Mobile search report May 2011

MOBILE SEARCH Facts And Statistics Google Android platform October-May 2011

Study contents 60 Addenda 56 About the author 53 Future plans and problems 34 Mobile search worldwide 28 Mobile search in the United States 22 Mobile search geography 19 Mobile search behavior 12 Top mobile search engines 11 Detailed study findings 6 Methodology of the study 5 Summary of study findings 4 Study problem 3 Study summary

Study summary Is Google really Number 1? It’s not

Study problem
Google mobile search market share – 98.29% *
Google’s share of mobile search spending – 97% **
Mobile search spending is estimated at 5% of all paid search spending **
Yet, Google is pre-installed on iPhone and most Android smartphones
IF mobile users are given a choice –
WOULD they use Google for search as often?
* Source – StatCounter July 2010 ** Source – Macquarie Group March 2011

Summary of study findings
Contrary to earlier claims, Google’s share of mobile market is not 98.3%, but is less than 30%
#1 mobile search engine is Swagbucks.com, an incentive search engine (Google is #2)
76% of worldwide mobile search users live in the United States, mostly in major urban areas
Other intensive mobile search countries are Canada, UK, India, Japan, Russia, France, Brazil, Germany and Mexico
Study stats
310 000 search requests
16 000 mobile users
128 countries
260 search engines

Methodology of the study How did we do it? Can be skipped of course… but there is a lot of interesting and important stuff inside!

Definitions
Search engine
A website accessible from a mobile network and able to provide a search functionality for its own resources or other websites
Search request
An action by a mobile user that includes typing a text string in a text field on a mobile device such as smartphone and sending it to Internet with the purpose of opening a browser and seeing the search results for this text string on a selected search engine
Mobile user
A person in control of a uniquely identified mobile device such as smartphone personally performing a search request
General search
Search for a web page or resource anywhere in the Internet
Vertical search
Search within a specific subject area or specific website

Research process and facts
Study period – 7 months
Start date October 1, 2010; End date May 1, 2010
260 search engines were available to study participants
Participants could select any number search engines for their use; a typical choice was 4 search engines
A total of 310,016 search requests made by 16,135 individuals from 128 countries were collected
At peak, daily number of search requests was 3000 ± 400
Margin of error is 0.18% (smaller percentages cannot be interpreted as meaningful)
Data was collected via a free smartphone widget app AskDroid for Google Android platform
Over 42 000 installations of the app during the study period
All users consented to contribute anonymously to search stats by accepting the app terms of service

Mobile search app workflow Daily Use ► Press icon Type text Get search results Installation ► Setup auto opens Choose category Select search engine(s)

Methodology limitations
Only Google Android platform was included in the study
iPhone and Blackberry user behavior might be significantly different from the one observed on Android
Android is the only platform that allows for “widgets” – desktop buttons that provide fast access to smartphone functions and therefore allows to speed up mobile search operation to the maximum degree possible, while on other platforms customized search will take more steps to perform
About 50% of mobile users do not understand how to add a widget to an Android phone desktop after installation (widgets are prohibited by Google from auto appearance for security reasons)
App was distributed via Google Android Market
Google Android Market, along with some other Google websites, is periodically firewalled in China, which might result in China being underrepresented in the study
Some device manufacturers and mobile carriers disable Android Market in favor of their own app marketplaces

Detailed study findings Keep searching

Top mobile search engines The search engines we love

Leading search engines - world
Most search requests are sent to Swagbucks; Google is second by number of search requests
Mobile app search is 3rd – more popular than any vertical
Search engine share of total search requests, %

Leading search engines - world
The majority of users prefers less known search engines
Note: each individual had a widget with 4 search engine buttons, so a direct comparison of their relative popularity is not possible
Share of mobile users that used a certain search engine, %

Absolute search leader: Swagbucks
Incentive search engine
At random intervals, registered users that make a search request are assigned a random number of reward points (called Swagbucks)
Swagbucks can be exchanged for Amazon gift cards and other valuables
In 2010, an average heavy Swagbucks user collected an estimated equivalent of $ 300 for a year of searching by Christmas
Owned by Prodege L LC (Los Angeles)
Disclaimer: study author and her institution are not affiliated with Swagbucks.com and Prodege LLC in any way; all information provided herein is for education purpose only

