Today we continue our  exploration of regional findings from the new 2012 Our Mobile Planet research and examine smartphone behavior in the United States.

Smartphones have taken America by storm. In less than a year, smartphone penetration in the US has jumped more than 10%. 44% of Americans now own a smartphone and the new 2012 Our Mobile Planet smartphone research shows that they’ve become  increasingly indispensable to our daily lives. Smartphones continue to transform core consumer behavior, from how we connect with others, keep entertained, search, shop and look for local information. This has implications for marketers who now have more opportunity to reach the constantly connected consumer.  You can see many of the key findings on US mobile consumer behavior in the infographic below.

Click to download US Mobile Consumer Behavior infographic

Highlights from the US Our Mobile Planet Smartphone Research

Many of the global mobile consumer behavior findings we shared yesterday are common for US smartphone owners. You can explore these findings using the chart builder tool on thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet or get the topline insights by downloading the country level report. Today we explore findings from the US smartphone research and their implications for businesses via slides from the downloadable US country report.

Smartphones Provide Answers at Your Fingertips - Anytime, Anywhere
Smartphones are little portable computers in our pockets, allowing us to find information on-the-go or at home, whenever and wherever we want. Whether we’re trying to settle a trivia bet with a friend, find the nearest gas station or get the latest news, we’re increasingly using our smartphones to get the information we need.

• 80% never leave home without their phones in hand
• 71% use their smartphones at restaurants and 56% at airports, among many other locations
• 62% have used their smartphone to go online seven out of seven days in the past week
• 57% of smartphone searchers conduct searches everyday on their phones

What’s the implication for businesses of consumers having answers at their  fingertips and information at their whim whenever they want? It means your customers have more opportunities to become engaged with your business. You need to be where your customers are, and today that means they are on mobile.

This is important because 66% of smartphone users search as a result of seeing an offline ad. For example, 58% look for more information after seeing an ad on TV.   The new smartphone  research also tells us that 52% of smartphone owners use the Internet on their phones while watching TV. In fact, 86% are using their smartphones while consuming some other form of media.

It’s important to get your message found by consumers, as 61% of smartphone users only look at the first page of search results and 89% notice mobile ads.  Businesses should integrate mobile into cross-media campaign plans and understand that today’s consumers can easily be activated by the multiple screens and media around them.

Smartphones Transform the Shopping Process

Smartphones have significantly changed the way Americans shop and make purchase decisions. 96% of smartphone owners use their mobile devices to research product and service information.  35% intentionally have their smartphones with them to compare prices and find product info while on the go, and 32 % have actually changed their mind about purchasing a product while in a store as a result of smartphone research. Smartphones are thus making us smarter shoppers and are influential at the point of purchase.

Research  on smartphones also leads to purchases across channels. 37% end up purchasing online and 32% prefer to purchase in-store after having conducted research on a product or service on their smartphones. 

We also see that mobile is an emerging point of purchase as 35% of smartphone Internet users have made a purchase on their smartphone (not including apps purchases).  68% have done this in the past month. What’s more is that these smartphone shoppers are purchasing often  with  62% of smartphone shoppers saying they make some kind of purchase on their phones  at least once a month.

It’s clear that smartphones have become a critical part of the shopping process and an indispensable shopping tool that influences not only if consumers will make a purchase but also where. With this instant access to information all the time, smartphones are breaking down the walls between digital and physical worlds. Consumers will go where they can find the most convenience, the best price or the greatest customer experience.  Businesses need to understand this radical shift in core consumer behavior and implement cross-channel strategies that incorporate mobile. It’s also critically important that businesses have mobile-optimized websites as consumers research and buy on mobile, and a poor mobile site experience could make the difference between winning or losing a customer.

To learn more about US mobile consumer behavior, get the US Our Mobile Planet country report, download the infographic  or use the data explorer and chart builder on thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet. Get the data you need to understand the new mobile consumer and to help  shape your mobile business strategies.


