Canadian Mobile Web Usage Exceeds Desktop-Based Usage: comScore

Digital measurement firm comScore says that Canadians are now spending more time browsing the web with their mobile devices than with their desktop/laptop computers.

According to the report, 51 percent of all Canadian Internet traffic that was tracked by comScore was linked to a mobile device (smartphone or tablet), while 49 percent was linked with a computer (desktop or laptop). The digital measurement firm’s president Brent Bernie says that mobile web usage is expected to grow even further in 2015.

The firm says that the trend of browsing the web with mobile devices has already been seen in other countries. In a statement Bernie said:

“The U.S. is at 61 per cent mobile and I expect Canada will continue to move (in that direction). My guess — and I’m not great at crystal-balling things — my call would be we’ll get to two-thirds of usage being mobile. How long that takes? A year, a year-and-a-half maybe?”

The average time spent by Canadians browsing the web on a mobile device is now about 75 hours a month, which works out to approximately 2.5 hours per day. Canadians in the age group between 25 to 34 spend the most time online, averaging almost 110 hours per month.

“Because these devices add so much convenience to people’s lives and they can go on them and off them (easily) they’re filling time they normally would’ve been doing other things. People are filling what might’ve been spare time before (thinking), ‘Oh, I’m going to check this out’ or ‘Oh, let me check out that thing I saw last night and see if I can find that website.”’

Not surprisingly, most of the time spent online by Canadians is using a mobile application. Over 80 percent of the time Canadians spend online is through an app, while about 20 percent is though a mobile browser.

Do you spend more time online using your mobile device, or do you prefer to browse the web on a desktop/laptop? Let us know in the comments below.

[via The Star]