Mobile users are becoming increasingly switched on when it comes to searching the mobile internet. A survey by local search technology company m-spatial shows that mobile phone users are smartening up to what they can find, with a greater appreciation of what services are searchable on a phone.
The m-spatial survey for Winter-Spring 2007 found growing numbers are using their phones to search out Wi-Fi hotspots, check local travel information and live updates, and to see what's on at the local cinema.
Topping the search categories for m-spatial's Winter/Spring Mobile Local Search Index charts is cinema, with 18 per cent of local searches. Fast food info came next (17 per cent) followed by drinking (16 per cent) and taxis (11 per cent). Supermarket searches came next, with 8 per cent, suggesting that users are doing more than searching for local entertainment information on their phones.
m-spatial's quarterly survey also found some more unusual local info searches during the period; lime kilns, toilet hire, diving services, marine engineers, genealogists and historians, model villages and animal transportation were among the searches requested.
Top 10 local search categories January-April 2007
- Cinema (18 per cent)
- Fast Food (17 per cent)
- Drinking (16 per cent)
- Taxi (11 per cent)
- Supermarkets (8 per cent)
- B&B (7 per cent)
- Clubbing (7 per cent)
- Electrical & Electronics (6 per cent)
- Home (5 per cent)
- Clothing & Fashion (5 per cent)