Driven by Search, Wikipedia's US Traffic Increases 8,000% in 5 Years

Four of the five top referring websites to Wikipedia — which grew almost 8,000 percent over the last five years — are search engines, led by Google, according to (pdf) an analysis by Nielsen Online, writes MarketingCharts. In April, 61 percent of visitors from home, and 66 percent of visitors from work, to English-language Wikipedia (en.wikipedia.org) […]

Posted: Friday, May 16th, 2008

US Business Elite Embraces Online Media

To meet their information needs, American senior executives have become voracious users of all media channels — including online video, blogs and podcasts — according to a study by Ipsos MediaCT, MarketingCharts reports. The Business Elite Study explores the media habits, attitudes, opinions, business and personal purchasing habits of America's "C-Suite," surveying executives and C-Suite […]

Posted: Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

Clear Channel Expands Offerings at Radio Sites

Clear Channel Radio has introduced a host of features to its station websites, tailored for both listeners and advertisers. The first of the offerings, Erockstar, debuted two weeks ago and allows people to create playlists or upload music in a social networking environment. Clear Channel has since partnered with Gracenote to avail lyrics for each song, by […]

Posted: Monday, May 12th, 2008

Web 2.0 Proves Handy for Integrating Brand and Direct Marketing

Web 2.0 paves the way for integrating direct and brand marketing, enabling real-time dialog with customers and the joint creation of content that improves brand awareness and perception. More importantly, all that work can generate sales and leads, according to a new report, MarketingCharts writes. "New Media Emergence in DM & Brand," a report from the […]

Posted: Friday, May 2nd, 2008

Gays, Lesbians More Receptive to Blog Ads than Heterosexuals

Online gay and lesbian adults read more blogs than heterosexuals — 51 percent vs. 36 percent — and are more receptive to blog advertising, according to an online national survey by Harris Interactive and Witeck-Combs Communications, writes MarketingCharts. A similar question on blog readership was asked in November 2006, when 32 percent of gay and […]

Posted: Monday, April 28th, 2008

Consumers Use Social Media to Vent about Customer Service

To make purchasing decisions, affluent online consumers use social media channels to share customer-service experiences and learn about others', according to a new study from the Society for New Communications Research, MarketingCharts reports. Some 59% of survey respondents use social media to "vent" about customer-care experiences. Over 300 active internet users participated in the survey, sponsored […]

Posted: Thursday, April 24th, 2008

BuzzLogic Takes Activeweave Under its Wing

BuzzLogic has announced intentions to purchase Activeweave. Activeweave's BlogRovR, a browser plugin, analyzes the sites a user visits, then delivers links to related stories written by top bloggers. This technology will help improve BuzzLogic's Conversation Targeting system, which identifies sites that publish stories about topics pertinent to an ad campaign, then targets accordingly. The acquisition of […]

Posted: Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Enterprise Web 2.0 Market to Hit $4.6B in 2013

Enterprise spend on "Web 2.0" technology will surge in the next five years, reaching $764 million in 2008 and at a 43 percent compound annual growth rate. Spend shall approach $4.6 billion globally in 2013, despite a future marked by commoditization, according to Forrester Research, MarketingCharts reports. "Global Enterprise Web 2.0 Market Forecast: 2007 To 2013" […]

Posted: Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008

Top 10 US Social-Network and Blog-Site Rankings Issued for March

Top US social-networking site MySpace.com's audience was up 8 percent in March compared with March '07, but second-place Facebook's doubled, growing 98 percent from a year earlier, according to custom lists compiled by Nielsen Online, writes MarketingCharts. LinkedIn increased its unique audience a whopping 319 percent from a year earlier, reaching nearly 7.9 million in […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Spammers Crack CAPTCHA; ReCAPTCHA to the Rescue?

