Ad Smart: Mobile Searches Rise During Holidays

MediaPost News

by Laurie Sullivan, Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Google predicts consumers will conduct 15% of Black Friday Web searches on mobile devices this year. The research suggests that 65% of consumers will use their mobile device to look for a business to make in-store purchases.

The findings also project that 44% of total searches for last-minute gifts and store locator terms will come from mobile devices this holiday season, given data based on historical growth rates.

During the past two holiday seasons, Google data points to a “double peak” in search volume for retail brands around Black Friday and then the week before Christmas, as mobile users locate stores for last-minute shopping.

Google suggests that retailers should plan for consumers to use tablets this holiday season. Survey results also find that about 34% of both smartphone users and tablet users plan to start shopping before Thanksgiving, according to the AdMob survey. That’s followed by 35% the day after Thanksgiving, and 31% after the Thanksgiving weekend.

Forty-five percent of tablet users said they will start shopping before Thanksgiving, 17% the day after Thanksgiving, and 31% after the Thanksgiving weekend.

“Mobile devices — smartphones in particular — have emerged as useful tools to connect people on-the-go with the places they’re going,” said Michael Slinger, director of mobile ads at Google. “We’ve found that about a third of mobile searches have local intent, meaning that people look for places and things near them because they want to take an action such as buy something, eat something, or go somewhere.”

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