901am

New Media News Every Morning

Majority unconfortable with websites customizing content-based visitors personal profiles

By Leave a Comment

A majority of U.S. adults are skeptical about the practice of websites using information about a person’s online activity to customize website content. However, after being introduced to four potential recommendations for improving websites privacy and security polices, U.S. adults become somewhat more comfortable with the websites use of personal information.

These are some of the results of a nationwide survey of 2,513 U.S. adults surveyed online between March 11 and 18, 2008 by Harris Interactive. This survey was designed in collaboration with Dr. Alan F. Westin, Professor of Public Law and Government Emeritus at Columbia University, Principal of the Privacy Consulting Group, and a noted authority on privacy issues.

Specifically, the survey found:

• A six in ten majority (59%) are not comfortable when websites like Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft (MSN) use information about a person’s online activity to tailor advertisements or content based on a person’s hobbies or interests. A quarter (25%) is not at all comfortable and 34 percent are not very comfortable;

• The remaining 41 percent who say that are comfortable with websites tailoring content is split between 7 percent who are very comfortable and 34 percent who are somewhat comfortable.

Originally posted on April 8, 2008 @ 7:20 pm

Online sales to climb despite struggling economy– Shop.org

By Leave a Comment

In a year where retail industry sales are expected to experience sluggish growth, Americans will continue to flock to the Internet for clothing, computers, and even cars. According to The State of Retailing Online 2008, the 11th annual Shop.org study conducted by Forrester Research, Inc. of 125 retailers, online retail will continue to be a bright spot in the industry with retail sales* rising 17 percent this year to $204 billion. Apparel ($26.6 billion), computers ($23.9 billion), and autos ($19.3 billion) will be the largest three sales categories.

As the number of people new to the Internet begins to wane, online retailers are constantly struggling between investing in strategies that retain current customers or those that attract new ones. According to the report, online retailers allocate 53 percent of their marketing budgets to online customer acquisition and 21 percent of marketing dollars to online customer retention. However, retailers are finding that traditional acquisition programs such as search engine or affiliate marketing may also serve as retention tools that attract existing customers as well as new shoppers.

According to the survey, retailers report that search engine marketing continues to be the most effective way to reach new customers, citing 35 percent of sales coming from that initiative. As a result, nearly all online retailers surveyed (90%) use pay-for-performance search placement, and 79 percent said they will make this tactic an even greater priority this year. Companies are also using offline marketing tactics to drive customers to the web, with catalogs and other direct mail pieces taking priority over methods like television and newspaper advertising.

Originally posted on April 8, 2008 @ 1:56 pm

U.S. advertising spending rose 0.6% in 2007– Nielsen

By 1 Comment

The Nielsen Company reported that advertising spending for the full year 2007 rose 0.6% compared to full year 2006, with Internet continuing to demonstrate the strongest performance (+18.9%) of any media category.

According to preliminary figures from Nielsen Monitor-Plus, the leading provider of competitive advertising information, advertising spending was mixed across media with gains in some categories and declines in others. In addition to Internet advertising, other media categories that showed an increase in 2007 were National Magazines (7.6%), Outdoor (7.2%), National Sunday Supplements (4.9%), National Cable TV (2.2%), and Spanish-Language TV (1.5%).

nielsen.png

Originally posted on March 31, 2008 @ 5:40 pm

Online consumers prefer smaller and lighter laptops

By Leave a Comment

PriceGrabber.com explores portable-style laptop trends through its latest Consumer Behavior Report. Results are based on a survey of 1,868 online consumers conducted in late February 2008. PriceGrabber.com defines portable-style laptops as weighing less than six pounds and having a screen size of less than 15 inches measured diagonally. Of the 72 percent of respondents who indicated owning or using a laptop, 58 percent own or use a portable-style laptop.

Consumers who have different laptops for work/school and personal use carry the burden of traveling with multiple laptops. Of those surveyed, 38 percent need two or more laptops. The demand for portable-style laptops has increased over the past year as more consumers find it a nuisance to carry around the standard-size laptop, let alone two. Forty-four percent of online consumers say they would travel more often with a laptop if it were smaller and lighter.

Forty-six percent of consumers stated that performance is the most important feature to consider when purchasing a portable-style laptop. Unfortunately, as performance increases and the size of the laptop decreases, it comes with a price that not everyone is willing to spend. Of the nine percent of respondents who anticipate spending more than $2,000 for a portable-style laptop, 62 percent said they value performance as the most important feature, while 11 percent value battery life and nine percent value weight.

Originally posted on March 19, 2008 @ 11:28 pm

YouTube acocunts for 1 out of every 3 U.S. online videos viewed in January

By 1 Comment

comScore released January 2008 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, revealing that YouTube.com accounted for one-third of the 9.8 billion videos viewed online in the U.S. during the month. The total number of videos viewed in January was down slightly from the more than 10.1 billion viewed during a record-breaking December 2007.

Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property in January with nearly 3.4 billion videos viewed (34.3 percent share of videos), gaining 1.7 share points versus the previous month. YouTube.com accounted for more than 96 percent of all videos viewed at the property. Fox Interactive Media ranked second with 584 million (6 percent), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 315 million (3.2 percent) and Microsoft Sites with 199 million (2 percent).

onlinevideos.png

Originally posted on March 14, 2008 @ 10:45 am