Mobile search provider Mobile Commerce Ltd has published a list of the UK’s top mobile search terms of 2010. It reveals what users are searching for on mobile devices and how mobile search differs from desktop search.
Mobile Commerce currently deals with 40 million mobile searches per month; a threefold increase on last year. ‘Facebook’ was the most-frequently searched term, with www.facebook.com and Facebook.com also in the top ten.
Social networking dominated the top 10, along with email and search providers.
The top 10 mobile search terms of 2010 are:
1. Facebook
2. Google
3. Bebo
4. YouTube
5. www.facebook.com
6. eBay
7. Facebook.com
8. Hotmail
9. Yahoo
10. eBuddy
25 of the top 100 results related to social networking (including 7 different ‘Facebook’ variants) with a further 21 consisting of variations of search and email providers. Information, dating and shopping searches also proved popular. The most searched-for person on mobile was ‘Justin Bieber’, in 38th place.
Steve Page, CEO and founder of Mobile Commerce, said “Many analysts see mobile search as simply the same as PC but with a smaller screen, but that’s just not the case. Our detailed search analysis shows that users search differently on mobile, either using the search box as a shortcut to entering a URL, which is often fiddly on a mobile device, or for ‘I need/want it now’ searches such as lottery results, train times or weather updates - the kind of things people want to know about when they’re on the move.”