It is clear from multiple indicators that mobile web browsing is significantly growing while desktop web browsing is decreasing. This was predicted to occur back in 2010 when Morgan Stanley, one of many groups who foresaw and made prediction concerning this trend, released an 87 page study that charted out their predictions that by 2015, mobile web browsing would surpass desktop web browsing. Their insight is being proven correct, and in fact, they may have even been a year off as it looks like that expectation has already been met in 2014 rather than 2015.
As millions of mobile users have been attracted to their smartphones and tablets for their entertainment, shopping, navigation, social networking, and a million other functions that affect their basic day to day life management, it is only natural that the online gambling industry would also be a part of this massive transition to the mobile market. This phenomenon has seen the birth of mobile sports betting to be among the first gambling venues to embrace mobile technology, resulting in high quality iPhone sportsbooks, iPad sportsbooks, Android sportsbook appsand even BlackBerry sports betting apps.
Ahead of online casino and poker gambling platforms, sportsbook wagering was an early entrant into the mobile scene. Nearly all reputable online sportsbooks now offer some type of browser based or downloadable sports betting application that accommodates real money wagering and is compatible with the primary mobile platforms. Using the online shopping consumer experience as an example, as mobile web use increased, merchants targeted mobile users in their marketing and incentives, issuing mobile coupons and offers, and were rewarded with unprecedented response from consumers.
Similarly, online sportsbooks invested in savvy, well designed mobile sports betting sites and applications that offer their top features, such as live betting, along with access to their most generous incentives to really feed and become a part of this growing mobile trend. The added flexibility that mobile access provides to sports bettors in and of itself enhances the likelihood of increased participation, but by sweetening the pot with an impressive mobile environment and attractive incentives, sportsbook operators knew exactly how to earn their share of the mobile market. It is now rare to see a top rated sportsbook brand that does not offer a mobile version of their site.
In 2014, statistics reveal that 25% of US adults access the Internet through mobile devices only, and that the amount of time spent on the internet has doubled since 2010 due to access by mobile devices. Facebook mobile users exceed Facebook desktop users, and mobile marketing budgets have nearly tripled since 2010, and are expected to quadruple by 2017. Consumers who are willing to spend money online (on average 50% more than they spend on desktop computer web transactions) and taking advantage of incentives such as redeeming mobile coupons has risen 66% since 2012.
The one statistic that probably influences any type of B2B merchant is the fact that 70%of mobile searches turn actionable within one hour of the original search. That is a very fast return and clearly reveals the motivation level of mobile users to take immediate action when presented with opportunities versus desktop users who may take significantly longer to make a decision or take action. It is only natural that this trend would translate into the sports betting industry and see a surge in mobile sportsbook apps being made available to US bettors and bettors from around the world. In fact, with sports betting being the first online gambling venue to really jump in with both feet, that niche is undeniably ahead of the game as compared to real money mobile casinos and poker rooms which are just starting to become mainstream options for mobile users.