Mobile Is Not Destroying Desktop Traffic

[engine]

There's an interesting piece on WSJ citing data from comScore's latest research: Mobile has grown considerably, but not to the detriment of desktop.

I have to admit, I was expecting declines in traffic with all the talk of mobile growth, but, it doesn't look like that to me. I would tend to agree that mobile traffic has gone up, but i've not seen the desktop decline.

I have seen declines in some traffic referrals from Google, and slight increases in Bing referrals, but traffic overall, with a few exceptions, is up. I'm generalising, of course, because some sites and some pages have seen declines, and others have increased.

How has your desktop traffic been holding up?

People are increasingly accessing online content on mobile devices, but that doesn’t mean the desktop is in decline.

A theory sometimes bandied about the media industry says audiences are deserting desktops and “going mobile” instead. But actually, data from online measurement firms doesn’t seem to support that view, at least at the aggregate market level.

The share of overall consumption coming from mobile devices is growing, but desktop web usage isn’t dropping. In fact, it might be increasing. Mobile Is Not Destroying Desktop Traffic [blogs.wsj.com]

According to data from comScore, for example, the overall time spent online with desktop devices in the U.S. has remained relatively stable for the past two years. Time spent with mobile devices has grown rapidly in that time, but the numbers suggest mobile use is adding to desktop use, not subtracting from it.

[lucy24]

Only yesterday (really) I was talking to a friend who just recently got a cell phone, but now uses it constantly. On further inquiry, it turns out she doesn't have internet at home (she also only recently acquired a notebook), so for most purposes the smartphone is her browser. So: not replacing non-mobile use, but a new use that didn't exist before.

How common is this pattern?

For that matter: I don't have a laptop. So when I use the iPad in bed, that's internet use that, again, did not previously exist.

[travelin cat]

I have not seen any older clients without responsive design or a mobile app get any decrease in traffic. One of them is actually doing much better since the change.

[diddlydazz]

I would agree that it seems to be extra usage as opposed to replacing DU.

From the data I have, it seems that some keyphrases have migrated to mobile (notable disparity between DU and MU) which I guess is understandable.

My properties cover a wide range of verticals (internationally) and apart from a few categories within those verticals, on the whole it does seem like extra traffic.

[graeme_p]

Tablets are phones are a lot more comfortable for use in bed than a laptop, on the other hand the are terrible for writing (even an email that is more than a line or two long) or any kind of work.

I definitely browse the web more since I got a tablet: I watch videos, I read stuff I did not bother with, and I read ebooks on it. For me it has probably taken time away from reading books, for many I think it has taken time from TV.

My busiest site is something people tend to use for work, study and serious personal use, so it does not get much mobile traffic. Some clients sites are definitely getting a lot more mobile traffic, and everyone now realises they need mobile friendly sites, but given that sites grow and lose ground over time anyway its hard to be sure what impact mobile has on desktop.

[mcneely]

The myth of the demise of the desktop has led to some incredible deals on some great machine builds .. I don't do my work on a phone or a tablet so this is somewhat of a boon for me at least.

I'm always amazed at how people are willing to pay twice or up to three times more for things with only half the power and half the life ..

[webcentric]

Yes, people can access the web on the road now. I call that growth or extra usage of the Internet. I do it myself but I also refuse to do any serious writing (or reading) on a cell phone or tablet. Real Internet usage for me takes place on my desktop or on a laptop (and I much prefer my desktop workstation, with it's large screen and full-sized keyboard over any other device). Mobile is a "not-so-new" segment that's growing. In certain cases, it may be replacing desktop usage (like Sunday morning phone browsing sessions) but when people get down to serious work, they normally do it on a desktop or laptop. Open a spreadsheet, email client, word-processing document, or whatever, all while jumping around on the Internet. Everything comes together in the desktop environment. Perhaps we should draw a distinction between ad-hoc searches conducted on phones and tablets and the time people spend actually trying to be productive with a piece of computer equipment and some software. I'm not saying a Google search on a phone can't be productive (well maybe I am) but it's not the same kind of productivity you get when creating a marketing piece in Illustrator on a desktop.

[Rlilly]

The local Computer Repair guy will tell you something different.. Mobile has killed his Desktop PC repair business...

