Posts by iamx@media

More than 50% of digital media time now spent within five mobile apps

By Media Admin on Aug 31, 2017 in Blog | 0 comments

The top 10 is dominated by Facebook and Google, though Snapchat ranks for those under 35. The popular narrative around the rise of the mobile web and smartphone apps has been one of increasing audience fragmentation. But the opposite may actually be happening — concentration and consolidation. More digital media time is concentrated in smartphone apps than on the mobile web or PC. And most of that time is spent in a small number of apps, led by Facebook. Users are also downloading fewer new apps, so it’s getting harder to break through. Earlier today, comScore published its 2017 US Mobile App Report detailing these trends. Digital media time spent with the desktop stands at 34 percent, with smartphone apps at 50 percent. Tablet and mobile web represent the remaining 16 percent. And though it sees dramatically lower engagement, the mobile web has roughly 2x the reach of mobile apps. Above is the breakdown of digital time spent by age category. Those in the 18–24 age group spend the least time with the desktop, while those in the 65+ category spend the most. This data and other findings in the report contain clear audience targeting implications. The report also presents the time spent by vertical with mobile apps. For example, 96 percent of time with maps happens in mobile apps. Less than half of retail engagement, however, comes via apps, while news saw the most growth in app time since last year. Here’s the scary or helpful finding (depending on your perspective) in the data: The bulk of users’ mobile app time is concentrated in a small number of smartphone apps. Of the top 10 apps, Facebook owns three, and Google has five. By age category, however, the rankings are different. In particular, among 18–24-year-olds, YouTube was the top app, and Snapchat was number three. Google search is number six, while for those over 55, Google’s search app is second to Facebook. Nearly 90 percent of users’ mobile app time is spent within a user’s top five apps. In the larger context of digital media time overall, that means just over 51 percent of all digital media time in the US is now being spent within users’ top five mobile apps....