The Boom in Search Technology

The boom happened before the birth of the iPhone, but it leapt into astronomical figures after 2007. Mobile internet began its quest for supremacy and never looked back.  With the ascent of various tablets and further advanced devices, mobile internet devices and ISPs have increased their reach to provide customers with more access. Status updates, online purchases, cloud computing, photo sharing, streaming video, games, and other apps have increased the number of mobile users.  Searching on a mobile device now allows our society accessibility we never had and can no longer do without.

Smartphones and other mobile devices are often more readily available than laptops or desktops when it comes to internet searching; therefore the desktop is lagging behind. In today’s right-now mindset, searching via mobile is often the way to go. IPhone4s users can simply ask a voice activated search tool named “Siri” for directions, reviews, emailing, weather and more.

Many factors drive the mobile search phenomenon, such as time. Time of a day is an important factor when it comes to internet searches, whether on a desktop or mobile device. Various studies illustrate that internet searches conducted during the am hours are done on a desktop/laptop, whereas searches toward the end of the day and bedtime are conveniently on mobile devices.

Advertisers are seeing the phenomenon of mobile searching technology and its new effect on growth in business.  Advertisers with mobile-optimized sites and targeted campaigns have 11.5% higher clickthrough rates than non-mobile optimized sites. If you are a smart phone user, you know how annoying it can be to search for a site only to find out they don’t have a mobile version, and companies are definitely taking note of such problems. Mobile technology users are, with more frequency, not dealing with businesses not optimized for mobile search due to accessibility and time constraints.

Number one on the mobile search juggernaut list is, non-surprisingly, Facebook. Photos, status updates, video, file sharing, posting articles, all with the ease of a mobile device. Facebook has essentially been the forefront of PR machines because of its reach and accessibility. Not only is Facebook the most searched for, there are also nearly 2,500 variations of search queries with the word “Facebook.”  In second place is Google and third place is YouTube owned by Google.

Desktop searching is still kicking, though on its back. Desktoppers are still alive, but the transformation has taken over. There is no doubt that mobile searches will continue to boost.  Look at the infographic presented by Startapp to dig deeper into mobile search trends.