Networking Sites’ Ad Revenue To Reach $1.86 Billion In 2010

FAST-GROWING MYSPACE.COM, WHICH NOW COUNTS around 100 million users, will take in $180 million in U.S. ad revenue this year, predicted research firm eMarketer in a report issued Wednesday.

Overall, social networking sites are expected to account for $280 million in the United States this year, or 1.7 percent of the total U.S. online ad spend, according to eMarketer. By 2010, social networking sites will likely garner $1.86 billion in online advertising in the United States, or 6.3 percent of the projected total, according to the report, “Social Network Marketing: Carving Out MySpace.”

With consumers increasingly turning to social networking sites, it’s not surprising that marketers will follow, said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the report. “Obviously, advertisers want to go where the eyeballs are,” Williamson added.

Also, she said, sites like News Corp.’s MySpace offer marketers the chance to tap into user-generated content, now considered to be in vogue. “User-generated content and word-of-mouth are two big buzzwords right now in online marketing, and social networks give marketers an opportunity to experiment with both,” she said.

The report states that most of MySpace’s ad dollars come from large-scale promotional efforts on behalf of brand advertisers, which often involve the marketers creating their own MySpace profile and sponsoring branded content. MySpace has run such branding initiatives for several marketers, including fast-food chain Wendy’s and PepsiCo’s Aquafina water, among others.

Fees from more routine display ads, by contrast, make up just a small percentage of MySpace’s total, according to eMarketer. The research firm calculated that MySpace’s fees from ad impressions alone totaled around $11.8 million for the first six months of the year. Although MySpace accounted for about 17 percent of the 193.6 billion online display impressions tracked by Nielsen//NetRatings last month, the average cost to run a thousand impressions on the site hovers around 10 cents, according to The New York Times.

MySpace’s Chief Operating Officer Peter Chernin said at a Deutsche Bank Media & Telecom conference last month that around 80 percent of the site’s advertising is sold on a run-of-site basis, while just 20 percent is sold at premium rates.

Although some marketers clearly are interested in advertising on MySpace, others continue to remain wary of the site. One reason, said Williamson, is that companies are afraid of how consumers will react to the company or its ads. “The big hurdle is accepting that if you advertise on a social network site, you’re open to getting comments–good, bad, negative, or ugly–from anybody who views your material,” she said.

Publicidade online responderá por 9% dos investimentos nos EUA

Pesquisa da Jupiter Research indica que a publicidade online nos EUA vai movimentar US$ 25,9 bilhões em 2011, representando 9% do total dos investimentos publicitários americanos. A publicidade em páginas de busca é o principal estímulo para esse crescimento.

(via BlueBus)

Classe C aumenta participação na internet

Consultoria e-bit registrou, em seu último levantamento, que a parcela de pessoas que ganham até R$ 1 mil e fazem compras na web subiu para 8%
 
A chegada em massa da classe C à internet, proporcionada pelos preços mais acessíveis dos computadores, já se reflete no perfil do consumidor virtual brasileiro. A consultoria e-bit registrou, em seu último levantamento, que a parcela de pessoas que ganham até R$ 1 mil e fazem compras na web subiu para 8%.

Desde 2001, esse público estava estagnado em torno de 6%. O mesmo estudo estima que o varejo na rede vai movimentar R$ 4 bilhões em 2006. E a venda de micros continua em ritmo acelerado. Segundo a consultoria IT Data, 638 mil máquinas foram comercializadas no Brasil em maio, o que configura um recorde histórico. No mesmo mês do ano passado, 480 mil PCs foram vendidos no País.

6% of U.S. Web Users Have Downloaded Podcasts, Says Nielsen Analytics

Podcasting Rivals Traditional Media, Yet Helps to Extend Its Reach; 38% of Active Podcasters Say They Listen to Radio Less

Hollywood, CA – July 20, 2006 - More than 6% of U. S adults, or about 9 million web users, have downloaded podcasts in the past 30 days, according to The Economics of Podcasting, a report released today by Nielsen Analytics, part of VNU’s Media Measurement & Information Group.

In a first quarter 2006 study, conducted by Nielsen Analytics at Nielsen Entertainment Television testing facilities in Las Vegas, more than 1700 participants were surveyed on their podcasting usage. About 6% of respondents described themselves as regular podcast downloaders – more than 75% of whom were male. The findings show that a significant percentage, approximately 38%, of active podcast downloaders say they are listening to radio less often.

