GESTE (a trade body for online service providers) has published a study of the trends in the use of classifieds on mobiles and smartphones for 2010/2011. Focusing on the classified applications of Cadremploi, Keljob, Logic-Immo, ParuVendu, RégionsJob et Topannonces it showed that usage more than doubled year on year for the third quarter of 2011.

“Online classifieds are more and more geared towards real time” explains Godefroy Jordan, the ex-president of GESTE, “making the use of classifieds on mobile ever more relevant for users who can react faster to snap up a good deal, reply to a job vacancy, or find a property. It is highly likely that two or three years from now the mobile will become the principal platform for classifieds.”

According to the official audit company Médiamétrie there are some 18 million French users connecting by phone – or ‘mobinautes’ as they are termed which is about half the total number of internet users (‘internautes’) in the country.