Mobile Search is Highly Contextual

Mobile devices are viewed, rightly, as an unusually important platform for targeted information because the use of mobiles is highly contextual, not just personalized. Mobile searches also are highly social, with results often being shared with others.

People often search for local information (a restaurant, store, gas station, or attraction) from their mobile device, research conducted by Microsoft shows. In a survey of 929 mobile searchers at a large software company, local searches tend to be highly contextual, influenced by geographic features, temporal aspects, and the searcher’s social context.

While location was reported to be very important, respondents looked for information about places close to their current location about 40 percent of the time. Users often were in transit at the time of a search 68 percent of our searchers) and wanted information related to their destination (27 percent of searchers); en route to their destination (12 percent) or near their destination (12 percent).

Additionally, 63 percent of participants’ mobile local searches took place within a social context and were discussed with someone else.

Mobile Search is Highly Contextual