Posted by Dai Pham, Group Product Marketing Manager, Google Mobile Ads

In case you missed it, last Thursday Google hosted a mobile site builder product demonstration and broadcasted it live with Hangouts on Air on Think With Google’s Google+ page. During the Hangout, we featured two businesses building mobile-friendly sites in minutes. Participants included:

• Dennis Mink, Chief Marketing Office from DudaMobile
• Adrienne Burhoe, Chief Operating Officer from Top Mast Resort in Cape Cod, Massachusetts
• Felicia Viening, General Manager from Savas Restaurant in Ann Arbor, Michigan

Key takeaways

• Understand your mobile user and the content they need, and bring those elements to your mobile-friendly site
• Make it easy for people to contact and find your business
• Remember to paste the auto-redirect code to your desktop site
• Create a mobile-friendly site today with Google’s simple and easy-to-use site creation tool

Check out the recorded video of our Hangout below and visit howtogomo.com/getstarted to build your own mobile site. It only takes minutes and Google will pick up the cost for the first year.



Posted by: Suzanne Mumford, Product Marketing Manager, Google Mobile Ads

Today we continue our  exploration of regional findings from the new 2012 Our Mobile Planet research and examine smartphone behavior in the Asia Pacific region.

Have you ever left home without your mobile phone? If so, you probably remember the feeling of anxiety that comes from being disconnected.  The new Our Mobile Planet smartphone research shows that you are not alone in this feeling. In Australia 74% of smartphone owners do not leave home without their phone and in Japan that number is even higher at 78%.  Just like they have shown rapid growth in the economy and in culture recently, Asian countries are gaining momentum in increasing smartphone usage.

To better understand the importance of smartphones across Asia, and to see how it relates to you and your business, visit thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet to gain free access to powerful data across 40 countries in 22 languages.  This is an updated version of previous Our Mobile Planet research, with an improved user interface for easier navigation and newly updated data. We commissioned Ipsos MediaCT to conduct new research on smartphone Internet users across 26 countries in Q1 2012, including four APAC countries - Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand. You can also find last year’s research data from eight other APAC countries including Korea, Singapore and India.

New 2012 Research Findings: Australia, China, Japan, New Zealand

1. APAC consumers increasingly choose smartphones

• Smartphone penetration in Asia has increased by leaps and bounds within less than a year. Even though it was broadly known that Japanese people often use their phones to search on the Internet in their daily lives, in our last year’s research, only 6% of respondents answered that they have smartphones. However, the number has more than tripled this year and now 20% of Japanese people are smartphone users. In Australia, more than half of the population(52%) own smartphones and this is 40% growth from last year’s stats(37%)
• The importance of smartphones can be seen throughout Asia in a number of ways, for example in China 54% of smartphone owners would rather give up their TV than their smartphone, or in New Zealand 59% of smartphone owners access the Internet on a daily basis. Smartphones are already becoming indispensable to Asian consumers.

2. APAC consumers are active smartphone users

• 77% of Japanese smartphone users have used their phone every day in the past 7 days, which is the highest among the 26 around the world where we conducted research. 64% of Chinese users, 58% of Australians and 46% of New Zealanders also use their phones everyday.
• Search is one of the most common activities on smartphones. 68% of Japanese, 63% of Chinese, and 51% of Australian smartphone owners perform mobile searches everyday.

3.  Smartphones are used with other media

• Smartphone owners consume multiple other types of media in conjunction with their smartphone.  The top three cross media activities are watching TV, listening to music, and using the Internet.  In Japan, more than half (53%) of respondents use smartphones when they watch TV and 30% of them use while surfing the Internet. This data shows that mobile marketing is no longer optional – consumers are always on their smartphones, even when they have other entertainment media options.
• People search on mobile after seeing an offline ad. Chinese smartphone users are very responsive as a staggering 87% have performed a mobile search after seeing an ad.  This figure is high in other markets as well, 63% of Australians, 62% of Japanese, and 57% of New Zealanders also search on their phones after seeing an offline ad.  

Consumers take an action after local search: Called business or service after searching on smartphone

4. Smartphones are the new yellow pages for local businesses

• Having a mobile presence is critical for local businesses. In Australia and New Zealand, 86% and 80% of smartphone users search locally on their phones. The number is even higher in Japan and China where 91% and 93% of respondents indicated that they search local businesses on their phones.
• Consumers do not stop after search. They actually visit the store, call the business, and make purchases.  From the graph above, you can see how many people call the businesses after performing a local search. Consumers from Australia and New Zealand showed similarly high results, 54% and 50% respectively. 33% of Chinese users and 17% of Japanese users also answered that they called the businesses after searching locally.