[moTi]

So when I use the iPad in bed

Tablets are phones are a lot more comfortable for use in bed than a laptop

try a subnotebook. 10-12 inch. the best: you can use it without having to hold or fixate it somehow. try that with a tablet lying full length on your sofa. won't work.

desktop traffic not being substituted by mobile traffic doesn't surprise me at all. the talking about everyone leaving their desktop/laptop devices and going mobile as well as the "mobile first" doctrine derived from that is marketing bullshit from people profiting from that wrong assumption. i.e. web consulting firms, app developers, web design agencies etc. who need to attract new business.
looking at my own device usage behavior, i never believed that drivel.

[edited by: moTi at 9:54 pm (utc) on May 26, 2015]

[JAB Creations]

The idea that X is destroying Y in the tech world is usually sensationalism intended to get more eyeballs for advertising revenue. I'm sure there is an exceptionally small fragment of internet surfers who converted to mobile or mobile like devices as their primary or only access to the web but the adoption of ever cheaper computers in poorer nations that I read about on tech news websites blends gracefully with the notion that mobile is simply a rise in access for people who did not previously have access. In fact I think desktop usage will actually slowly increase as the demand for higher screen resolutions and better physical controls (e.g. a keyboard and mouse) become a conscious idea to people who want to engage in internet and web activities more than what their current devices allow for.

John

[jrs79]

Every time I read that mobile search is up I think, "Of course it is up. Everyone is walking around with a computer in their pocket!" However, you read very little about what type of searches that people do on their phones. I would say they use social media, visit their favorite news/hobby/gossip sites, and search for nearby XYZ especially emergency services. They also make easy e-commerce purchases from places like Amazon. What I don't know is how many non-brand searches really take place on mobile. From what I see on primarily B2B the answer is not very many,

I have noticed high school age and college age kids do everything they can on a phone. They see a lap top the way that I see a desktop. Maybe this will change when they get put in a cubicle, but maybe not.

[weeks]

For people who build websites for others, mobile has given them more work. But not as much as you might think. WW might be a good example where much of the work was done because it was overdue and, oh yeah, let's make it mobile as well. There was a period of time, about four years ago, that website builders could change "extra" for mobile. Now? Forget it, it's one more thing to do that clients don't want to pay for.

[RedBar]

Of course this is only a US-centric report and bears no relation whatsoever to what is happening in the rest of the world and especially so the entire Asian continent.

[webcentric]

Of course this is only a US-centric report and bears no relation whatsoever to what is happening in the rest of the world and especially so the entire Asian continent.

So, do you really think computer usage and Internet access is declining in China or India? I can say this. Most of the hacking attempts I see coming from those and other countries come from desktops. I don't see any decline in that desktop trend anyway.

[keyplyr]

I disagree. IMO mobile has taken away desktop traffic, but not single handed. Over the last 5 years I have seen a gradual decline in desktop traffic over the various sites I've managed. I attribute this to several factors:
1.) Social Media
2.) Wikipedia's SERP ranking
3.) Mobile apps & gadgets
4.) SEs displaying content in SERP

However, the sites I've added mobile friendliness have gained significant traffic back (especially recently) and those clients who have courted social media even more traffic recovery.

I know people who no longer pay for desktop connectivity at home, only for a data plan on their phone. With phones getting larger & more content available to mobile, this trend should continue.

[Nutterum]

Mobile still has some work to do before it gets relevant the same way desktop is. At the moment the mobile internet users lack the will to convert, due to the nature of their searches. That is not to say they never do. But in my perspective it will be a few more years until mobile traffic can be business sustaining vector the same way desktop currently is. All in all the "mobile is bigger than desktop" preach was just another way for Google to be seen as an ever pioneering company with endless growth of their stock price.

[fathom]

Have a laptop, iPad, Android Tablet, iPhone and about to try a Surface to see if I can replace the bulky laptop since I am permanently traveling and need to lighten the load.

Like noted earlier in the thread none of the other devices can replace the Windows laptop for serious work... but maybe Surface can.

[ember]

Makes sense. So you've had a desktop at home. Now you get a smart phone. You may still do what you did on the desktop at home because it's easier to use than a phone where everything is tiny. But now you use the phone when you are out and about. In that case, desktop would not decline but mobile would increase. Just more internet use overall but not at the expense of desktop.

[EditorialGuy]

Our desktop traffic continues to grow steadily (as does our tablet traffic). Our mobile traffic is growing much faster, partly because we have more mobile-friendly pages than we did a year ago.

I see mobile traffic as "add-on" or incremental traffic, not as a replacement for desktop and laptop visits--at least in prosperous countries where a smartphone isn't the only way that the average person can get online.

[RedBar]

So, do you really think computer usage and Internet access is declining in China or India?

