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What are the most popular mobile Web searches via voice? Vlingo’s top ten list for 2009 has a few surprises. The company said its data for 2009 is based on several million Web searches powered by its namesake “voice user interface” software.
“Unlike traditional Web searches that focus on specific search terms such as ‘Michael Jackson’ or ‘Twilight,’ our data shows that on mobile phones, people tend to search for specific destinations sites and resources,” Dave Grannan, president and CEO of Vlingo, said in a statement.
Social media sites topped Vlingo’s list with YouTube, Facebook and MySpace in the first, second and third spots, respectively.
“Based on our users’ top searches, we are seeing mobile extending far beyond SMS and voice communications to encompass multimedia and social networking,” Grannan said.
Another popular social media site, Twitter, placed sixth on Vlingo’s list. More practical, immediate information needs associated with mobile search filled out most of the remaining slots as weather, movie times, yellow pages and MapQuest placed fourth, fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.
The last two on the top ten for 2009 were Craigslist and the white pages.
The company said more than three million consumers use the Vlingo service on mobile devices worldwide. The voice interface is designed to let consumers search the Web, create and send a text or e-mail message and update their Facebook status (among other use cases) through speech.
Vlingo is currently available for the BlackBerry, iPhone, Nokia and Windows Mobile and is available as a free download.
Mobile Web search accounts for over 20 percent of what consumers use Vlingo for, the company said.
The news comes at a time of booming sales of mobile devices and strong competition among smartphone makers including the popular Apple iPhone. Google has
scheduled a media conference for next Tuesday where it’s expected to make an Android-related announcement that could be either a Google-branded device and/or
new applications for the Android platform.
The mobile news onslaught will continue the rest of the week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where a number of mobile players are expected to bring out new devices.
Article courtesy of InternetNews.com.
