Online Newsrooms See Increase in Mobile Traffic-Our Mobile News Survey Report Reveals

If you’ve been out shopping—or sitting at a coffee shop, or waiting in line, or doing just about anything, anywhere—you’ve no doubt observed that everyone seems to be on some kind of mobile device nearly all the time. Even before the results of the TEKGROUP Mobile News Survey were tabulated, we had been seeing considerable increases in the share of mobile traffic coming to our clients’ newsrooms. The survey findings confirmed what we suspected: in the two years since we conducted our first study of mobile users: there have been considerable jumps in both the use of mobile devices and in the importance consumers place on mobile.

Key findings from our survey
One of the most striking findings in our survey, conducted with more than 500 mobile users in the US, is the amount of time respondents said they invested each day accessing and sharing news on mobile devices: 80% said they spend at least an hour a day, 30% said 2-4 hours and 12% (the true news junkies among us) said 5 or more hours. 



As the leader in the online newsroom industry, we found it even more compelling that company news and information sites draw in 73% of mobile users, with 30% saying they visit newsrooms “sometimes,” 33% saying “very often,” and 10% saying the visit “all the time.”
 



Mobile growth in the US
While mobile technology surely isn’t new, the rate at which it’s saturating the market is striking. According to Nielson, smartphone penetration grew from 69% at the start of 2014 to 76% of U.S. mobile subscribers by October 2014. Among younger people, the rates are even more striking: 85% of Americans 18-24, 86.2% of those 25-34 and 80.7% of those 35-44 own smartphones. Is your online newsroom optimized for mobile?
 
Mobile growth worldwide
4.55 billion of the planet’s 7 billion inhabitants use mobile devices, with approximately 1.75 billion using smartphones and the rate of smartphone penetration increasing rapidly. If you need more proof, consider this: the World Bank reported that mobile technology is the number one driver of the world’s digital economy and an important factor in growth of GDP in developing and developed nations alike.
 
Make sure you and your online newsroom are up to date on mobile technologies—your ability to reach your audience and your company’s bottom line depend on it. Download our Mobile News Survey Report today.