Mobile Internet On Fire!

According to a new report released today from comScore the number of people accessing news and information using their mobile device has more than DOUBLED in the last year. That puts the number of users at more than 63 million. Of those people, some 35% (22 million) do so daily.

“Over the course of the past year, we have seen use of mobile Internet evolve from an occasional activity to being a daily part of people’s lives,” observed Mark Donovan, senior vice president, mobile, comScore. “This underscores the growing importance of the mobile medium as consumers become more reliant on their mobile devices to access time-sensitive and utilitarian information.”

When it gets broken down to sub-categories, what segment has grown the most? Social Networking and blogs--up a whopping 427%.

“Social networking and blogging have emerged as very popular daily uses of the mobile Web and these activities are growing at a torrid pace,” observed Donovan. “We also note that much of the growth in news and information usage is driven by the increased popularity of downloaded applications, such as those offered for the iPhone, and by text-based searches. While smartphones and high-end feature phones, like the Samsung Instinct and LG Dare comprise the Top 10 devices used for news and information access, 70 percent of those accessing mobile Internet content are using feature phones.”

Ready for a shocker? comScore states that young males are the most avid users of mobile news and information, with half of 18-34-year-old males engaging in the activity. Additionally, it's also quite popular with 18-24 females--amassing 40% usage with this group.

There's no question that all of the improved devices from Apple, Blackberry, and a number of others have made these activities "almost" easy. As our industry is wrestling with creating better websites and considering on-demand content, the rest of the world has moved on to the newest frontier in the wild west of tech--mobile.

What does your website look like on a smartphone? How much of your content can be accessed on a smart phone? What percentage of your content is WORTH accessing on a smartphone? Are you Tweeting? When did your blog get updated last? I could go on, but the questions are endless.

This web thing isn't what we signed up for. We are radio people. But it is reality. We have audiences, large audiences, and these are the people who are using the mobile web--we have to be there. With what and how good are up to you.

Mobile interest today is where text messaging was just a few short years ago. As apps get better and easier this mobile internet train will be moving a bullet train speeds. All aboard!!