Wednesday, March 19,2008 @ 12:50pm
Google: Mobile Internet use accelerating
Mobile Internet use has not only increased in recent months, it has accelerated, according to a Google Mobile product manager. "We have very much hit a watershed moment in terms of mobile Internet usage," says Matt Waddell. He notes that the evidence stems from Google's own penetration into phones such as the iPhone and the BlackBerry, and more generally with devices by Finnish maker Nokia. Google is also introducing a new download for Windows Mobile, which places a search window on the home screen.
Reuters notes however that the apparent increase in traffic may be directly tied to the creation of custom Google software, as it simplifies getting to Google's pages on devices that may otherwise make the process complicated. Even on phones that have QWERTY keyboards, mobile web browsers often take time to launch and may still download data very slowly.
Waddell points to the iPhone as the best example of integration, as Google receives 50 times more searches from iPhone users than those using more conventional cellphone choices.