The speed at which a mobile site loads is the most important factor in
deciding users will return to a mobile site. Surprisingly this was
followed by navigation, with the quality of the content coming in third
place according to research by
InsightExpress.
The
research also found that 68 percent of users were positive about their
mobile internet experience when using a smartphone, only slightly
behind those on a computer at 70 percent. However of those using
feature phones, only 40 percent reported a positive experience. Participants also said that advertising did not lessen the appeal of a mobile website.
"Mobile advertising presents
a unique opportunity to take advantage of high engagement levels and
less clutter on the pages." said Joy
Liuzzo,
Director of Marketing and Mobile Research for
InsightExpress.
Back in June, Australian company
Amethon was also crowing about the high click through rates on the mobile web:
"Mobile Advertising is enjoying a reputation for exceptionally high
click through rates compared to its web counterpart" said James
Cleary,
CTO of
Amethon However this contrasts with new research from online search advertising company
Chitika.
Their study, based on 1.3 million mobile browsing impressions, found
that
mobile users were about half as likely to click on advertising compared
to those on a laptop or PC. The research also found that the devices
lauded for their advanced mobile browsing, the iPhone and Android
platforms, had the lowest click through rates of any mobile devices.
So what are we to make of this?
Essentially,
we don't know all that much about mobile. Despite the hype, claims and
counterclaims being bandied around by various players, we don't have
any clear picture of success. Research by Sensis showed that that a
quarter of Australians use the mobile web, but successful campaigns
with a decent ROI are
hard to come by.
This despite the fact that Australians are in love with mobile
services, with market penetration for mobile devices currently running
at a whopping
113%.
If
speed and usability, and not the quality of content, are the most
important factors when browsing the mobile web, it is clear mobile
internet technology has a long way to go. Advanced operating systems
such as Android and the iPhone may have made browsing the mobile web more
palatable for the average Joe, but that doesn't necessarily mean that
it will translate into a viable ROI for marketers using mobile as an
advertising channel.
