Airtel survey finds Google, FB, Yahoo! to be the most accessed sites

Bharti Airtel has released the results of the 4th edition of Airtel Mobitude Survey for the year 2012. Findings of the survey revealed that overall, Facebook, Google and Yahoo were the most accessed websites. Search giant Google emerged as the most visited website in terms of unique users, while Facebook topped all sites with almost 10 times page views and data consumption. This annual survey of customer preferences is the first of its kind in India to capture the ‘mobile attitude’ of 186 million plus customers in the country and point out India’s very own consumption preferences, likes and dislikes. This year’s analysis also highlighted a fast increasing customer preference for MobileTV, thus resulting in a whopping 65 percent jump in traffic experienced by the service over the last year. Within the MobileTV category, IPL viewing minutes jumped a record breaking 74 percent and viewership increased over 46 percent from numbers witnessed in 2011.  In 2012, India went the MMS way by crossing the 1 million mark on Diwali and for the first time in the country’s MMS traffic history, jumped 145 percent on the festive day. The Navratri festival topped all events in terms of specialised content download traffic. Data consumption on the mobile typically during 10-11pm (Image credit: Getty Images) Going further, the survey revealed that on the data side, maximum data consumption on mobile Internet is typically seen during the graveyard shift between 10pm-11pm. The Airtel mobile Internet usage pattern indicates growing customer preference for social networking, looking at pictures, downloading applications, playing games, listening to music, reading news and watching videos. Video consumption is reported at its highest during night hours. Specifically, three video streaming and download sites fared among ‘Top 10 websites’ in 2012 (compared to only one last year) – thus showing growing popularity of the category. N Rajaram, Chief Marketing Officer – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel, said, "Over the last four years, Airtel Mobitude has captured the behavior of the mobile consumers to provide real insights on customer preference for sports and entertainment. The data, based on the usage pattern of the country’s largest mobile customer base, reveals an exciting picture of India’s love for movies, music, gaming and social networking. The study also brings to light India’s increasing dependence on smart devices and data usage as they access a whole host of new services on the go.” Sony TV ranked number 1 among television channels. The traction seen by MobileTV reinforces India’s growing demand for data driven services that help customers get their dose of the best and latest in entertainment. Popular hit Kolaveri Di (which recorded maximum success ever and triggered 2,10,000 downloads in a span of 18 days last year) continued to maintain the top position in 2012 as well. Though reasonably popular, the worldwide rage Gangnam Style did not experience similar success among mobile Internet users in India and could not beat Kolaveri Di’s strong local success. Dabangg tops charts as the most viewed movie on Airtel Video Talkies, while Singham led on Airtel Audio Talkies. Bollywood blockbuster and epic hit Sholay continues to be an all-time favourite with customers, who till date are tuning into the audio edition of the movie on Airtel Audio Talkies. Movie-inspired games are the new rage in mobile gaming – Agneepath, Spiderman and Agent Vinod games topped charts and left behind popular games Tekken and SoulCalibur. An average of 3 million downloads on Airtel App Central were recorded every month. With 90 percent downloads in the ‘Free’ category, customers show a preference for the ‘freemium’ model. While 65 percent of application downloads are games, other popular categories include social networking, video and music players, sports, health and other entertainment. Released at the end of every calendar year, Airtel Mobitude is the only annual survey of its kind that captures in-depth data to assess customer preferences based on mobile usage patterns in India. According to the findings of the survey, India recorded over 75 million wallpapers (with 300 percent growth) and 150 million plus music downloads this year.