Every year, Mary Meeker from KPCB, a top Silicon Valley firm, releases the Internet Trends Report, which offers a comprehensive look at how the web is changing and evolving.
And at just under 200 slides, it sure is comprehensive. While most of the information makes sense, some of the numbers and trends are simply staggering in terms of pure volume.
Here are some of the trends that stood out in terms of importance as well as sheer entertainment value:
Mobile, mobile, mobile everything
In case you missed it, accessing the Internet from your phone is kind of a big deal these days. In fact, over the past year, mobile grew at three times the speed as Internet usage in general. On top of that, mobile data usage rose by nearly 70 percent in 2015.
So what does this mean? People are consuming media on the go more then ever. The times at which consumers are being presented with information continues to evolve, and as long as they remain glued to their phones, marketers would be wise to find opportunities to meet them there.
It seems like that’s what’s happening, with mobile ad revenue growing by 34 percent while desktop only growing by 11 percent. It’s not surprising on the whole, but the numbers behind really drive the point home.
Facebook Video – An attempt to keep growth going
You’ve probably read 74,393 different articles by now about how Facebook is dying or dead. Which is good for clickbait headlines, but the jury is still out.
On the one hand, Facebook revenue per user growth is slowing down. It grew nearly 60 percent last year and is down to only 30 percent this year. Some people are indeed looking elsewhere for their social networking needs.
On the other head, Facebook video is going through the roof. There are nearly 4 billion video views every day. Unsurprisingly, 75 percent of those views are coming from mobile. Not too shabby.
So while some may think Facebook is on the way down, I tend to believe the platform still has some room to maneuver. While the desktop version is down, there’s still a high ceiling for video, messenger and calling options within the platform that should help the old standard stay relevant.
What a difference a couple of decades make
The tech industry is one of the most disruptive. As such, companies that have been on top in the past might not evolve well enough to stay on top. Early in the presentation, there’s a great example of this.
Here’s an example: can you name the top Internet company in 1995? It was Netscape, who rose to prominence in large part with their product Navigator, which was a precursor to Internet Explorer.
Where are they now? Well, AOL owns them now and uses the brand to market a discount Internet service provider.
In fact, while the dot-com bubble burst knocked out a good chunk of the names on that list, there is one notable company who has able to hang around:
That’d be Apple, who finished second on the list in 1995 and is now #1.
Staying on top of trends is a full-time job, and we treat it that way. It keeps our digital offering relevant and our clients benefit immensely. Contact us and lets talk about what’s trending for your brand.
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