The time spent accessing social networks via
smartphones was increased in March according to
comScore, underscoring the significant role of mobile in
social networking.
comScore today announced the U.S. launch of Mobile
Metrix 2.0, its next generation mobile behavioral
measurement service.
Among smartphone users age 18 and older accessing from
iOS, Android and RIM smartphones, Google Sites ranked as
the top property with nearly 94 million unique visitors,
representing 96.9 percent of the mobile audience.
Facebook ranked second with 78.0 million visitors (80.4
percent reach), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 66.2
million visitors (68.2 percent reach) and Amazon Sites
44.0 million visitors (45.4 percent reach).
comScore's analysis of the share of time spent across
apps and browsers revealed that even though these access
methods had similar audience sizes, apps drove the
lion?s share of engagement, representing 4 in every 5
mobile media minutes. Analysis of the top properties
also revealed widely varying degrees of time spent
between app and browser access methods. On Facebook, the
top ranked mobile media property by engagement, 80
percent of time spent was represented by app usage
compared to 20 percent via browser. Twitter saw an even
higher percentage of time spent with apps at 96.5
percent of all minutes. In contrast, Microsoft Sites was
among brands that saw browser access driving a majority
of usage at 82.1 percent.
Analysis of the top iPhone and Android apps by size of
audience found differences in the top apps accessed by
the two operating systems. System apps topped the list
for both iOS and Android, with Apple iTunes reaching
nearly the entire iPhone app audience in March while
93.2 percent of Android users visited the Android app
market.
Google Search ranked as the second largest app by
Android audience size reaching 44.9 million users (84.1
percent reach). Google Maps led as the top map app on
both platforms reaching 91.2 percent of iPhone users and
74.5 percent of Android users. The Facebook mobile app
ranked within the top five apps on both platforms,
securing the #3 spot among iPhone users (80 percent
reach) and the #5 position with Android users (68.9
percent reach).
Social networking proved to be a particularly popular
activity on smartphones with several brands
demonstrating exceptionally high engagement, in some
cases higher than the corresponding time spent by users
via traditional web access. Facebook once again led the
pack among social networking brands, with the average
Facebook mobile user engaging for more than 7 hours via
browser or app in March. The 25.6 million Twitter mobile
users (excluding usage via third-party apps) had an
average engagement of nearly 2 hours during the month.
By comparison, people visiting on their computers spent
just 20.4 minutes on Twitter.com, highlighting the
importance of mobile engagement for mobile-centric
brands. Pinterest, which has seen its adoption explode
in recent months, reached 7.5 million smartphone
visitors who engaged with the brand for nearly an hour.
Location-based social network Foursquare attracted 5.5
million mobile visitors at an average of nearly 2.5
hours, while Tumblr reached an audience of nearly 4.5
million who engaged for 68 minutes during the month.