost 41% of traffic: The United States, South Africa and Indonesia have more than 60% of their traffic going to social networks.
- More than 11.9 million people used Opera Mini in March to browse 2.4 billion pages. Thus far, more than 44 million cumulative users have tried Opera Mini.
- Those 11.9 million people generate more than 33 million MB of data traffic for operators worldwide.
- One Web will triumph over WAP content: Full Web surfing comprises more than 77% of all traffic. WAP content still generates the remaining 23% of traffic. WAP percentages have declined somewhat as more consumers realize Opera Mini can access rich Web content.
Snapshot: United States
More than 63% of U.S. Web traffic on mobile phones is to social networks, tying it with Indonesia for the number one spot.
Top 10 sites in the U.S.
- www.myspace.com
- www.google.com
- www.mocospace.com
- www.yahoo.com
- www.facebook.com
- www.live.com
- www.hi5.com
- www.wikipedia.org
- www.itsmy.com
- www.ebay.com
Snapshot: India
India favors social networking, with nearly half (48.9%) of all traffic going to social networks.
Top 10 sites in India
- www.orkut.com
- www.google.com
- in.m.yahoo.com
- www.peperonity.com
- gallery.mobile9.com
- www.mocospace.com
- www.160by2.com
- www.mobango.com
- www.itsmy.com
- www.indianrail.gov.in
Snapshot: United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is the world leader in mobile e-mail, although that number remains small. More than 11% of traffic in Q1 was to Web-based e-mail services.
Top 10 sites in the U.K.
- www.facebook.com
- www.google.co.uk
- www.live.com
- www.bebo.com
- www.mocospace.com
- news.bbc.co.uk
- uk.yahoo.com
- www.itsmy.com
- www.faceparty.com
- www.ebay.co.uk
"The mobile Web is also the social Web," said Jon von Tetzchner, Chief Executive Officer, Opera Software. "With social networks dominating Opera Mini's traffic, it is clear that people use their mobile browser as yet another communication tool on their phone. I find it reassuring to see that there is decreasing distinction between the types of Web content people use on the mobile device - it really is one Web, with people using whichever device they choose to connect to that Web."
The report is available in its entirety from http://www.opera.com/mobile_report/
Posted to the site on 20th May 2008