5. Shopping on mobile devices is growing, be ready for your customers

• Through our research we discovered that almost all of the smartphone users in APAC countries use their smartphones to research a product or service. In Japan 100% of smartphone owners use their mobile device to research products or services. These numbers are high throughout APAC where we see 94% from Australia, 97% from China, and 66% from New Zealand.
• Smartphone shoppers also make mobile purchases quite often. Of the people in China that have made a purchase on their smartphone, 76% of them make mobile purchases at least once a month, which is the highest number globally. 59% of Australians, 52% of New Zealanders and 51% of the Japanese smartphone shoppers also make purchases at least once a month.

It’s clear that consumers have gone mobile and that businesses need to think about how to make reaching the new mobile consumer an important part of their strategy.  Visit thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet to get the insights you need to make data driven decisions on how to engage with your customers on their smartphone. 


Posted by: Soyeon Kim, APAC Product Marketing Manager, Google Mobile Ads

As smartphones grow in number and importance, finding good data to understand mobile consumer behavior is increasingly important for businesses. Today we are launching the new 2012 Our Mobile Planet smartphone research for 26 countries at thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet.  Altogether Our Mobile Planet provides free access to unique data for a total of 40 countries in 22 languages from the 2011 and 2012 waves of research. We commissioned Ipsos MediaCT to conduct this research and are making it available in conjunction with the Mobile Marketing Association and the Interactive Advertising Bureau.

So which 6 countries have the highest smartphone adoption? Australia, UK, Sweden, Norway, Saudi Arabia and UAE all have more than 50% of their population on smartphones.  An additional seven countries - the US, New Zealand, Denmark, Ireland, Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland - now have more than 40% smartphone penetration. These numbers show that a global mobile movement is happening as smartphone  adoption moves mainstream.  Mobile devices have become indispensable to people’s lives and are driving massive changes in consumer behavior.

Visit thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet today to:

thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet provides smartphone usage data for 40 countries

• Discover new mobile insights and create custom, presentation-ready charts.  You can compare across 40 countries, see year-over-year trends, or segment by demographics to understand specific  smartphone usage patterns  with our updated chart builder tool.
  
• Get the country level Executive Summary Reports.   Download a summary of the key research findings to learn how smartphones have transformed core consumer behaviors, including how we search, shop, keep ourselves entertained and navigate the world.  Country reports are available for the 26 countries in the 2012 research.
• Dive deeper with full data downloads.   Access the raw country level data for the 2012 research.

Global Findings from the 2012 Research
These are key highlights and findings from the 26 countries in the 2012 research:

Mobile moves mainstream as smartphone adoption advances rapidly around the world.  

Explore smartphone data patterns on thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet

• The UK (51%), Sweden (51%) and Norway (54%) all saw a dramatic increase of more than 20% in smartphone adoption in less than one year.  
• 52% of Australians own a smartphone, 15% more than did last year.
• Among the 26 countries, smartphone penetration was highest in the Middle East at 62% in the UAE and 60% in Saudi Arabia.  
• Argentina is starting to see  strong traction in smartphone adoption as nearly a quarter of the population (24%) uses a smartphone.

Consumers in emerging markets have some of the highest levels of mobile engagement.
New in 2012, we’ve added data for China, Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.  

• People in these countries are the biggest information seekers with 68% of smartphone users in China, 73% in Saudi Arabia and 72% in Argentina searching on their mobile device daily.
• Consumers in Egypt and Brazil are among the heaviest social networkers with 91% and 88% of smartphone users doing this.
• 59% of smartphone owners in China have made a purchase on their device, the highest among all countries in this study.

Looking for local information is a near universal smartphone behavior.
Consumers everywhere are using their smartphones to find businesses near them, then take action.

• 91% of Mexican smartphone owners look for local information and 88% take action.

• 58% of the French visit a business after looking for local information
• 48% of smartphone users in the UAE call a business after a local smartphone search.

Consumers are multi-tasking their media consumption.
There’s a clear global pattern of increasingly fragmented media attention as consumers shift between screens.