Leading vertical search engines
Vertical searches account for 26.12% of all search requests
Vertical search engine share of search requests, %

Use of vertical search engines
File search 4shared is chosen more often than Facebook
Dictionary.com is chosen more often than Amazon
Share of mobile users using a certain search engine, as % of all vertical searches

Most wanted: classifieds, torrents, files
What vertical searches mobile users request most often? *
Classifieds, in particular various city/regional segments of Craiglist (United States) and KiJiJi (Canada)
Torrent search engines and catalogs
File storage websites and search engines
* Based on analysis on 1132 mobile users’ letters received by AskDroid tech support

Mobile search behavior The people that love to search

Personal search frequency
80% of all mobile search requests were made by users that searched more than once during the day
Share of search requests (%) that were made…

Total search frequency
Mobile search is a steady personal habit
72.22% of all searches were made by mobile users who made 25 or more mobile search requests during the duration of the study
Share of mobile users (%) that made search requests for…

Mobile search geography The world that loves to search

Most searching countries
United States residents search from mobile devices more often than residents of the rest of the world
Share of countries by search requests, % of total

Most searching nations
United States residents also use mobile search more than the rest of the world combined…
Distribution of mobile search users by country, % of total

Map of mobile search – countries Number of search requests by country, worldwide Color intensity = number of searches

Map of mobile search – cities City location of search requests, worldwide Bubble size = number of searches

Are some countries search-special?
Mobile users from the U.S., Canada, United Kingdom, Russia, India and some other countries install search tools far more often than mobile users on Android platform in general
1.2% Russia 1.0% Germany 1.5% Spain 1.1% Japan 1.6% Taiwan 1.2% France 1.9% China 1.3% Brazil 2.6% France 1.8% South Korea 2.9% Germany 1.9% India 3.5% United Kingdom 2.2.% Russia 9.3% Japan 2.9% United Kingdom 10.7% South Korea 4.5% Canada 46.5% United States 67.5% United States All Android apps AskDroid

Mobile search in the United States The nation that loves to search

United States – search engines
Swagbucks accounts for nearly half of U.S. mobile searches
Share of search engines by search requests, %

United States – states
More population – more mobile searching, but some exceptions apply: Georgia searches more, Pennsylvania less
Share of U.S. states by search request, %

United States – map of states Number of search requests by state, United States Color intensity = number of searches

United States – cities
Metropolitan areas contribute most of search requests
Share of U.S. cities by search requests, %

United States – map of cities City location of search requests, United States Bubble size = number of searches

Mobile search worldwide The nations that love to search

Canada – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
Canada searches have a high share of classifieds (KiJiJi)
Toronto 26%, Montreal 15%, Edmonton 10%, Vancouver 9%
Share of search engines by search requests, Canada, %

Canada – map City location of search requests, Canada Bubble size = number of searches

United Kingdom – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
File search 4shared beats even local Google
43% of United Kingdom mobile searches are from London
Share of search engines by search requests, U.K., %

United Kingdom – map City location of search requests, United Kingdom Bubble size = number of searches

India – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
Google, apps and file search are leading searches
India’s mobile search comes mostly from large cities
Delhi 21%, Bangalore 15%, Pune 13%, Mumbai 9%, Chennai 8%
Share of search engines by search requests, India, %

India – map City location of search requests, India Bubble size = number of searches

Japan – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
In Japan local and international Yahoo accounts for half of all searches, while app and video searching is small
Almost all mobile searches were made in greater Tokyo area
Share of search engines by search requests, Japan, %

Japan – map City location of search requests, Japan Bubble size = number of searches

Russia – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
In Russia app search beats everything, Yandex beats Google, and Wikipedia beats everything else
Moscow is 42% of all mobile searches
Share of search engines by search requests, Russia, %

Russia – map City location of search requests, Russia Bubble size = number of searches

France – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
In France, mobile users like Google much more than politicians
Paris is 64% of all mobile searches
Share of search engines by search requests, France, %

France – map City location of search requests, France Bubble size = number of searches

