Map Trends Show Mobile And App Growth Outpacing Browsers
July 18, 2011 at 17:33 PM EDT
Location-based services and increasing smartphone sales are leaving their mark on the mapping world: mobile-based map access is up significantly, while access from "stationary" points (i.e. desktop and laptop PCs) actually dipped slightly. It's not particularly surprising, but the rate of growth is remarkable. Mobile use increased by 39% year-over-year by Comscore's measure , but access via apps doubled. This suggests a nice halo effect from local-knowledge apps like Foursquare and Urban Spoon. Mobile browser use also increased, but I suspect that the gap will only widen, or the two will become difficult to separate; do web apps count as web or app?