U.S. Mobile Web Audience Grows by One Third

Visits to Web sites from mobile devices grew 34 percent during the twelve months ending in July, according to data from Nielsen Online. The measurement firm recorded 56.9 million mobile Web visits in July ’09, up from 42.5 million visits during July ’08, it says.

Although men continue to make up the majority of the mobile Web audience — accounting for a total of 53 percent of visits — growth among female users far outstripped that of males, growing 43 percent year-on-year compared with 26 percent, respectively.

As mobile Web access spreads beyond the typically early-adopting age bracket of 18 to 34 year olds, youths and senior users also experienced a surge in growth. Use among 13 to 17 year olds grew 45 percent year-on-year, while the over-65 group experienced growth of 67 percent — albeit from a relatively small base, since the bracket accounted for just 3 percent of visits during July ’09.

Perhaps more significantly therefore, access among 55-64 year old users grew 37 percent year on-on-year, accounting for 9 percent of the total mobile Web audience in July.