According to Yankee Group, 31 percent of phone-owning
consumers now browse the mobile web at least once a month, with news,
search and weather being their most popular destinations.
Yankee group rounded up evaluations that show most mobile sites still fail to
deliver optimal experiences, earning an average score of 52 on a scale
of 1 to 100.
The new report, “Best of the Anywhere Web 2009,”
does show, however, that mobile Web sites are making strides. Four
sites—Google.com, Google.com/m/news, Yahoo.com and MLB.com—earn passing
grades, marking the first time any site has scored above a 70 on Yankee
Group’s Mobile Web Report Card.
“Unlike
last year, most of the sites we reviewed adapt their content to many
differing feature phones and smartphones. And some companies are also
starting to incorporate location-awareness, something other sites
should strive to emulate,” said
Carl Howe, director at Yankee Group and author of the report. Howe will present his findings this week at Mobile Internet World.
The evaluation of 27 mobile sites reveals:
- For news, Google and Yahoo show how it’s done.
Both companies earn passing grades of 73, striking an impressive
balance in delivering enough information to mobile users without
overwhelming them. Other news sites, however, still struggle with
leveraging mobile context and site discoverability. - For sports, MLB.com hits it out of the park. Major
League Baseball’s site scores an impressive 71 for its device detection
and ability to tailor content to fit mobile screens. Competitors
Rivals.com (58) and ESPN.com (57) score a close second and third. - For search, Google is tops, but Yahoo’s a close second.
Google’s mobile search site, with its minimalist interface,
format-specific device detection and location- awareness, earns an 81,
the highest mark given to any mobile Web site so far. Yahoo also earns
a passing grade of 76, hindered only by small factors like extraneous
content and HTML validation errors. - For mobile carriers, all need improvement.
Sprint’s site is a bit out of date, but it does help mobile users find
Sprint stores and call the carrier, earning it a score of 53. Other
national carrier sites still ignore mobile Web users who aren’t their
customers, forcing consumers back to their desktops to view their
services.