Dive Brief:
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Consumers may be spending more time on the mobile web than the apps they report using, according to new research by nonprofit group the Interactive Advertising Bureau.
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In a survey of 1,100 American adults, IAB found that 42% of smartphone users prefer to search on the mobile web, 20% prefer apps, and 38% have no preference.
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These results conflict with ComScore's report in December, which stated that a whopping 87% of online consumer activity happens on mobile apps and just 13% happens on the web. ComScore included tablets in its research, which may have skewed its results.
Dive Insight:
This study provides some insight into how consumers are splitting their mobile-based searches between apps and mobile web browsers, as U.S. consumers turn to the web on phones for more general searches, according to IAB. Once again, this indicates that consumers don’t appreciate the lines between the web, apps, and even in-store retail that retailers draw. IAB’s senior director of mobile marketing Joe Laszlo calls it a question of perception, and of nuances.
“This survey does not undermine the comScore data on time spent in apps,” Laszlo says. “The point of this survey is this: Advertisers should not look at the strict measurement data and think of apps versus web as a winner-takes-all battle. Advertisers should come away from the survey understanding that the mobile web and mobile apps work together, and both have a part to play. You don’t spend all of your mobile budget in apps, you figure out your demographic and then figure out the best allocation between apps and web. There are nuances to how consumers use the Internet on mobile devices.”