SecurityLabs has written an analysis on how spammers increasingly evade Captcha to impersonate humans with bots. CAPTCHA, or "the Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart," is a common line of defense against comment spam and false registrations on websites. Last year CAPTCHA released a means to correct digitized books while checking for […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008

Six Apart Contributes to Ad Network Orgy

Blogging software vendor Six Apart has created an ad network to help bloggers monetize their sites. The opportunity is exclusive to blogs using software packages on its network, which includes Vox, TypePad and LiveJournal, which was recently sold to a Russian firm. Movable Type bloggers are not included. The newly minted Six Apart Media will use tools […]

Posted: Monday, April 21st, 2008

Older Web Users: Online Content, Ads Aimed at Young

Most internet users age 45 or older say content online serves less their needs and interests than those of younger persons, according to (pdf) a Burst Media survey on the availability of age-appropriate online content, website design and targeted advertising, writes MarketingCharts. Still, 67.7 percent of all respondents say their daily routine would be disrupted […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 15th, 2008

Yahoo to AMP Up Online Publisher Opportunities

Yahoo has revealed news of a new online ad system intended to improve affiliate sales for graphical and other forms of premium advertising. The system, dubbed AMP (formerly Apex), enables marketers to put ads on their sites, Yahoo sites, and sites participating in Yahoo's publisher network. Ads may target audiences by demographic profile, geography or online […]

Posted: Monday, April 7th, 2008

Federated Media May Be Worth $200 Million

Blog-driven ad network Federated Media is rumored to have raised $50 million at a $200 million pre-money valuation from Oak Hill Capital Partners, according to VentureBeat. Investment firm Savvian reportedly helped broker the deal. The firm is said to have generated between $20 million and $23 million in revenue last year and expects to make $60 million […]

Posted: Monday, April 7th, 2008

Gentoo Awarded Nearly $200K for 'Net Libel Damages; Representative Demands Web Publisher Conduct Code

Gentoo Sunderland, formerly the Sunderland Housing Group, has been awarded £100,000 (about $199,434) in compensation for cyber harassment. This is the highest amount ever awarded in the UK for internet libel damages. Several years ago the firm was targeted by anonymous website Dad's Place, which made "seriously defamatory allegations ranging from corruption to nepotism and the […]

Posted: Friday, April 4th, 2008

Influential Online Hispanic Consumers: Super 'E-fluentials'

Influential online consumers ("e-fluentials") among Hispanics use the internet to connect with friends and family, as well as share views about products and brands — often in higher proportions than other e-fluentials, according to a Burson-Marsteller study, writes MarketingCharts. Below are key findings from the study. Online Interaction High "Hispanic-fluentials" spend more time interacting with others online […]

Posted: Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

Environmental Action, Sustainability Hot Blogosphere Topics

Online sustainability buzz grew 50 percent in '07. People are using the internet to air concerns about green issues, focusing primarily on personal actions (e.g., recycling, carpooling, avoiding excess packaging) — noted Nielsen Online in a recent report (pdf), writes MarketingCharts. Top 10 Sustainability Topics Topics ranked by number of messages among sustainability bloggers, Jan. 1 - […]

Posted: Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008

Social Media Marketing Still Lacks Strong Metrics

Companies adopt social media as a marketing tool but struggle to find effective metrics, writes Paul Gillin (author of The New Influencers) in a report issued by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR), MarketingCharts writes. "New Media, New Influencers, and Implications for the Public Relations Profession" is based on findings from a survey of […]

Posted: Tuesday, April 1st, 2008

Alternative Media Poised for Strong Growth in '08, Despite Slowing Economy

Spending on alternative media in the US jumped 22.0 percent from 2006 levels to reach $73.43 billion in 2007. That rapid growth is expected to continue in 2008 despite a slowing economy, according to a new report from PQ Media, MarketingCharts writes. Alternative media, including 18 digital and non-traditional media segments, accounted for 16.1 percent of […]

Posted: Thursday, March 27th, 2008

McD's Employees Encouraged to Pen Burger Blogs

To sustain strong sales and encourage communication between far-flung workers, McDonald's has launched an internal blog called Station M, MediaBuyerPlanner reports. The site allows the employees of its 15,000 US and Canadian stores to discuss new products and various burger-related issues. Content is provided in English, Spanish and French. The blog was created after an evaluation process […]

Posted: Tuesday, March 25th, 2008