United States: Multi-tasking Mobile with other Media

Country Reports provide an executive summary of key smartphone findings
for the 26 countries in the 2012 research

• 80% of Japanese use their mobile device while consuming other media.  53% use their phones while watching TV and 30% while using the Internet on their computer.

• In the US, 51% use their phones while listening to music
• In Spain, 36% engage with mobile while reading a magazine.
• 75% in Brazil have performed a mobile search after seeing an offline ad.

Smartphones have made us smarter shoppers and influence purchase decisions.
Smartphones have  become an important shopping tool that impact if and where we make a purchase.

• 100% of smartphone owners in Japan use their phone to research a purchase.
• 36% of Egyptians have changed their mind about a purchase while in a store due to smartphone research.  
• People are researching items on their smartphones before making a purchase in other channels. 52% in Ireland end up making a  purchase on their computer and 37% in Argentina purchase in a store after researching on their smartphones.

We’ll be diving deep into regional data and insights over the next few days, so please stay tuned. In the meantime, visit www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet  to find answers to more of your questions about the mobile consumer.


Posted by: Dai Pham, Group Product Marketing Manager, Google Mobile Ads

Today we are posting an update to the AdMob SDKs for iOS and Android. This SDK update features several minor bug fixes and improvements.
We are also releasing an optional version of our SDK for iOS that includes the UDID parameter, which is used to improve ad performance and relevance. Apps utilizing this version must obtain appropriate user consent for sending device identifier information in compliance with relevant iOS policies. Posted by Chrix Finne, Product Manager

Join us on Thursday, May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST and watch as Google showcases how two businesses, Top Mast Resort in Massachusetts and Sava’s Restaurant in Michigan, go mobile and build mobile-friendly sites--live on air.  

You’ll see how Top Mast is preparing to take advantage of mobile travel purchase intent - which is five times higher than online travel purchase intent, according to InsightExpress.  You’ll also see Sava’s move ahead of 95% of restaurants that do not have mobile-friendly sites, according to a study by Restaurant Science.

Finally, you’ll hear from the CMO of Dudamobile, Dennis Mink; he’ll talk about best practices when using the mobile site builder and walk through important questions to ask yourself when building a mobile-friendly site.

Details on how to tune in

1. Sign into Google+ on Thursday, May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST
2. Go to the Think with Google Google+ page
3. Look for the stream post and click to enter the live stream  

Be sure to set a reminder in your calendar! If you have questions before or during the Hangout, post them with the hashtag #GoMoSite as a comment on the Google+ page.

Posted by Suzanne Mumford, Google Mobile Ads Marketing

Did you know that 40% of mobile web users reported that they’ve turned to a competitor’s site after a bad mobile experience1? With about half of all Americans now owning a smartphone2, it’s time for businesses to meet user expectations by delivering a mobile experience as good as the desktop experience. In short, it’s time to step up to the plate and build a site optimized for the mobile web.  
 


Google can help. We recently teamed up with DudaMobile to release a free mobile site builder.  In three easy steps you’re able to get started with mobile: (1) enter your site’s URL, (2) customize your site and (3) redirect mobile users automatically to the new mobile-friendly version.  It’s free and takes just a few minutes to complete!  

Join us on Thursday, May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST and watch as Google showcases how two businesses, Top Mast Resort in Massachusetts and Sava’s Restaurant in Michigan, go mobile and build mobile-friendly sites--live on air.  

You’ll see how Top Mast is preparing to take advantage of mobile travel purchase intent - which is five times higher than online travel purchase intent, according to InsightExpress.  You’ll also see Sava’s move ahead of 95% of restaurants that do not have mobile-friendly sites, according to a study by Restaurant Science.

Finally, you’ll hear from the CMO of Dudamobile, Dennis Mink; he’ll talk about best practices when using the mobile site builder and walk through important questions to ask yourself when building a mobile-friendly site.

Details on how to tune in

1. Sign into Google+ on Thursday, May 10th at 1pm EST/10am PST
2. Go to the Think with Google Google+ page
3. Look for the stream post and click to enter the live stream  

Be sure to set a reminder in your calendar! If you have questions before or during the Hangout, post them with the hashtag #GoMoSite as a comment on the Google+ page.

Posted by Suzanne Mumford, Google Mobile Ads Marketing
Source: (1) Gomez 2011 (2) Nielsen February 2012