Brazil – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
In Brazil, app search is closely trailing general search, all other falling far behind
Sao Paolo 32%, Cuiaba 19%, Rio de Janeiro 13%
Share of search engines by search requests, Brazil, %

Brazil – map City location of search requests, Brazil Bubble size = number of searches

Germany – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
General and app search accounts for over half of all searches
38% of all German mobile searches took place in Berlin
Share of search engines by search requests, Germany, %

Germany – map City location of search requests, Germany Bubble size = number of searches

Mexico – s e a r c h e n g i n e s
Mexicans strongly prefer videos and files to apps, and Wikipedia to all other verticals
40% of all searches are in Mexico City
Share of search engines by search requests, Mexico, %

Mexico – map City location of search requests, Mexico Bubble size = number of searches

Future plans and problems This is only the first iteration… what will be next?

New mobile platforms
Next study iteration is planned for summer-fall 2011
New data collection tools will be tested
iOS devices
iPhone/iPad users were not included in this iteration of the study
In past, iPhone/iPad users’ mobile behavior was demonstrated to be markedly different from behavior of Android and Blackberry users (e.g. ComScore April 2011), so differences in search behavior can be expected
The study of iPhone/iPad users’ mobile search behavior will be contingent upon speed of app approval by Apple
RIM/Blackberry users
The implementation of search routine and app launch on Blackberry devices leaves little room for improved and easy use of mobile search, as well as making search engine choices
It is not obvious how third-party search might be implemented on Blackberry to benefit the mobile user

New data dimensions
Web properties of the same owner or family will be clustered
Google family
Yahoo family
Amazon family
Wikipedia family
Craiglist family
KiJiJi family, etc.
Similar vertical searches will be clustered
File search: 2shared, 4shared, etc.
Torrent search: The Pirate Bay, Kickass Torrents, Toorgle, etc.
Reference search: Wikipedia, Dictionary.com, Snopes, etc.
Video, E-commerce, Portals, etc.
Other data dimensions based on feedback from this report

About the author Girl’s Power

Linda Hopp
Born: 1992
B.A. 2012 (Computer Science), Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (PhysTech)
GPA: 3.9 / 4.0

Facts about Linda
Born in a very poor single-parent family in a Russian city of Ryazan (pop. 525 000)
Tasted her first chocolate bar at the age of 11
Graduated top in her high school class in Sciences and Languages 4 years in a row
Earned every boy’s hate and no dates for being “too smart for a girl” and taking away “their” academic prizes
Got admitted to PhysTech through self study without any tutoring or assistance
Did this study in her spare time
for fun

Facts about PhysTech
One of the most selective technology schools in the world
High school Sciences score required for admission: top 1%
Annual dismissal rate: 15% of the class
Notable faculty and alumni (a very incomplete list)
Petr Kapitsa, The Founding Father (Nobel Prize in Physics 1978)
Lev Landau (Nobel Prize in Physics 1962)
Nikolai Semenov (Nobel Prize in Physics 1956)
Vitaly Ginsburg (Nobel Prize in Physics 2003)
Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov (Nobel Prize in Physics 2010)
Nathan Sharansky (political prisoner and Israeli minister)
Two Forbes 500 members
Four Russian cosmonauts

Addenda In case you want to double check…

List of participating search engines # Search Engine Search requests Mobile users Percentage of requests 1 Swagbucks 106,902 4 , 752 34.60% 2 Google 81,097 5 , 741 26.09% 3 Android Market 25,059 3 , 914 8.06% 4 YouTube 16,567 3 , 777 5.36% 5 4shared 8,802 1 , 324 2.86% 6 Wikipedia 7,962 1 , 831 2.55% 7 Facebook 5,098 955 1.62% 8 Bing 3,868 717 1.23%

List of participating search engines # Search Engine Search requests Mobile users Percentage of requests 9 Yahoo 3,017 482 0.96% 10 Google Images 2,936 637 0.95% 11 Ask 2,893 616 0.95% 12 IMDb 2,789 713 0.89% 13 Dictionary.com 2,137 572 0.70% 14 Yahoo Japan 1,833 90 0.59% 15 Amazon 1,480 504 0.48% 16 The Pirate Bay 1,456 420 0.48%

