Google released survey based research this morning that shows the critical nature of local business information to mobile users. Even though the survey didn’t ask explicitly about their desire for local information, it’s there in the findings.
I covered the survey findings broadly on Marketing Land. It was conducted among just over 1,000 US adults by two independent research firms in Q3 of this year.
The following graphic from the Google slides illustrates the principal actions that mobile users want to be able to take on mobile websites (and presumably apps by extension). The red box is my addition.
These top two actions — get location/hours information and click to call — strongly argue that most users are looking up local business information on their mobile devices. Email, video and social networking are independent of whether a business is local, national or purely online.
In addition in the vertical data (Banking, Automotive, Travel, Retail) “get directions” or hours information was either the top or the second most important activity in the category for mobile users.
Banking & Finance:
- Check account balances: 77 percent
- Get directions or operating hours: 65 percent
Travel:
- Check flight status: 78 percent
- Get directions or operating hours: 74 percent
Retail:
- Get directions or operating hours: 74 percent
- Contact the store: 64 percent
Automotive:
- Get directions or operating hours: 66 percent
To me this data confirm that the demand for local information among mobile users far outstrips other kinds of queries/lookups.
September 26th, 2012 at 12:42 pm
[...] for finding friends.Google Research Shows Importance of Local Information to Mobile Users (Screenwerk) Google released survey based research this morning that shows the critical nature of local [...]
September 27th, 2012 at 12:13 pm
This article sounds great however from a marketing person point of view and a mobile user. I wonder if these numbers are coming from a mobile user visiting a company’s website and clicking for directions or are they using a mobile app like Local (feeds off of Google + place ) or Navigation app. To get direction or the click to call feature.
September 27th, 2012 at 12:50 pm
It’s not entirely clear what the status of apps is in this survey. However my assumption and inference is that it’s really asking about mobile websites and not apps. So assume no mapping and navigation apps.
September 28th, 2012 at 9:44 am
[...] Google Research Shows Importance of Local Information to Mobile Users Google released survey based research this morning that shows the critical nature of local business information to mobile users. Even though the survey didn’t ask explicitly about their desire for local information, it’s there in the findings. Read article. [...]
October 1st, 2012 at 5:40 am
[...] SMB sites we’ve analyzed are not optimized for the mobile experience. A new blog post from Greg Sterling points to new consumer data that Google posted here on Tuesday. According to wave 2 of SMB [...]
October 1st, 2012 at 4:12 pm
[...] Sterling shared his thoughts on a recent Google survey that was conducted in Q3 of this year. We’ve covered the ever-rising popularity of mobile and how [...]
October 10th, 2012 at 6:57 pm
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