Another great article from Search Engine Watch, about the use of tablets. If you are considering online marketing, or are currently involved in online marketing, think about the platforms that you need consider in your online marketing program.
New data suggests that tablet computers are changing the way we search, shop, and play online. If you advertise on AdWords, more and more of your prospects will be finding you via iPads and other tablets. To reach and influence these prospects, you need to understand when, where and how they use the Internet – and adjust your advertising strategies to accommodate them.
Device Search Volume by Time of Day
Google search data released in September, 2011 shows that search volume on smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers varies by time of day. As tablets gain in popularity to become our “third screen”, our browsing habits on smartphones and desktops shifts to accommodate the new medium.
Desktops are used predominantly during business hours. Usage rises at 9am and falls at 6pm, with a small spike around 8pm. Smartphone usage increases throughout the day, spiking during the morning and evening commute and in the evening. Tablets get a rest during the day, but are used intensively in the evening.
Tablet Usage Study
The Google Mobile Ads team then conducted and reported the results of a 2-week-long diary study that explored how, when, and where users interacted with their tablets. The unsurprising punch line: tablets are overwhelmingly for for personal use.
But that’s not the only difference. Tablets appear to be the ultimate multi-task device, with over 40% of tablet use coinciding with some other activity like watching TV, cooking, eating, and even getting dressed (thankfully, the published study did not get into personal hygiene or amorous activities).
During the week, tablet use tends to be “short burst”; checking email, playing a game, and watching YouTube “video snacks”, to borrow Vidsense.com CEO Jaffer Ali’s memorable phrase. On weekends, the activities expand to fit the larger chunks of free time: watching whole movies and TV shows.
Tablets are not as mobile as mobile phones outside the home; most respondents report leaving their tablets at home when they go to work (tablets do go on vacations and business trips, however).
Within the home, tablets seem to follow us everywhere; the couch, the kitchen, the table, the bedroom. Respondents listen to music and search (for recipes?) in the kitchen. They check email on the couch and in bed, and Facebook everywhere but the kitchen.
More and more consumers are using tablets as “real world interface devices”; browsing and shopping online, searching for local businesses, and managing finances. Almost 20% of tablet-based activities are also carried out on desktops and smartphones, suggesting that the search funnel has just become hyper-dimensional. A consumer might begin browsing on their desktop and complete the purchase on their tablet in the privacy and convenience of their living room.
Implications for Search Marketing
If you advertise on Google, assume that your prospects are seeing your ads on tablets as well as desktops and phones. If you’re running campaigns according to Google’s default settings, you’re already showing ads on all three devices so you can see actual data for each device.
From the All Campaigns view in AdWords, click the Segment button and select Device from the drop-down list:
GitHub: Software description: a software to manage books in the computer (C#). →