Arbitron Mobile launches Smartphone & Tablet measurement service.
March 18, 2012
Arbitron Inc. announced the launch of a syndicated, mobile consumer research service in the United States. The Arbitron Mobile Trends Panels service is a new research offering that utilizes a proprietary, on-device software meter to provide marketers, content providers, app developers and wireless access suppliers with information on how mobile consumers use apps, surf the web, engage in social media, participate in e-commerce, are exposed to and act on advertising, and employ their device to communicate.
The U.S. implementation of the Arbitron Mobile Trends Panels service features an opt-in panel of approximately 6,000 smartphone and tablet users initially recruited beginning in November 2011 by Arbitron Mobile, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Arbitron Inc.
The service is designed to report reach, frequency, usage and consumer engagement with all key functions and activities of their mobile devices, whether the device is online, connected to a cellular or Wi-Fi network, or used offline.
The Arbitron Mobile measurement technology is also capable of serving real-time, context-sensitive questionnaires directly to a user’s mobile device, a feature designed for custom research studies of the user experience or for ad effectiveness studies.
Said Dr. Hannu Verkasalo, Senior Vice President, Arbitron Mobile: “Consumers have embraced mobile as a primary way to access online content, media, messaging and social networking. With the debut of our Arbitron Mobile Trends Panels service, we are working to become a leading provider of insights for the mobile and media industry into the top mobile apps, web sites, devices and usage patterns, as well as mobile advertising, search and commerce.”
How smartphone owners use their mobile devices
Based on data from the first quarter 2012, among smartphone users, age 18 and older, in the Arbitron Mobile Trends Panels service:
Apps and Internet Browsing
The top 5 apps are Facebook, Google Search, YouTube, Pandora radio and Yahoo Mail;
App usage is growing faster than Internet browsing;
There are 14 apps with a reach of greater than 10 percent among monthly users, and there are 34 apps that have a reach of greater than 5 percent, and;
The average data traffic (Wi-Fi and cellular) for web browsing among users of Android, Blackberry and Symbian phones is approximately 59 MB per user per month. For Apple iPhones, the average web traffic is 223 MB per user per month.
Messaging
Users spend 212 minutes a month reading or sending SMS text messages;
The average user sends around 11 SMS messages per day, and receives 13;
More time is spent with email, an average 332 minutes in the month; and
Out of all communications with smartphones, voice call accounts for only 45 percent of all usage time.
Social networking
Social media apps represents 11.1 percent of all smartphone usage;
Facebook is the top smartphone app with a monthly reach 65.0 percent, accounting for 210 minutes of the average users time in the month; and
Twitter is the #8 smartphone app with a monthly reach of 13.2 percent, accounting for 107 minutes of the average users time in a month.
