Search the most popular activity on smartphones; Entertainment the most searched category

All of us, by default, are curious creatures. So it is not surprising that 'search' is the most widespread activity on smartphones, according to a survey by Nielsen Informate Mobile Insights. Almost 90 per cent of smartphone users have used their smartphones for searching some things or other in May this year and on an average, each user has conducted 16 searches in a month. While websites lead the primary search on mobiles, apps are not too far behind.

'Entertainment' is the most searched category on smartphones (21 per cent) and most of the searches in this category are driven by Indians looking for Bollywood-related information on artistes, music, videos, etc. It is closely followed by adult content (16 per cent), technology & computers (12 per cent) and telecom (mobile devices & accessories, 10 per cent). Not surprisingly, most of the searches are dominated by men (in terms of share of searches) but 'health and beauty' is the only category for which share of searches done by women is greater than that of men.

The most searched keywords are also related to entertainment with 6 per cent of the search terms containing the keyword 'download' while 4.4 per cent terms contain 'song'. 'Movie' and 'mp3' are the other top-searched keywords, according to the survey.

People in the younger age-groups are more likely to conduct searches on their smartphones as 7 out of every 8 searches (across categories) are conducted by users aged below 30. Additionally, 95 per cent of the searches related to 'health and beauty' are also carried out by people in the same age group, showing their inclination towards looking good and feeling great.

The report also mentions that the need to seek & search information is universal and smartphones are increasingly feeding this need on the go. And due to its high reach and engagement metrics, 'search' continues to be an attractive advertising tool for marketers. Add to this the fact that there are 27 million smartphone users in urban India – a total of 9 per cent of the entire mobile user base in the urban demography, and you can understand the scope of mobile advertising in the country.

"For the first time ever, we have seized the opportunity that smartphones hold for mobile advertising in India. It now enables marketers to increase investments in the mobile medium, catering to a large enough market that consumes both rich media and advertising," said Farshad Family, MD (Media) of Nielsen India.

(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)