There's currently plenty of debate around web apps versus native apps; although recent research now points to more time spend within apps versus the web.

It's a situation also reflected when it comes to the rise of social mobile platforms, some of which are app-based and some, such as MocoSpace, are web-based.

We caught up with its CEO and co-founder Justin Siegel to find out more about the portal, and how its web focus shapes its operations.

PocketGamer: Reaching 20 million users is a big milestone, so what do you think are the main reasons MocoSpace has achieved this?

Justin Siegel: We deliver a great place for people to have fun, play games and meet new people. When Jamie and I co-founded MocoSpace back in 2005, it was on the back of having sold our mobile games business, so we've been longtime believers in mobile games and entertainment.

Can you give a rough breakdown of your users in terms of geography/demographics?

90 percent of our users are from the US. Our audience is evenly split - 50 male 50 female. We skew on the younger side - almost all of our users are between 18-34 years old, and the average age of our users is about 25 year olds. Our user base is a third Hispanic, a third African American, and a third Caucasian/Asian/other.

MocoSpace is an entertainment portal, so how does user activity breakdown?

Games and chat/IM are the two most popular activities on MocoSpace - they're areas users spend the most time on. Because of this, we make it really easy to chat in-game with others. Photo sharing and finding new friends is also very popular,

Why do you think HTML5 is an important technology for mobile games?

It will free developers and users from the app store, providing a platform that is ubiquitous across all devices.

We're moving into a time when people will not just have one mobile device - they may have a mobile phone, a tablet, a laptop, etc. HTML5 allows developers to create games that can be played on any device, decreasing fragmentation.

What response have you got from the HTML5 mobile game developers fund?

It's been great so far. We've heard from over a dozen developers who are interested in the fund, and we've announced five developers we've worked with: New Game Town, Kooky Panda, Joyplay, Upgraded Studios, and CelanderUS.

We've spent about half of the fund so far, so there's still quite a bit left for other developers.

How easy is it to monetise the sort of casual users on MocoSpace?

Monetisation on mobile compares favourably with what is happening on Facebook. On MocoSpace, we have seen ARPU of over $1.

With successful Japanese social platforms such as Mobage and GREE coming to western markets, how do you think the competitive landscape is going to change in the coming months?

People will definitely get a bigger, better assortment of games and gaming communities in the coming years. We're going to see social gaming continue to grow in all markets.

Thanks to Justin for his time.

You can check out MocoSpace here