Archived News

December 1, 2011 Paid Search Spending Increased 23% from Previous Year This Cyber Monday, Kenshoo Reports According to a report by Kenshoo, online search advertising spend increased 23% year-over-year on Cyber Monday, while oline retail revenue driven from search advertising increased 6%.

November 28, 2011 Bargain Hunters Undismayed by Economy, Huge Lines, Consumer Electronics Daily Reports Despite predictions of consumer pushback against early Black Friday pandemonium, midnight openings appeared to have drawn even more than the customary hordes of bargain hunters, according to Consumer Electronics Daily's annual check of shopping venues and interviews with dozens of patient shoppers.

November 10, 2011 DMA Fighting Postal Threats to Marketers' Businesses The Direct Marketing Associations has sent out a letter to its membership, encouraging participation and support of efforts in Washington, DC.

November 7, 2011 More Than 40% of Mobile Subscribers Use Browsers and Applications, According to comScore A new study by comScore, Inc. found 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices, with Samsung as e the top handset manufacturer overall with 25.3% market share.

November 7, 2011 Retailer Digital Marketing Spending to Increase Across All Channels in 2012, e-tailing group Finds While traditional digital channels such as search and email continue to dominate retailer marketing spending, social and mobile channels are growing in importance, according to findings of a study by the e-tailing group.

November 7, 2011 Smart Spending Top of Mind This Holiday Season, Visa Survey Says Smart holiday spending is top of mind according to a new survey by Visa Inc. 58% of respondents say a holiday budget will be in place before they begin shopping this season, 10% more than last year. Only seven percent said they expect to have more to spend this year, while 31 percent will have less to spend.

November 4, 2011 Only 43% of Shoppers Claim to 'Buy the Brand They Want Most,' comScore Reports According to a new survey by comScore, as the economic downturn has continued, the percent of shoppers who typically buy the brands they “want most” steadily declined across the categories examined. The 2011 survey results reveal 43% of shoppers claiming to buy the brand they want most, down 11 points since 2008.

November 4, 2011 Big Banks at Risk on 'Bank Transfer Day,' Harris Poll Shows According to Harris Interactive, big banks may be vulnerable to losing customers to credit unions on November 5, Bank Transfer Day, when, according to social media, tens of thousands have signed up to drop Big Banks in favor of joining a credit union. While credit unions enjoy best in class customer retention rates (87% Extremely/Very Likely to Continue), the nation's largest banks fail to engender the same degrees of loyalty from their customers.

November 4, 2011 Samsung Takes Top Spot as Smartphone Market Grows 42.6% in Q3, According to IDC The worldwide smartphone market grew 42.6% year over year in the third quarter of 2011, despite a slowdown within key mature markets. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), vendors shipped 118.1 million units in 3Q11 compared to 82.8 million units in the 3Q10.

November 4, 2011 Customer Satisfaction with Health Insurance Websites is Dismal, ForeSee Study Shows ForeSee has released its fourth annual healthcare benchmark, showing that health insurance websites vastly underperform other kinds of healthcare sites. Health insurance companies receive an aggregate satisfaction score of 51 on the report’s 100-point scale, placing the industry far behind other healthcare categories measured in the benchmark.

November 3, 2011 Mobile Coupon Redemption to Top $43 Billion by 2016, Jupiter Research Finds A new report from Juniper Research has found that the total redemption value of mobile coupons will exceed $43 billion globally by 2016 as coupons are increasingly delivered by mobile apps. This is an eightfold increase from $5.4bn in value to be redeemed this year.

November 3, 2011 UK Small Businesses Spend 30% of Marketing Budget on Online Media, BIA/Kelsey Reports Small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK spent an average of £1,406 to advertise and market their businesses during the past 12 months, according to a new study by BIA/Kelsey. Respondents to the online survey reported spending 30.3% of their total advertising and promotion budget on online media.

November 3, 2011 Many Marketers Don't Measure Social Media Impact, Pardot Survey Finds B-to-B marketers are spending millions of dollars annually on social marketing programs, though nearly 30 percent are not tracking the impact of social media programs on lead generation and sales, according to a survey conducted earlier this month by cloud marketing automation software vendor Pardot.

November 3, 2011 Increase in Mobile and Online Shopping Projected for Holiday Season, PriceGrabber Survey Shows According to a new survey by PriceGrabber, when consumers were asked to select all of the ways in which they will shop for gifts, 90% indicated they will shop online from a computer, up slightly from 89% in 2010. Forty-eight percent will shop in brick-and-mortar stores — down from 65% in 2010 — and 13 percent will shop online from a mobile device, compared with 9% last year.

November 2, 2011 Mobile Banking App-Use Up 45%, comScore Reports comScore, Inc. has released an analysis of mobile financial services usage in the US showing that 32.5 million Americans accessed mobile banking information on their devices at the end of Q2 2011 in June, representing 13.9% of all mobile users. The study also revealed that 12.7 million mobile users reported using banking apps, showing a notable increase of 45% from Q4 2010.

