Statistics from comScore reveal that financial services sites, such as those offering banking and stock trading services, are the most popular among European mobile subscribers older than 55, while teenagers are more likely to visit social networking, entertainment and comic sites on their mobile devices. Perhaps not surprisingly, younger users tend to access any Internet content much more frequently than their older counterparts.
The latest numbers from comScore illustrate that older mobile Internet users skew towards practical, utilitarian sites, such as those providing financial services, weather and traffic information. Younger users, on the other hand, use their mobile phones more to access social networking sites and entertainment content. Categories such as Search, Weather and News are universally popular, while social networking is the most popular type of content for all subscribers under 35. For those aged 35 – 44, Search is the most popular activity, while Weather is the top site category among those over 55 years of age.
The comScore stats also reveal the relationship between age, gender and mobile handset ownership. Teenage mobile subscribers age 13 – 17 are more likely to own an LG or Sony Ericsson device, while 18 – 24-year-olds are 80% more likely than the average mobile subscriber to own an iPhone. While BlackBerry and iPhone users skew male, women more commonly own a Samsung or LG device.
Mobile offers attractive opportunities for advertisers to target audiences based on the type of content consumed and device owned, says comScore Analyst Alistair Hill. This targeting ability is extremely valuable for marketers trying to increase their advertising efficiencies in the face of shrinking ad budgets.