comScore: Mobile local search users are mostly tall, rich and handsome

Thanks to mobile phones, local search apps such as Citysearch, Yellowpages, and Yelp have seen a surge in traffic as users search for information on the move. According to data from the Local Search Association and comScore, in December 2012, traffic from mobile phones and tablets to these sites quadrupled year-on-year.

In addition to their considerable number, these mobile local search users are also high-value groups in the eyes of marketers. Analysis of American smartphone users who access the Internet Yellow Pages mobile application (IYP users) found that they are more likely to be a very wealthy group. The proportion of IYP users with an annual income of more than $100,000 is 51% higher than that of ordinary smartphone users.

These users are not just tall, rich and handsome. They are more likely to be active practitioners of mobile e-commerce purchases. 41% of IYP users made mobile purchases in December, while only 19% of ordinary smartphone users did so.

And they spend more, too: One-quarter of IYP users spent more than $200 on mobile shopping that month, compared with only 9% of regular smartphone users.

In addition to spending more time searching for local information, these wealthy and handsome people are also more active in mobile advertising. One-quarter of IYP users are exposed to mobile advertising every day, while only 12% of the overall users are exposed to mobile advertising.

Considering the wealth of these people, their deeper shopping behavior, and their frequent exposure to mobile advertising, they are undoubtedly a hot commodity for marketers (via: 199it@eMarketer)