Mobile Search up 68 & 38 % in US and Europe, Says comScore

comScore, Inc. says that mobile search is gaining in popularity and frequency of use in the U.S. and Western Europe.

comScore reports that in June 2008, 20.8 million U.S. mobile subscribers and 4.5 million European mobile phone subscribers accessed search during the month, an increase of 68 and 38 percent from June 2007, respectively.

The U.K. had the highest penetration of mobile subscribers using search at 9.5 percent, followed closely by the U.S. at 9.2 percent.

*Includes top five
countries listed.

“It is interesting to note that as we see the number
of mobile search users increase, the frequency of activity is also growing,”
observed Alistair Hill, analyst, comScore.  “The number of people
accessing mobile search at least once a week grew 50 percent in Europe, with
France and Spain leading at a rate of 69 and 63 percent, respectively. 
Meanwhile, the number of U.S. users accessing mobile search has more than
doubled as a result of expanded 3G penetration and smartphone adoption, as well
as the proliferation of flat-rate data plans. We have also seen a substantial
improvement to the mobile search offerings in the U.S. market.” 

*Includes top five
countries listed.

Google is the preferred brand for browser-based
searches with a 60 percent share of mobile searchers (“mobile searcher penetration”)
 in all countries measured by comScore M:Metrics. Yahoo! ranks second in
Germany, Italy, UK and the U.S. In the U.S., Yahoo’s  mobile searcher
penetration is 34.6 percent, more than double its share in most other
countries.