Nope however the only way many in Asia access the Internet is using mobile, quite simply there are no fixed-lines. Certainly pc/laptop usage is still there but as an overall percentage of usage it is less.

I have seen some data somewhere but can't find it right now, so much for my bookmarking!

[RedBar]

I know people who no longer pay for desktop connectivity at home, only for a data plan on their phone. With phones getting larger & more content available to mobile, this trend should continue.

I see that a lot in the UK and espeically so with the very competitive SIM card prices.

Interestingly I have 3 10" Xoom tablets all with SIM card slots, whilst I wouldn't want to do "real" work on them I find these easily replace a laptop when being a road warrior, they're also very fast when being tethered to my Lumia as well.

[engine]

I cannot use my smartphone or tablet for any serious "work," but it's great for simple browsing, email, and social media, which as a sector, has grown hugely. The keyboard, or lack of, on mobile fosters the 140 character user, and there's many of those that just use that. Eventually, I would expect them to require a serious keyboard of sorts.

All my real Net working is done on the desktop, and i don't see that changing in the short term.

[EditorialGuy]

But in my perspective it will be a few more years until mobile traffic can be business sustaining vector the same way desktop currently is.

We have an information site that earns most of its revenue from affiliate links. The vast majority of that revenue comes from desktop/laptop/tablet users, but we're starting to see some revenue from mobile. I'd expect that to increase as more people use smartphones more of the time and--just as important--as more people migrate to larger, higher-resolution phones that provide a miniaturized "tablet experience."

[Furqan]

Its impact on mobile searches because those site's which is not mobile friendly is not showing in search results in mobile... and that's why people lost their traffic.

[jetteroheller]

I wondered over year about declining "Pages per visitor" and increasing "Bounce rate" in Google Analytics
Now with "Mobile overview", I discovered, that "Pages per visitor" and "Bounce rate" had been nearly constant since 2010,
only the greater share of mobile devices with typical lower "Pages per visitor" and higher "Bounce rate" changed the total statistic

[Mike_Feury]

The local Computer Repair guy will tell you something different.. Mobile has killed his Desktop PC repair business...

People are probably buying the new tech before replacing their older tech. A 2000's PC is able to cope fine with the demands of a lot of users. Once they're phoned- and tableted-up, they'll renew their desktops.

[keyplyr]

Once they're phoned- and tableted-up, they'll renew their desktops.

Doubtful... nowadays most people use the internet for email & social media. No need for a desktop anymore since they do that on mobile now. No need for a desktop with disk storage, they now have the cloud.

[lucy24]

nowadays most people use the internet for email

I first read this in, I think, the opposite way to what you intended, and thought of the friend who had no idea that he could use a free-standing email program* instead of using his browser to go into webmail from his home. So, yup, he uses the internet for email.


* Does there exist any operating system that doesn't come with an email handler of some kind? I wouldn't think so.

[EditorialGuy]

Doubtful... nowadays most people use the internet for email & social media.

Yes, and for a lot of other things, too. For that matter, e-mails and posts on social networks often point to other types of Web content. (A significant percentage of the posts that I see in my own Facebook feed link to news stories, videos, blogs, etc. on third-party sites.)

Another thread here at Webmaster World about "2015 Internet trends" has an interesting slide in a KPCB presentation (no. 24 of 196) that shows "Time Spent on Screens by Orientation (Hours/Day), USA, 2010 - 2015."

Although the number of mobile hours has grown from 0.4 hour per day to 2.8 hours per day over the five-year period, the number of desktop/laptop is the same in 2015 as it was in 2010 (2.4 hours per day). TV watching hasn't changed much, either, declining from 4.4 to 4.3 hours during the five years of the eMarketer study. The key difference between 2010 and 2015 is the number of hours spent on screens, period: 9.9 hours per day in 2015 compared to 7.6 in 2010.

To expand on the title of this thread, "Mobile is not destroying desktop traffic--it's just adding to total time spent staring at screens."

[keyplyr]

nowadays most people use the internet for email

I first read this in, I think, the opposite way to what you intended,

I probably should have said "nowadays most people use internet devices for email and social media..." Point being, most users do not need an actual computer for what they do online.

Then there's the guy who spent top dollar on a very high-end desktop machine with a terabyte of flash,14 gigs RAM, top level graphics, dual 36" monitors... just because he read all that was cool, and he spends almost his entire time on Facebook or Pinterest and doesn't even know how to cut'n paste. Go figure.