Browser company Opera has taken a look at mobile internet searches in its State of the Mobile Web report this month. It says Google is the world’s preferred mobile search engine – and the UK’s, too – although it’s only in the number 2 position in a number of countries. Worldwide, its Opera Mini browser had nearly 25.4 million users in May 2009, up 8.4% from April and up over 136% year-on-year. (That’s based on users who’ve installed Opera Mini, not devices with a preinstalled version). Page views are also up to 9.6 billion worldwide, up 11% on the previous month and up 227% on the previous year.
In the UK, the number of users is up 49% on last year and page-view growth is up 124.3%. The UK’s favourite mobile web site is now Facebook, which has pushed Google into second place. [Press release]