Thursday 26 September 2019

Netflix and Google (inc YouTube) collectively account for nearly 25% of all internet traffic

"Sandvine, a provider of network intelligence solutions, has released its 2019 Global Internet Phenomena Report.
[...]
Video is over 60 per cent of the total downstream volume of traffic on the Internet.
Netflix is 12.60 per cent of the total downstream volume of traffic across the entire internet and 11.44 per cent of all internet traffic.
Google is 12 per cent of overall internet traffic, driven by YouTube, search, and the Android ecosystem.
Gaming traffic and gaming-related bandwidth consumption is increasing as gaming downloads, Twitch streaming, and eSports go mainstream.
BitTorrent is over 27 per cent of total upstream volume of traffic, and over 44 per cent in EMEA alone.
Facebook applications make up over 15 per cent of the total internet traffic in APAC."
Source:  Advanced Television, 12th September 2019

Americans spend on average 50 minutes a day behind the wheel

"For the time being, new car sales are trending up — believe it or not. The AAA says Americans spend 50 minutes behind the wheel each day on average. According to the 2019 edition of PYMNTS digital drive report, consumers behind the wheel represent a $260 billion commerce opportunity annually in the U.S. — and the U.S population is becoming increasingly habituated to using voice controls to mediate those transactions. The digital drive report found most commuters (53.3 percent) are turning to voice assistants to connect while driving and 36.6 percent of commuters who use voice assistants connect to the internet using their mobile device."

There are more than 500m SVoD subscriptions globally

"Gross SVoD subscriptions increased by 139 million in 2018 to 508 million – or up by 38 per cent, according to the SVOD Databook from Digital TV Research. The net subscriber count rose by 83 million in 2018 to reach 357 million – up by 31 per cent. This means that the average SVoD subscriber paid for 1.43 SVoD subscriptions by end-2018 – up from 1.05 in 2010.
“China and the US together accounted for 63 per cent of the global total in 2018,” advises Simon Murray, Principal Analyst at Digital TV Research. “China overtook the US in 2018 to become the gross SVoD subscription leader. China added nearly 60 million subscriptions in 2018 alone, with the US up by 27 million (despite its relative maturity). India nearly doubled its subscription base.”"
Source:  Advanced Television, 18th September 2019

11% of product views on Amazon come from sponsored posts

"It’s never been more difficult to sell stuff on Amazon.
Last year, Recode reported how Amazon had, over time, stuffed its search results with advertisements, so in order to show up in customer search results, brands were increasingly having to buy ads.
Since then it’s gotten worse.
Now 11 percent of all product views on Amazon come from sponsored listings, up 3 percentage points in just the past year, according to new data from digital research firm Jumpshot. It’s not clear if that’s because there are more sponsored ads or because sponsored ads have gotten more effective. Going to a product’s page also doesn’t necessarily mean customers will end up buying that product, but brands are nonetheless forking over money to attract these customers’ eyeballs.
Showing up higher in search results greatly affects whether people will click on and buy products. This has repercussions for both small third-party marketplace sellers that base their whole livelihoods around selling on Amazon, as well as giant brands like Samsonite, Dove, and Levi’s. Amazon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment."
Source:  Vox, 16th September 2019
Note - these may be US stats

48% of UK residents did not take an overseas flight in the last year

"Just 1% of English residents are responsible for nearly a fifth of all flights abroad, according to previously unpublished statistics.
The figures, published in a Department for Transport survey, also reveal that the 10% most frequent flyers in England took more than half of all international flights in 2018. However, 48% of the population did not take a single flight abroad in the last year.
The new findings bolster calls for a frequent flyer levy, a proposal under which each citizen would be allowed one tax-free flight per year but would pay progressively higher taxes on each additional flight taken."
Source:  The Guardian, 25th September 2019

Wednesday 4 September 2019

US smartphone owners are keeping their devices for an average of 33 months

"U.S. consumers are holding onto their smartphones for an average of 33 months as a lack of innovation gives them reason to upgrade less frequently, a survey by Strategy Analytics found. The firm said consumers are very interested in next-generation 5G mobile service, although high smartphone prices will be a significant barrier to entry.
The average Apple smartphone has been active for 18 months, longer than the 16.5-month average for Samsung devices. The two companies remain dominant with brand loyalty of more than 70%, while other device makers like LG and Motorola see repeat purchase intentions of less than 50%.
Just 7% of U.S. consumers said they would spend over $1,000 on a new phone, while "wow features" are important to only about one-third of those surveyed. One out of four people said 5G will be important for their next mobile device, per Strategy Analytics."

