ComScore reports that twice the number of people used mobile devices to access news and information in January 2009 compared to January 2008.
ComScore on Monday said more than 63 million people used mobile devices, such as the iPhone and BlackBerry, as well as other smart phones, to access news and information on the Internet in January 2009. Among the total audience, some 22.4 million used the mobile Internet daily, more than twice as many people as a year earlier.
Between January 2008 and January 2009, the number of people who used their devices every day more than doubled, from 10.8 million to 22.4 million. The total number of people accessing their news and information via mobile – whether daily, weekly, or at some point during a given month – was just less than 63.2 million people in January 2009.
Some 8.2 million users downloaded maps, making that the most popular downloadable application; about 14.1 million users utilized their SMS-based news and information access for search, making that the most-favored use.
The most regular users of mobile news and information were males in the 18- to 34-year-old range. Some 40 percent of females between the ages of 18 and 24 used mobile Internet, as well.
Research group eMarketer estimates that U.S. mobile ad revenue will increase 17% to $760 million this year and grow to $3.3 billion in 2013. Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt has said he expects mobile Web advertising revenue to surpass PC-based Internet sales within the next several years.
Advertising Spending was down across the board in 2008, according to Nielson. The top 10 advertisers spent a total of $15.5 billion in 2008 – 15% less than the year before.
U.S. ad expenditures declined almost $3.7 billion to a total of $136.8 billion in 2008, says the company. Local and National Newspaper ad spends declined 10.2% and 9.6%, respectively. National Magazines fell 7.6%, while Local Magazines dropped 3.7%. Hispanic Cable TV (+9.6%) and Cable TV (+7.8%) were the only two media to show ad growth in 2008. Cable was the highest revenue-generating medium with $26.6 billion in sales.
