Google: 41 Percent Of Super Bowl Ad Searches Were Mobile

A wide range of social and mobile data are being reported by various sources in the wake of last Sunday’s Super Bowl game. For example, ad network inMobi said 39 percent of survey respondents “used their mobile device in response to a TV commercial during the game” (discussing commercials, getting more information or watching TV […]

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Screen Shot 2012 02 07 At 2.31.48 PMA wide range of social and mobile data are being reported by various sources in the wake of last Sunday’s Super Bowl game. For example, ad network inMobi said 39 percent of survey respondents “used their mobile device in response to a TV commercial during the game” (discussing commercials, getting more information or watching TV ads again). However other sources, such as NPD Group, said that mobile usage didn’t live up to the pre-game hype.

But earlier today Google said that during the game, “41 percent of Google searches in the US related to Super Bowl TV ads came from mobile devices.” While this makes logical sense — people are sitting during the game with their phones in hand or pocket — it’s striking nonetheless.

According to Google, “Super Bowl ad related searches in the US rose 200% on desktop, 970% on tablets and a whopping 2700% on smartphones.” (Emphasis added.)
Screen Shot 2012 02 07 At 2.21.33 PM

Google goes on to make the hopefully semi-obvious point that TV advertisers — indeed all advertisers — now need to be conscious of the presence of smartphones in the audience and integrate mobile into their campaigns in thoughtful ways.

The problem is that many Super Bowl commercials tried to use mobile in ways that weren’t particularly effective. As 360i’s David Berkowitz pointed out this morning, QR codes on TV ads is generally a bad idea.

Screen Shot 2012 02 07 At 2.41.00 PM

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About the author

Greg Sterling
Contributor
Greg Sterling is a Contributing Editor to Search Engine Land, a member of the programming team for SMX events and the VP, Market Insights at Uberall.

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