Menu

• Dictionary
• Hot Shots

Directory

• Sponsors
• Billing Options
• Content Providers
• Web Hosting
• Traffic Counters
• Website Designers
• Resource Sites

Have you ever tried searching the Net on your cell phone? It's certainly not easy and at times it can be downright frustrating so it's no wonder that many people believe that building websites that target mobile search is just a waste of time.

It's also quite likely that, in some parts of the world, mobile search hasn't taken off to the same extent that it has in other places ... but that's definitely not a reason to be ignoring the potential of mobile search.

Here in the adult industry you will find that there are many people who are suggesting that very few people actually use their mobile devices - whether it be phones or PDAs to search for adult content. Sadly some of those who want to make negative statements like that simply don't have a clue; they just hope that they're right and have no facts and figures to support their position.

Others though do have some facts and figures to support their position. There have been a number of surveys in the last year or two that provide data on what people are actually searching for when they use their mobile devices and they all seem to point to the fact that few people search for adult terms.

If you believe those figures you would think that very few people search for adult terms but the reality might be something quite different. As recently as April this year the results of a major survey into types of content searched for on the mobile web were released by iCrossing. They found that most people searched on their mobile devices for maps and directories, weather, local information, news, entertainment, sports and finance in that order.

Adult related searches didn't get a mention at all and so, as I said before, it would be easy to think that people aren't searching for adult terms on their mobile devices. But there was one slight problem with that survey... iCrossing didn't actually ask those people who were surveyed if they every searched for adult content.

So iCrossing was never going to find out what people really searched for on their mobile devices and that makes you wonder if any of the other surveys have bothered to include adult content in their questionnaires. However there has been some recent research into adult content searches via mobile devices.

Two researchers from Google looked at one million searches from just one month during 2007 and found that more than 25 per cent of all WAP based searches for that month on Google were for adult related terms. That was the single largest search term that the research turned up.

So now you can see that those who suggest that people are not going to use their mobile devices to search for adult terms simply don't have a clue. People do use their mobile phones and other handheld devices to search for porn but are they finding any adult marketing out there from you?

One of the biggest hassles Steve and I find when we use our mobile phones to search for anything on the Net is entering terms into the search box or URLs into the browser. It's slow and tedious compared to using a keyboard on a PC or laptop and it's really easy to make mistakes.

No doubt other people are having the same problems but that doesn't mean that they are limiting their searches to single words or even short terms. The same Google researchers also found that the average mobile search query was 2.56 words long and that's actually longer than the average search query that people enter when using desktop or laptop computers.

Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that searchers on mobile devices are prepared to click on more search links than many people expected. Two years ago most people using a handheld device clicked on only one link with just 10 per cent of people prepared to click on more links but in 2007 more than 50 per cent of searchers were prepared to click on more than just one link.

There was also a marked increase in the number of people who were prepared to search for more than one term so you can see that mobile search is something that is really beginning to bloom.

So what are you doing to take advantage of the increase in handheld searches? It's not something that is going to go away and it's probably not something that is going to taper off anytime soon so why aren't you making a move into that area?

There are sponsors out there who would love to get your mobile traffic and that means that there's money to be made in mobile search so what are you waiting for?