List of participating search engines # Search Engine Search requests Mobile users Percentage of requests 17 Google Maps 1,369 317 0.43% 18 MSN 1,365 343 0.43% 19 Craigslist all for sale/wanted 1,268 436 0.41% 20 allmusic Artist/Group 1,210 502 0.38% 21 Ebay 1,085 379 0.34% 22 WolframAlpha 1,041 402 0.34% 23 Yandex 960 214 0.30% 24 µTorrent Videos 699 376 0.22%

List of participating search engines # Search Engine Search request Mobile users Percentage of requests 25 allmusic Album 665 420 0.22% 26 How Stuff Works 660 365 0.20% 27 Google News 639 144 0.20% 28 K i J i J i Alberta 623 171 0.20% 29 blip.tv 613 285 0.20% 30 2 Shared 570 262 0.19% 31 PANDORA 565 373 0.18% 32 T icketmaster 561 283 0.18%

List of participating search engines
Also included in the survey (in descending order by number of search requests):
Google.co.uk, DuckDuckGo, deviantART, Wikipedia Русский, VEVO All, dogpile Web, allmusic Song, KICKASS Torrents ALL, DevilFinder Video, Craigslist all community, URbaN DICTIONARY, DevilFinder Images, ISOHunt BitTorrent, Flickr, Jamendo, AppBrain, LinkedIn, PriceGrabber, Lingvo Eng↔Rus, Snopes.com, twitter, Google.se, kijiji Ontario, µTorrent Web, Thesarus.com, BEST BUY, kijiji Greater Toronto Area, Google translate auto->English, Gmail, WebCrawler Web, altavista, KICKASS Torrents MOVIES, DevilFinder Web, Baidu, terra, Yahoo Images, ESPN ALL, Aol Web, VEVO Videos, myspace, Google translate auto->Español, Toorgle, Wikipedia Español, allmusic Classical Work, CRITICKER, Quora, MyPoints, Wikipedia Sámegiella, RetailMeNot, Starbucks, Demonoid.me, Ebay.co.uk, kijiji Ottawa / Gatineau, blekko, kijiji Calgary, Wikipedia Français, warehouse deals, kijiji Québec, peeplO images, Craigslist all event, LDS.org, peeplO video, SwapA DVD, Ebay.ca, ESPN VIDEOS, Multitran Eng, Yahoo SINGAPORE, Creative Commons, True Knowledge, peeplO web, µTorrent Images, Wikipedia Italiano, kijiji London Ontario, 百度 , LYCOS Image, KICKASS Torrents MUSIC, Google Scholar Articles, Amazon.co.uk, RAE Diccionario de la lengua española, (over)

Continued from next page:
Yahoo SVERIGE, Yandex Images, kijiji Manitoba, WebCrawler Images, dogpile Images, upromise, entireweb Web, hotfilesearch Video, hotfilesearch All Files, LYCOS Video, Google translate auto->Русский, cnet, GSM Arena, entireweb Images, engadget, BONDfARO, Ebay.com.sg, WebMD, ISOHunt Releases, LYCOS Web, kijiji Nova Scotia, copernic Web, mercado Livre, dogpile Video, copernic Images, kijiji British Columbia, altavista Sverige, Beaucoup!, Wikipedia Deutsch, kijiji Windsor Region, KICKASS Torrents BOOKS, ARCUS, KICKASS Torrents TV, kijiji New Brunswick, Craigslist Honolulu all for sale/wanted, WebCrawler Video, entireweb Realtime, Wikipedia Português, copernic Video, guruji Music, Multitran Spa, Google translate auto->Français, GrooveTickets, Google Scholar Legal opinions and journals, Mooter, HOTBOT lyGO.com, guruji Web, Who sampled Artists, guruji Images, najdi.SI, Yandex Maps, HOTBOT Yahoo!, in.gr, ESPN AUDIO, 4PDA, Lingvo Fre↔Rus, spotiseek, eniro Personer, kijiji Saskatchewan, VEVO Artists, КиноПоиск.Ru, HOTBOT MSN, Android 市场 , ticketmaster United Kingdom, 谷歌 , ksl.com Classfields, Who sampled Samples, verizon, dogpile News, Multitran Fre, Lingvo Eng ↔ Fre, dealspl.us Deals, peeplO post, Lingvo Eng↔Fre, eBdb, 谷歌地图 , LYCOS Sverige Video, ESPN STORIES, (over)

