GSMA Mobile Media Metrics Report Issued on UKMobile Applications Usage

LONDON, June 22, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

- Google Owns 3 Out of 5 Top Ranked Apps

The GSMA and comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), in partnership with the UK mobile operators, today released the first monthly data showing how UK mobile consumers engage through mobile applications. The data from the GSMA Mobile Media Metrics (MMM) application key measurements report reveals that nearly 8.8 million UK mobile owners used an app that connected to the internet during April 2011, with Google Maps ranking as the most accessed app with 6.4 million unique users.

The application key measurement report includes hundreds of app titles and provides a ranking of the most popular connected applications in the UK. The application ranking is available as part of the GSMA MMM product portfolio, launched in February last year, which includes monthly reports on mobile internet behaviour and a detailed analysis of access methods.

"We are excited to release the first public census-level data from the GSMA and comScore on mobile application usage," said Henry Stevens, Media Director, GSMA. "Apps have become an important entry point for accessing content on mobile devices and their usage will only increase with the rapid proliferation of smartphones. We look forward to delivering to the UK market these critical insights to help understand the mobile ecosystem."

Jeremy Copp, VP Mobile for comScore Europe added, "To help better measure publishers' mobile assets, we offer mobile-optimised tagging to publishers free of charge. This service gives clients the ability to tag mobile-optimised websites and applications to enable accurate measurement of audiences, including unique visitor counts and engagement metrics, across a variety of devices and platforms. By tagging mobile applications, we can expand the ranking of applications currently under measurement and media owners as well as publishers can be sure that their properties are correctly represented in the metrics and audience measurement rankings."

Leading UK Connected Mobile Applications

In April 2011, 40 per cent of the 21.8 million UK mobile internet users accessed a connected application(1). Google Maps ranked as the top mobile app with 6.4 million users, reaching 73.3 per cent of all UK app users. Yahoo's Weather app ranked second with 3.6 million followed by Facebook's app with 3.5 million unique visitors. Another two apps published by Google - Google Mobile and YouTube - rounded out the top five, highlighting Google's strong position among UK mobile consumers.

    Connected Mobile Applications Ranked by Unique Visitors
    Source: GSMA MMM Application Key Measures. UK, April 2011

          Mobile App                        Total Unique Visitors
    Total Connected Apps Users                     8,753,197
    Google Maps                                    6,419,503
    Yahoo! Weather                                 3,567,047
    Facebook                                       3,456,442
    Google Mobile                                  2,554,329
    YouTube                                        2,438,348
    eBay                                           1,195,496
    Sky Sports Live Football Score Centre          1,004,085
    Yahoo! Stocks                                    959,289
    WhatsApp Messenger                               798,656
    Sky News                                         732,374
    Skype                                            609,091
    Shazam                                           562,410
    BBC News                                         495,394
    Sky Sports                                       482,130
    Talking Tom Cat                                  452,396
    Sky+                                             303,275
    Rightmove App                                    289,221
    Google Earth                                     269,502
    IMDb Movies & TV                                 251,624
    TuneIn Radio                                     227,343

Apple iOS Users Comprise 65 Percent of UK Connected Application Users

An analysis of the leading operating systems among connected application users revealed that 65 per cent connected via a device running on Apple iOS. In April 2011 Google's Android OS had the second highest share among operating systems for application usage at 31 per cent. Symbian ranked third and accounted for just one per cent of connected app users.

    Share (%) of Connected Application Users by Smartphone Operating System
    Source: GSMA MMM Application Key Measures UK, April 2011

                                           Total Unique Visitors  % Share
    Total Connected Apps Users                     8,753,197        100%
    Apple iOS                                      5,702,166         65%
    Google Android OS                              2,699,982         31%
    Symbian OS                                       118,957          1%
    Other OS                                         356,871          3%

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Congress.  

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at http://www.mobileworldlive.com/ or the GSMA corporate website at http://www.gsmworld.com/.

About comScore

comScore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information, please visit http://www.comscore.com/companyinfo.

Please contact mobile@comscore.com for more information about tagging or register for one of our summer tagging workshops in London at http://www.comscore.com/GSMA.

(1)  *A "connected" mobile app is an application that connects to a mobile operator's network.