Global mobile data usage growing exponentially: Study

Global mobile data usage is expected to increase 13 fold from 2012 to 2017, a 66 percent compounded annual growth rate. Driving the increase are the exponential growth of sharing and consuming video in particular, and also the burgeoning growth of photos, music and other audio, blogging, tweeting and more.

The amount of data is calculated in exabytes, according to the Cisco VNI Global Mobile Forecast.  One exabyte is equal to 1,000 petabytes. Google processed about 24 petabytes each day in 2009. One exabyte of storage could contain 50,000 years of DVD-quality video.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Smartphone instant messaging usage, by age group

Smartphone-based social media usage is dominated by the younger set, according to Deloitte’s Global Mobile Consumer Survey. This may be explained in part by older smartphone owners preferring to use desktop computers for social media and even instant messaging, in addition to other forms of more traditional communication, such as phone calling.

That being said, Deloitte projects a much more highly penetrated smartphone app usage in 2014 among all users, particularly the 55 and over age groups.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Engagement on news websites higher with direct access

When it comes to users directly accessing popular news and information websites and not arriving there via a search engine or social media, time spent on average monthly minutes per visit varies, as do the average number of pages visited and average monthly visits.

When directly accessed, the average monthly minutes per visit to the BBC’s website is 2 minutes and 12 seconds, including 13 pages per visitor and 6.8 visits per month.

Engagement is higher on Buzzfeed, Fox News, The New York Times and the Blaze, with average monthly visits at 5:36, 9:06, 9:24 and 6:12, respectively. The average monthly pages are the highest for Fox News, at 29 page views per visitor per visit, followed by the Blaze, at 21.7 monthly pages per visit. Fox News garners the highest average monthly visits, at 11.1 visits per month on average, compared to CNN at 8.7 visits and the BBC at 6.8 visits, according to comScore.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Direct website visits more frequent than those from search and Facebook referrals

According to an engagement study by Pew and comScore, website visitors who go to websites directly visit far more often than those from Facebook and search engines and direct access to Facebook. When arriving to a website directly, visitors come 10.9 times a month on average, and 3.1 times from search engine referrals and 2.9 times from Facebook referrals.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

Time spent on digital devices is just one measure of engagement

Time spent on digital devices is just one measure of engagement. According to comScore, the number of minutes spent on digital media, including smartphones, tablets and desktops, have surged from 2010 to 2013 in the United States. While desktop use has only crept up slightly, from 405 billion to 477 billion minutes per month in 2010 and 2013, respectively, the billions of minutes spent on tablets and smartphones have risen sharply.

From 2010 to 2013, comScore reports that smartphone use has skyrocketed from 83 billion minutes to 381 billion minutes, a 359 percent increase. Tablets were introduced in 2010, but the amount of minutes spent in 2013 was 112 billion, outstripping smartphone use in 2010 by 35 percent.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org

PCs are most popular device for U.S. video viewing

Laptop and desktop PCs remain the most popular devices on which to view original digital video, growing from 69 percent to 72 percent of monthly users in the United States, according to the Gfk and IAB video study in 2014. However, video access on a variety of other devices is growing rapidly. From 2013 to 2014, Internet connected television access of video has grown 21 percent, from 27 percent to 48 percent, while smartphone access has surged 20 percent, from 26 percent to 46 percent, and tablet access has grown 18 percent, from 23 percent to 41 percent.

World Newsmedia Network has published Global Digital Media Trendbook each year since 2006. The 2014 trendbook contains 500 data sets and 230 pages of analysis about digital media usage and revenue patterns, including this data set. To download the GDMT free executive summary, go to www.wnmn.org