Daily Telegraph Newspaper Sees Surge in Traffic from the Google Phone

A surge in early adoption of the new Google based G1 smartphone indicates AppleÃ's iPhone may have another challenger for the title of hip mobile device, according to WebTrends, a provider of web analytics and online marketing solutions.

The analytics firm cited the example of the UK's Telegraph group of newspapers - a politically centre right publication - which had seen over 5,000 downloads and nearly 31,000 visits from the G1 handset to its mobile optimised news site.

"Part of Android's cache is its encouragement of third-party development due to the openness of its platform. As a result, many businesses are already creating applications to increase brand awareness and engagement," said Nick Sharp, VP and General Manager EMEA and Australasia, WebTrends.

Paul Cheesbrough, Chief Technology Officer at TMG, said, "It's important that the Telegraph is seen to embrace new technologies and lead the way in exploring new avenues for the provision of the latest news. As people increasingly look to online platforms and their mobiles for on the move updates on what's going on in the world today, having an insight into browsing patterns from day one in order to ensure that our site is modified to achieve maximum efficiency within Android handsets is invaluable. As such, WebTrends is giving us visibility of the early adopters and the latest technology used in interaction with our brand."

Sharp added, "Segmenting such users and identifying their behavior will give forward thinking digital businesses such as TMG access to a new resource pool, which can help them shape the way they do business in the future."

Posted to the site on 2nd November 2008