“The incredible popularity of podcasting is the latest demonstration of consumers’ willingness to take control of their media experiences,” said Larry Gerbrandt, general manager and senior vice president of Nielsen Analytics. “While essentially still in nascent form, podcasts offer free audio and video content that is inexpensive to create, easy to access and on a portable platform that has already reached mass distribution. This exciting new medium has only just begun to stretch its legs.”

The Economics of Podcasting is the latest in a series of reports from Nielsen Analytics on the “über-media consumers” who lead the media industry in terms of trends and technology.

Among the key findings:

• The most successful podcasts are garnering as many as two million downloads a month, enabling them to attract mainstream advertising. An example — Dixie Paper Company now sponsors the Mommycast Podcast Series starring Gretchen Vogelzang and Paige Heninger.
• Overall, 60% of respondents surveyed said they “always” fast forward past commercials in their podcasts. Women were more likely to fast forward than men, with 67% saying they “always fast forward.”
• Given the ability to skip commercials, advertisers are already devising more effective means to reach consumers, such as embedding their messages within the program content or having podcast hosts endorse their products and services.
• The survey found that the average length of the podcasts being listened to was 44 minutes. This may change with the growing popularity of video podcasts, which generally tend to be shorter, said Gerbrandt.
• Some 72% of respondents who regularly download podcasts say they download an average of one to three podcasts per week. About 10% of all podcast downloaders could be characterized as “heavy users”, downloading 8 or more podcasts a week.

The Business of Podcasting
Among key findings of The Economics of Podcasting are that podcasts differ from other forms of online media delivery, such as conventional streaming and downloading. Like their largely text-based counterparts — blogs — podcasts are being adapted by a broad range of businesses and organizations.

Among the various users:

• Cable and broadcast networks are converting episodes of some of their linear programs into cost-effective, short audio and video podcasts to serve as previews and promotions.
• Movie studios are exploring the potential of podcasting to market films and DVDs, such as a recent podcast promoting Paramount’s Nacho Libre that features its star, Jack Black.
• Financial service firms, such as McDonald Investments and The Motley Fool, offer free podcasts on a variety of finance-related subjects.
• The online travel agency, Orbitz, offers audio descriptions of travel destinations as a marketing tool.
• With laptops and portable media players as ubiquitous on college campuses as textbooks, professors are making their lectures and class notes available as podcasts.

Measuring Podcast Usage
The findings of this study also point to the importance of measuring podcast usage, so advertisers and the media industry will have a comprehensive picture of who is using this innovative digital multimedia content.

“For podcasting to reach its full potential, we will have to find the best ways to keep track of its audiences,” added Gerbrandt. “That means developing accurate and comprehensive metrics that will allow podcast producers, distributors and advertisers to answer questions like: ‘Who are we reaching?’ ‘With what kinds of content?’ ‘When and how often?’”

To that end, Nielsen Media Research, as part of its recently announced Anywhere Anytime Media Measurement (A2M2) initiative, is launching several projects that will explore how best to collect and measure podcasting data.

The first project, to be launched this fall, will measure a panel of 400 iPod ® users by utilizing a software application that can be downloaded onto a PC and interface with iTunes software. Each time an iPod is connected to a computer to sync with iTunes, Nielsen will record all content accessed, and will provide detailed usage information.

Starting in the second half of 2007, Nielsen also will begin testing its “Solo Meters” for portable media devices. The new meters will track audio and video usage on mobile platforms, whether users connect via BlueTooth® technology or a wired headset.

YouTube is World’s Fastest Growing Website

More amazing YouTube stats: YouTube is now the world’s fastest growing website, with traffic increasing by 75% last week. According to Nielsen/NetRatings, the site grew from 7.3 million to 12.8 million unique visitors – what’s more, traffic is up 297% since January.

Visitors are also spending more time on the site and viewing many more pages: pageviews increased by more than 5 times over the same period, up from 11.8 million in January to 72.4 million in June. Users now spend an average of 28 minutes (!) on the site – back in January, the average session was only 17 minutes. This comes right after the news from Hitwise that YouTube is now serving 100 million videos per day. The average YouTube user is male and aged 12-17.

Mais consumidores brs de baixa renda estao comprando online

Dados preliminares divulgados esta noite pela ebit, de pesquisa e marketing online, indicam maior participaçao de consumidores de menor poder aquisitivo no ecommerce nacional. Pessoas com renda familiar de até R$ 1,000 sao responsaveis hoje por 8% do total das compras no varejo online brasileiro.

