Videogames

A new report from Millennial Media [download page] examines mobile gaming, the top app category on the network in Q3 2012. The study finds that 64% of mobile game impressions came from devices running the Android OS in Q3, while 30% came from iOS. Yet in Q3, Android devices accounted for a smaller 52% of the network's overall OS mix and iOS devices 34%, suggesting that Android users are heavier mobile gamers than iOS users. Read more »

As if consumers aren't already tethered enough to their smart devices, new research from Prosper Mobile Insights [download page] suggests they're planning to make their smartphones and tablets even more central to their lives this year. 34.7% of smartphone and tablet owners surveyed said they would spend more time this year with their devices, compared to just 5.7% who said they would tone it down a little. Additionally, roughly 1 in 5 respondents plan to integrate their lives more with their device this year than last, although 15.4% expect to cut back in this aspect. Read more »

Mobile gamers place a high level of value on the experience gaming provides, according to survey results from Wave Collapse, and they're most likely to want to have that experience at night time, finds Jumptap [download page] in its December MobileSTAT report. Analyzing mobile gaming traffic by time of day, the report finds that 68% occurs in the afternoon (31%) and night (37%), and that mobile gamers don't stay up late or get up early to play. Read more »

The most commonly used mobile rich media ad features generated below-average engagement rates in Q3, while the less popular location-based and gaming features saw much higher engagement rates, finds Celtra in its latest Rich Media Monitor Report. Video appeared in a leading 45% of the campaigns analyzed, but engagement rate fell below the 13.7% average, at 9.6%. By contrast, location-based features, used in just 7% of campaigns, saw an engagement rate of 18.8%, up 185% from Q2. Read more »

5.4%. It's a small figure, to be sure. But, it's one that looks like it will keep steadily growing. Indeed, the share of time spent watching online video on mobile phones and tablets continues to increase, passing 5% in August and hitting 5.4% in September, according to [download page] a November 2012 report from Ooyala. Much of the growth in Q3 could be attributed to tablets, which accounted for 3.2% of overall time spent watching online video in September, almost double April's share (1.69%). Read more »

Listening to music is becoming a more popular activity on mobile phones, finds comScore in its latest Mobilens data release, and this has important ramifications for the music industry. During the 3-month average ending in August, comScore reports that almost 3 in 10 mobile phone owners listened to music on their devices, up about 5% from the previous 3-month period. While that's not a huge jump, it's the continuation of a gradual trend that has seen a more than one-third increase in the mobile audience listening to music since the same period last year. Read more »

Mobile rich media ads saw an average engagement rate of 12.8% in Q2 2012, according to a September 2012 report from Celtra that analyzed 60 campaigns across 4 industry verticals. Engagement rates were by far the highest in the financial vertical (21.5%), although both retail (14.3%) and entertainment (12.1%) also saw double-digit engagement rates, with auto (9.9%) close behind. Read more »

Price is a natural consideration when making a purchase via mobile, but security and item type are virtually as important to mobile shoppers, according to [download page] a Prosper Mobile Insights survey released in September 2012. When asked what factors they consider when deciding whether or not to purchase an item, 52.4% of the smartphone and tablet owners surveyed cited price, while 51.8% named the security of the site or application, and 50% the type of item. Read more »

Entertainment advertisers on the Millennial Media mobile network are actively incorporating video into their campaigns, according to the latest Scorecard for Mobile Advertising Reach and Targeting (SMART) report. Watching video accounted for 71% of the post-click campaign action mix for entertainment advertisers in 2011, far higher than the 24% figure for the average advertiser campaign. This focus is unsurprising, given that 55% of campaign goals centered on product launch and release, with theatrical releases accounting for 43% of spending for the vertical. Read more »

54% of mobile applications users say there are consequences to retailers not providing mobile apps, some of those consequences for the shoppers themselves and some for the retailers, according to an August 2012 survey performed by Harris Interactive on behalf of Apigee. For example, the most common concern is a wasted trip to a store for items the retailer does not carry (30%), but the lack of an app also leads 19% to think that the retailer is old-fashioned. Read more »