Continued from next page:
Craigslist Minneapolis all for sale/wanted, VEVO Playlists, Google translate auto->Português, hotfilesearch Applications, 维基百科 , entireweb Sverige Realtime, Google translate auto->Italiano, Who sampled Covers, Ebay.fr, Multitran Ger, dict.cc DE<>EN, allmusic 专辑 , LYCOS Sverige Webb, hitta.se Vad?, allmusic 歌曲 , hotfilesearch Audio, hotfilesearch Pictures, Google Shopping, Multitran Ita, 星巴克 , the PEANUT Roaster, Craigslist Minneapolis all community, Craigslist Honolulu all community, WebCrawler News, 知识共享 , dealspl.us Coupons, spotiseek popular, kijiji Newfoundland, hitta.se Var?, Multitran Jap, RAE Diccionario panhispánico de dudas, eniro Företag, 搜索赚钱原理 , 谷歌新闻 , Google Video, LYCOS Sverige BILD, kijiji, LYCOS Sverige Bilder, Who sampled Remixes, Multitran Afr, 维基百科 Français, Google Books, peeoplO images, Craigslist Honolulu all event, ESPN PHOTOS, allmusic 经典著作 , hotfilesearch Archives, 互联网电影资料库 , 必应 , 我的空间 , Bay NEWS 9, Google Scholar, LEO Deutsch Englisch, Lingvo Fre ↔ Rus, entireweb Sverige Images, Aol Images, Craigslist Minneapolis all event, LYCOS Sverige VIDEO, LYCOS Sverige WEBB, Nike, allmusic, dict.cc DE<>BG, dict.cc DE<>RU, entireweb Sverige Web, games.com, kijiji Prince Edward Island, last.fm, peeoplO video, 亚马逊 , 雅虎

List of other participating countries
Also included in the survey (in descending order by number of search requests):
Sweden, Italy, Indonesia, Australia, Spain, South Korea, Netherlands, Malaysia, Singapore, Chile, Thailand, Turkey, Belarus, China, Denmark, Israel, Finland, Argentina, Ireland, Philippines, Ukraine, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Austria, Egypt, Poland, Switzerland, Norway, Vietnam, South Africa, Romania, Kuwait, Morocco, Hungary, New Zealand, Taiwan, Kenya, Puerto Rico, Guam, Hong Kong, Portugal, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Serbia, Czech Republic, Gibraltar, Colombia, Slovenia, Lebanon, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago, Croatia, Bulgaria, Peru, Qatar, Albania, Cambodia, Pakistan, Ecuador, Jamaica, Montenegro, Panama, Slovakia, Tunisia, Macedonia [FYROM], Nigeria, Réunion, Brunei, El Salvador, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Mongolia, Estonia, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Nepal, Oman, Iraq, Latvia, Cyprus, Lithuania, Mauritius, Bangladesh, Yemen, Macau, Bolivia, Iran, Moldova, Luxembourg, Honduras, Laos, Netherlands Antilles, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Jordan, Northern Mariana Islands, Guadeloupe, Guinea-Bissau, Libya, Malta, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Turkmenistan, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Andorra, Angola, Armenia, French Guiana, Haiti, Malawi, Sudan

Credits
Research advisor – Asst. Prof. Yuri Ammosov
Technology advisor – Asst. Prof. Anton Moiseev
Faculty advisor – Asso. Prof Valery Krivtsov
All data collected with Google Analytics ( http:// google.com /analytics )
Data on slide 29 provided by Android Market ( http://market.android.com )
Data visualization
Charting for Corel Draw x4/x5 by Alexander Penkin ( http:// corelvba.com/index.php?pages =chart_1 )
Study images can be downloaded at http://askdroid.sadko.mobi/MSSI_2011.zip
Full study submitted for publication in The Works of MIPT

Mobile search report May 2011

by lindahopp

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