Correspondiam a 6% há 5 anos. No grupo dos consumidores com renda entre R$ 1,000 e R$ 3,000, o crescimento foi maior – passou de 32% em 2001 para 37% este ano. A popularizaçao das vendas online pode ser verificada também na queda do valor da renda media do consumidor brasileiro que compra na web – era de R$ 4,014 há 5 anos e recuou para R$ 3,683 em 2006.

Ainda de acordo com a ebit, o varejo online brasileiro fechou o 1o semestre com crescimento nominal de 79% no faturamento, na comparaçao com o mesmo periodo de 2005. Nos 6 primeiros meses do ano as vendas pela internet movimentaram R$ 1,75 bilhao. Alem do aumento no numero de consumidores comprando na web, a pesquisa indica ainda outros fatores de influência para o crescimento do ecommerce – a maior frequência de compra por parte de quem já utilizava o comércio eletrônico e a entrada de grandes empresas – como Pernambucanas – no varejo online. (via BlueBus)

YouTube serves up 100 million videos daily online

YouTube, the leader in Internet video search, said on Sunday viewers have are now watching more than 100 million videos per day on its site, marking the surge in demand for its “snack-sized” video fare.

Since springing from out of nowhere late last year, YouTube has come to hold the leading position in online video with 29 percent of the U.S. multimedia entertainment market, according to the latest weekly data from Web measurement site Hitwise.

YouTube videos account for 60 percent of all videos watched online, the company said. Videos are delivered free on YouTube and the company is still working on developing advertising and other means of generating revenue to support the business.

The site specializes in short — typically 2-minute — homemade, comic videos created by users. YouTube serves as a quick entertainment break or viewers with broadband computer connections at work or home.

News Corp.’s MySpace, the social networking site popular with teens, has a nearly 19 percent share of the market according to Hitwise. Yahoo, Microsoft’s MSN, Google and AOL each have 3 percent to 5 percent of the video search market. Collectively, these four major Web portals have a smaller share than either YouTube or MySpace.

In June, 2.5 billion videos were watched on YouTube, which is based in San Mateo, California and has just over 30 employees. More than 65,000 videos are now uploaded daily to YouTube, up from around 50,000 in May, the company said.

YouTube boasts nearly 20 million unique users per month, according to Nielsen//NetRatings, another Internet audience measurement firm.

Reuters/VNU

Podcast Users Outnumber Bloggers

U.S. ADULTS WHO DOWNLOAD PODCASTS now outnumber those who publish blogs, according to new data by Nielsen//NetRatings. More than 9.2 million Web users, or 6.6 percent of U.S. adult Web users, have downloaded an audio podcast in the last 30 days, compared to 6.7 million users (4.8 percent) who published blogs in that time, according to the research company. Nielsen//NetRatings also reported that around 5.6 million online adults (4 percent) have downloaded a video podcast in the last 30 days.

Podcast downloaders tend to be younger than the online population at large. Web users between the ages 18 and 24 are 72 percent more likely than the average Web user to listen to audio podcasts and 47 percent more likely to view video podcasts. Users older than 45 were less likely than average to listen or view podcasts.

Web users who use podcasts are far more likely to visit certain content sites than the average Web user, according to Nielsen//NetRatings. Those who use audio podcasts are 506 percent more likely than average to visit Macworld, 453 percent more likely to visit Lycos Wired News, and 444 percent more likely to visit Slashdot.

Video podcast users were 764 percent more likely than the average user to visit StarTrek.com, a CBS Paramount site based on the 40-year-old “Star Trek” TV franchise. Video podcast users were also 630 percent more likely than average to visit Live365.com, and 624 percent more likely than average to visit Fark.com.

Site oficial da Copa registrou 4,2 bilhões de page views

 A Fifa e o Yahoo divulgaram os números de audiência ao site oficial da Copa – fifaworldcup.com.

Os 4,2 bilhões de page views representam mais do que o dobro do que tinha sido registrado em 2002.

Outros números:
- mais de 138 milhões de transmissões de vídeo
- 73 milhões de page views através do celular.

ZenithOptimedia: Online Ad Spending To Surpass $32b In ‘08

INTERNET AD SPENDING WILL RISE to $32.5 billion in 2008, up 36 percent from this year’s estimated $23.9 billion, according to a report issued Monday by ZenithOptimedia. The report pegged last year’s online ad spend at $18.5 billion–considerably higher than the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s estimate of $12.5 billion. ZenithOptimedia estimated that financial services advertisers were the biggest online spenders last year, accounting for $1.6 billion; telecommunications companies were a close second, with $1.5 billion in online ad spending, followed by retailers ($1.3 billion), car companies ($700 million), and pharmaceuticals ($300,000).