July 8, 2010 (CAP News Wire) – According to report from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, Americans’ use of mobile devices to access the Internet is skyrocketing.
The report states that 38 percent of Americans use their mobile devices to access the Internet, compared to 25 percent just a year ago.
Those figures are very similar to the number of Americans who use their mobile devices to play games: 34 percent now, compared to 27 percent a year ago.
Not all of these figures represent phone use. “Nearly 60 percent of Americans go online wirelessly using a laptop or cell phone,” states a summary of the Pew report at MSNBC. “Of that number, 47 percent use both a cell phone and laptop to get online; 33 percent use a laptop only, and 20 percent a cell phone only.”
55 percent of cell phone Internet users “go online from their mobile phone on a daily basis,” the article adds.
“The beginning of 2010 has shown a definite shift to mobile use for online gambling,” reports Onlinecasino.org, via the CAP News page. “January and February alone showed a startling increase of 18 percent in the number of bets made through a mobile phone. This figure is expected to get bigger as more people switch to an internet-connected phone such as a Smartphone.”
All of which points to a growing interest in online gambling affiliate marketing for mobile devices. This is a niche that’s still in its early stages, thanks largely to the United States’ unwillingness to fully legalize and regulate online gambling. But when that finally happens — as many believe it soon will — look to the mobile iGaming market to explode.
Many online gaming brands are getting ready for that moment; for example, 888 has recently acquired a mobile games development studio.
Read more about the connection between mobile advertising and online gaming affiliate marketing here.