Back in October 2011, StumbleUpon announced it had reached 20 million users. Last week, the discovery service passed the 25 million user mark, having gained approximately 1 million users per month since last fall. StumbleUpon has come a long way in the last three years, more than quadrupling its userbase from 5.5 million back in 2009.
What are the reasons behind this recent growth? Android and iOS apps were released in August, and StumbleUpon revealed a redesign in December, all of which helped to spur growth. Also, the service just released an app that integrates into Facebook Timeline, according to TechCrunch.
Mobile is now huge for the service – out of the 1.2 billion Stumbles made per month, nearly 20% originate from mobile phones. StumbleUpon use via mobile grew 800% in the last year alone, and newer, faster versions of the mobile apps are on the way.
While these user numbers pale in comparison to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or even BranchOut, the site is “already responsible for referring more traffic to websites than any other social network in the U.S.” according to a study by StatCounter (via Mashable).
In addition, StumbleUpon has more than 75,000 advertisers, and an active userbase. The average user spends around seven hours each month “stumbling.” The engine’s following is largely centered in North America – only 15% of Stumblers are based outside the continent – although plans are underway to launch in the UK, France, and Germany, with more European countries to follow.
StumbleUpon CEO Garrett Camp told TechCrunch that “If we continue at this rate, we could see hundreds of millions of users.”
