According to Opera's survey of the more 11.9 million Opera Mini users in March, almost 41% of mobile traffic now goes to social networking -- up to 60% in some countries, including the US. Compare that to about 6% of total web traffic for social networks outside of the mobile web. That's not overly surprising, though, given the recent proliferation of new smartphones aimed at consumers (or at least phones that can view the full web), made ultra-chic over the past year by Apple's iPhone. Says Opera, 3/4ths of mobile web traffic is now to the full web, rather than WAP or .mobi sites, which are quickly becoming out-moded.
We predicted some big things for the mobile web this year, and analysts are starting to agree. Even with a near 20% year-over-year increase expected in the number of SMS messages sent this year, researchers at Gartner still expect that mobile social networks will be a bigger story.
Mobile social networks have a very desirable demographic for advertisers. Over 60% of the users at MocoSpace, for example, which is one of the largest mobile social networks, are between the ages of 18 and 34. And 25% of US citizens under the age of 25 rely solely on mobile phones as their main means of voice communication.
What's more, users of mobile phones are more likely to engage with advertising. UK ad-supported mobile service Blyk, for example, saw an amazing 29% average response rate on ad campaigns -- with one campaign -- for a book, no less -- receiving an incredible 67% response rate on the service. M:Metrics found in February that mobile users were more likely to respond to advertising than regular Internet users, and 27% more likely to say they are tempted to buy an advertised product then the average person.
Clearly, there is a huge opportunity for commerce on the mobile platform, and social networking on the mobile seems to be the best way to target consumers. In November of last year, we asked how many of you were using the mobile web. Not surprisingly, a majority of ReadWriteWeb readers were -- just over a third loading a mobile site daily. But surprisingly, 30% of you were not mobile web users. A lot can change in 6 months, though, so we'd like to ask again. And if you're looking for a mobile social network to try out, check out Corvida's recent look at four promising options.
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41% ... an astounding figure. Helps explain why google is so hot to get into the mobile / wireless game.
Posted by: Joe | May 20, 2008 11:28 AM
Claiming the "mobile web" is the new hang out assumes every popular site already has optimized a dedicated version of themselves for small screen viewing and/or the iPhone - which is NOT the case.
Opera does an awesome job rendering usable versions of web sites, but even then, the overall user experience still sucks. Add in all the carrier hassles ( permission pop-ups being reset after a given amount of time in a single session ) and the fact not everyone has added an unlimited data to their calling plan ( WHAT!?!?! ).
Is there an iPhone friendly version of this site? Thin Cloud for Twitter and Brite Kite are the only good ones I am aware of:
http://www.apple.com/webapps/socialnetworking/twitteronthincloud.html
What are some other ones?
Posted by: Todd | May 20, 2008 11:29 AM
@Todd: Point well taken, though the "hangout" line is really just an allusion to how much social networking seems to be going on via the mobile.
Posted by: Josh Catone
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May 20, 2008 11:49 AM
I am really surprised by these numbers...but then maybe I am using the popularity of .Mobi to gauge.
With mobi floundering, just did not expect to see such robust numbers now.
Maybe the founder of Mouser needs to take a good look at these numbers...
Posted by: Jollyjo | May 20, 2008 7:13 PM
I think the "full web for mobiles" will face the same problems desktop users already have. The iPhone actually does not eliminate a need for clean "unbloated" design, - it simply ZOOMS oversized websites visually!
I would simply recommend to build small webpages. They are suitable for mobiles, - and much more effective for desktops!
Moreover, I think all the future websites should
SEPARATE Content and Ads:
http://mini-news.com/format
Posted by: Beloy | May 21, 2008 12:26 AM
Seeing Mocospace I cannot resist mentioning wadja.com which is a Mobile Social Network. All you have to do is try it make an opinion of your own.
Posted by: George | May 21, 2008 1:38 AM
In mobile indutry, Opera Minin will keep its leadership intact in years to come.
Posted by: Faisal Riaz | May 21, 2008 5:11 AM
@Todd
Nope. You don't need that with mobile browsers that can handle the full web.
Posted by: wiipe | May 21, 2008 2:50 PM