Chinese mobile search company minfo (analogous to JumpTap or Medio in the US) released some data on mobile content usage in China, which has 450 million (count ’em) wireless phone users vs. 120 million Internet users. In China mobile users skew older than the Internet population as a whole.
The top content categories were as follows:
- Local Search (41%)
- Informational Search (31%)
- Rich Content Search (28%)
The release defines “local search” as search that “involves finding directory information for locations such as bars, hotels and ATMs.”
The five leading search categories in 2006 were:
- Dining/Recreation
- Jokes/Riddles
- Ring tones/Pictures
- News/Stock
- Weather forecast
The top 5 mobile search terms for 2006 were (terms translated):
- Weather
- Jay Chou
- Pretty girl
- Dining
- Joke
Screenwerk 