74% of US households subscribe to at least one SVOD service

"New consumer research from Leichtman Research Group, Inc. (LRG) finds that 74% of all U.S. households have a subscription video on-Demand (SVOD) service from Netflix, Amazon Prime, and/or Hulu – up from 64% in 2017, and 52% in 2015.
Among those that have an SVOD service, 69% have more than one of these services – up from 51% in 2017, and 38% in 2015.  Overall, 51% of U.S. households now have more than one SVOD service, an increase from 33% in 2017, and 20% in 2015.
These findings are based on a survey of 1,116 households nationwide and are part of a new LRG study, Emerging Video Services 2019. This is LRG’s thirteenth annual study on this topic.
Other related findings include:
64% of all adults stream an SVOD service at least monthly, and 41% stream more than one SVOD service at least monthly
33% of adults stream an SVOD service daily – compared to 29% in 2017, and 16% in 2015
51% of ages 18-34 stream an SVOD service daily – compared to 34% of ages 35-54, and 15% of ages 55+
27% with Netflix agree that their subscription is shared with others outside their household – compared to 19% with Hulu, and 10% with Amazon Prime
51% of adults watch video on non-TV devices (including mobile phones, home computers, tablets, and eReaders) daily – up from 43% in 2017, and 31% in 2014."
Source:  Press release from Leichtman Research Group, 27th August 2019

More than 50% of browser-based Google searches don't result in a click



Source:  Data from Jumpshot, reported in a blog post by Sparktoro, 13thaugust 2019

Smartphone payment services have 80% adoption rates in China but only 10% in the US

"According to new statistics from management consultancy Bain, some 80% of Chinese consumers used some form of smartphone payments service last year, far higher than a U.S. adoption rate of 10%, reports CNBC.
Broken down by service, the Chinese market is dominated by local systems like WeChat Pay and AliPay, both of which enjoyed over 80% adoption rates in 2018. Cash, bank cards, credit cards and bank apps follow, with Apple Pay listed as the most-used foreign service with 17% adoption.
Gerard du Toit, partner and head of Bain's banking and payments sector, notes countries like China and India are ripe for penetration due to their reliance on cash.
"China and India have been very cash-based economies — that has a pretty high hassle and friction factor," du Toit said. "Mobile payment is a dramatic improvement versus having to manage a whole bunch of cash."
Whereas Alibaba and Tencent offered attractive alternatives to traditional payments in a bid for Chinese consumer favor, India pushed the use of mobile payments to dissuade unrecorded cash transactions and thus reap consumption taxes.
The story is different in the U.S., where Apple Pay has a 9% adoption rate. By comparison, PayPal is used by 44% of American consumers, while credit card and cash boast respective adoption rates of 80% and 79%.
There is little incentive for consumers to ditch credit cards, the top form of payment in America, for a mobile payment alternative, du Toit notes. In some cases, swiping or inserting a credit card into a point of sale terminal is easier than pulling out an iPhone, unlocking it and tapping it on an NFC reader."

TripAdvisor's share of UK hospitality reviews fell from 34% to 25% in one year

"Feed It Back’s latest social review tracker reveals a significant drop in TripAdvisor usage, with its market share falling from 33.9% in August 2018, to 25.1% in August 2019.
The data, taken from thousands of reviews left of the restaurant, pub and bar and quick service industries, shows that, over the same period, Facebook experienced a positive year-on-year increase, of 3.1%, with the platform now accounting for 10.3% of reviews.
Google remains the biggest player in the industry, with its percentage of reviews in August sitting at 64.3%.
The rise in prevalence of Facebook and the decrease in TripAdvisor usage has impacted the average social review score in the industry, which has risen from 4.0 out of 5 in August 2018, to 4.3 in 2019.
This increase has been driven by a spike in review scores across all platforms over the past year, with Facebook rising from 3.9 out of 5, to 4.1 over the same period. TripAdvisor grew from 3.9 to 4.1, and Google increased from 4.1 to 4.3.
Looking at the split between the sectors, the average social review score for the pub and bar industry rose from 4.1 to 4.3; while the restaurant industry increased from 4.0 to 4.3.
The main driver behind the spike in positive reviews for both sectors was the Facebook channel, where the average review score for restaurants rose from 4.0 to 4.6 out of 5, while pubs and bars experienced an increase from 4.4 to 4.6."