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Study: Siri remans the most popular digital assistant, but fewer folks are using it

Verto, an app analytics company, saysthat while Apple’s Siri remains the most popular intelligent assistant, fewer people are using it.

Verto’s research found that while Siri is still the top-ranking personal assistant app based on number of unique monthly users, between May 2016 and May 2017, Siri’s active user base declined with 7.3 million monthly users (nearly 15% of its total).

According to the research group, user engagement with Siri has also dropped significantly over the same time period. The digital assistant’s “Stickiness Index” (a metric that quantifies engagement by comparing daily users to monthly users) dropped by nearly half – from 21% to 11%.  According to Verto, phone-based personal assistant apps, such as Siri and S-Voice, are slowly falling in popularity, with one exception: navigation and maps.

“Despite all the hype, AI-driven personal assistant apps have yet to gain a sturdy foothold among consumers,” says Hannu Verkasalo, CEO of Verto Analytics. “AI-driven apps and services are still very much in their early days. As this market grows and we examine consumer adoption of these apps, it will be important for brands and publishers to understand how and when consumers are using them, and with what other apps and services.”

However, Amazon’s Alexa has seen a 325% increase in monthly unique users (from 0.8 million to 2.8 million) during the past year, and has more than doubled its stickiness rating, from 10% to 22%. Microsoft’s Cortana has also seen a significant jump in monthly unique user numbers, from 0.2 million to 0.7 million (a 350% increase), with stickiness ratings tripling from 19% to 60%.

Verto’s single-source measurement methodology is based on behavioral data gathered from a panel of opt-in consumers that own and use multiple devices. Verto measures from the point of consumer interaction across all platforms, media, content and devices.

Dennis Sellers
the authorDennis Sellers
Dennis Sellers is the editor/publisher of Apple World Today. He’s been an “Apple journalist” since 1995 (starting with the first big Apple news site, MacCentral). He loves to read, run, play sports, and watch movies.