Verto Analytics launches Its Syndicated Audience Measurement Services in the UK

Verto Analytics, the world’s first single-source audience measurement company, has announced the availability of its syndicated media measurement services in the UK. Following successful years of operations in the US, organisations can now get the same unique insights into British consumers. Published with hourly and daily granularity, Verto’s data gives a more detailed and timely understanding of dynamic usage patterns, user demographics and other background characteristics across the digital ecosystem.

At the same time, Verto Analytics releases a report featuring new data on the behaviours of cross-device digital consumers in the UK. The research shows that UK consumers are more mobile-oriented than Americans, spending 47 per cent of time online on a mobile device. Further, 35 per cent are mobile-only meaning their sole internet-connected device is a smartphone or tablet.

The insights offered in the report are derived from Verto Analytics’ single-source audience measurement solution, which was launched in the UK earlier this year. The solution passively measures the usage and behaviours of an opt-in panel of statistically representative UK consumers across every device, site, app, and platform they use throughout the day. Verto combines this with census data for calibration purposes.

Dr. Hannu Verkasalo, CEO of Verto Analytics, commented: “Our data shows that the British consumer is quick to adopt new apps and services on mobile devices, whether on smartphones or tablets. They also own and use multiple screens, from PCs to wearables and smart TVs. We are delighted to provide the UK market with a way to better quantify and measure consumer behaviors and usage patterns. For example, knowing how one consumer uses multiple apps or websites, across several devices, in one day is helping companies make more informed decisions around marketing, advertising, and product development.”

Mike Read, managing director UK, at Verto Analytics, continued: “Verto Analytics provides a clear and transparent, single-source multi-screen measurement solution, which the UK market has not had until now. We’re able to offer brands, publishers, and advertisers access to rich, daily digital data at a syndicated level.”

Paul Neto, senior research director, YuMe, added: “The UK is a global hub for many Internet, technology, mobile, and media companies. The adoption of mobile and digital video is something we are keen to measure and understand better. Which is why I am delighted that Verto’s service, which we have used for our U.S. research, is now extending to the UK and Europe.”

Some of the key findings include:

• UK consumers are more mobile oriented than in the US – this preference affects the design of apps, workflows and ad targeting.
• UK users are stickier with apps – people who download and try any app in the UK are more likely to stay loyal and active than in the US
• UK usage spikes around commuting time – UK app use is much more peak and trough, around the beginning and end of the day, while the US is more even throughout the day
• Time spent per session varies widely – UK users visit apps more frequently throughout the day than in the US, but spend far less time per session in them

While 81 per cent of Brits use a smartphone, only 68 per cent in the US do. More than one third of all Brits are mobile-only as well, compared to 25 per cent of US consumers and 19 per cent of Chinese consumers. This goes some way to explaining why certain categories of apps used by UK users are ‘stickier’: the Verto Stickiness Index compares daily users to monthly users to quantify the most engaged users, and British users are on devices that are closer to them at all times. Sports apps have 45 per cent stickiness in the UK, but only 32 per cent in the US. News apps see 40 per cent stickiness vs 28 per cent stickiness, among UK vs US users.

What this means for businesses is that they have users who are consuming apps more frequently, but in shorter sessions. This increases the need to present information quickly, easily and in bite-sized chunks. The users will be back again when they need more. This behaviour is proven by the spikes in activity, primarily first thing in the morning and in the evening.

Additional data points:

• 47% of total time spent online is on mobile devices, compared to 39% for Americans
• The most popular apps are social networks. Every UK consumer uses one, spending, on average, 1.8 hours per day on them, but logging into them more than 32 times (or nearly 3.5 mins per session). By comparison, 99% of Americans use social network apps. They spend 2.24 hours per day, logging in only 29 times (or 8.25 mins per session)
• 24% of Brits use a combination of smartphones, tablets and PCs monthly; 38% use two internet-connected devices monthly; the remaining 38% use only one device monthly. 35% of Brits use online services monthly only on mobile devices
• Of the top publishers in the UK, the ones with the most monthly mobile-only users are Facebook (18m mobile-only monthly users), Google (17m), Amazon (17m) and BBC (16m)
• Of the services that can be used on both PC and mobile devices in the UK, the most mobile-heavy are Amazon Kindle (99% of all users are mobile-only), Dropbox (73%), and Spotify (48%)
• The top mobile app in terms of Verto Stickiness Index (relative share of active daily audience against monthly audience) is unsurprisingly Facebook (stickiness 71%), followed by NatWest (60%), and Whatsapp (58%)
• Of top streaming video services in the UK, YouTube has 98% reach (42 million monthly users), followed by Vimeo at 48% reach (21m). Then come British providers: BBC iPlayer is third with 39% reach (17m) and Channel 4 at 23% reach (10m)