November 2, 2011 Localized Marketing Crucial Focus for Brands Localized marketing is becoming a critical area of strategic focus and competitive advantage for brands, reports the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council. Just 12% of marketers believe they have highly evolved campaigns and analytics on a local level in contrast to nearly 50% who see themselves as underperforming or needing new strategic thinking and capability development in local marketing.

November 2, 2011 YouTube Trumps Facebook, Harris Study Finds YouTube is the highest ranked social media brand in equity among Americans 13 to 24 years old, based on results from the 2012 Harris Poll Youth EquiTrend study from Harris Interactive. However, when social media is compared to television, Kids TV Programming and Broadcast TV Network brands garner higher equity scores in general.

November 2, 2011 Smartphones Drive Nearly 5% of European Digital Traffic comScore, Inc. has released an overview of the mobile and connected device landscape across five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom). The data shows cross-platform digital media consumption on the rise in the region, buoyed by the growth in adoption of smartphones, tablets and other non-computer web-enabled devices, collectively termed “connected devices.” In August 2011, these devices drove 4.6 percent of total digital traffic in the EU5, fuelled primarily by the use of smartphones.

October 12, 2011 Digital Era Transforming CMO's Agenda, Revealing Gap in Readiness, IBM Study Finds A new IBM study of more than 1,700 chief marketing officers from 64 countries and 19 industries reveals that the majority of the world’s top marketing executives recognize a critical and permanent shift occurring in the way they engage with their customers, but question whether their marketing organizations are prepared to manage the change.

September 21, 2011 Tablet Shipments to Reach 253 Million by 2016, Says Juniper Research A new report by analyst firm Juniper Research forecasts that tablet shipments will reach 253 million by 2016, nearly a five-fold increase from the 55.2 million tablets the company expects to reach the market in 2011.

September 21, 2011 Only 81% of Email Reaches the Inbox, According to Return Path Findings of a new report by Return Path indicate that email deliverability still plagues commercial email senders worldwide, with only 81% of all permissioned email making it to the inbox.

September 21, 2011 Social Commerce Driving Higher Sales and Conversion Rates Despite Economy, Jessops Finds Reevoo partner Jessops reports that social commerce tools have driven conversion rates up by 10% - 15% and that the level of business conducted online has increased from 8% to 28% in just 18 months.

September 21, 2011 82% of Americans Are Changing Their Shopping Behavior This Holiday Season, SteelHouse Reports People are changing their shopping behavior and will spend less overall this holiday season, according to a new survey from SteelHouse. 82% of survey respondents said their shopping behavior will change this holiday season

September 13, 2011 US Advertising Expenditures Increased 3.2% in First Half Of 2011, Kantar Media Reports Total advertising expenditures in the first six months of 2011 increased 3.2% from a year ago and finished the period at $71.5 billion, according to data released by Kantar Media. Spending growth eased slightly during the second quarter and was up 2.8% compared to last year.

September 13, 2011 Email and Social Media Together Improve Click Rates, List Growth for Small Businesses, Constant Contact Reports Small businesses that combine email marketing with social media marketing are more successful with their marketing campaigns than those who use email alone, according to new data from Constant Contact, Inc.

August 23, 2011 comScore Ranks Top 50 US Web Properties; Americans Flock to Ticket-Sites comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top online properties for July 2011 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Ticket sites were popular in July as Americans looked for summer entertainment at concerts and sporting events, while back-to-school shopping created a flurry of activity at Consumer Goods and Apparel sites.

August 23, 2011 Mobile Video Calling Users to Exceed 130 Million by 2016, Finds Juniper The prospects of mobile video calling have improved in the last eighteen months due to the launch of mobile video calling services by major industry players, increased availability of front-facing cameras on smartphones and underlying technology improvements finds a recently released study by Juniper Research.

August 23, 2011 IWCO Direct Announces Expanded Executive Roles IWCO Direct, a leading national provider of direct marketing solutions, announced that Executive Vice President - Chief Financial Officer Joseph F. Morrison will take on an expanded role as President. Executive Vice President – Sales & Client Services Patrick Deck has been named Executive Vice President - Chief Marketing Officer. James N. Andersen will continue as Chief Executive Officer and will devote additional energies to IWCO Direct’s growth strategies. Tom Wicka, who has served as Executive Vice President – Chief Marketing Officer, will continue to provide leadership as a member of the Board of Directors.

August 22, 2011 Retailers Must Look Beyond Awareness and Traditional Themes, Motista Data Suggests New data released by Motista suggests that retailers should look beyond the traditional set of holiday emotions such as family and giving to understand what’s really motivating consumers to spend more. The data also reveals different ways in which men and women interact and connect with retailers, which may be useful as retailers plan their holiday marketing campaigns.

August 16, 2011 USPS Proposes to Revise Standards on Folded Self-Mailers and Unenveloped Mailpieces As published in the Federal Register, the Postal Service proposes to revise the Mailing Standards of the United States Postal Service, Domestic Mail Manual (DMM) to provide standards for creating folded self-mailers (FSM) and other unenveloped mailpieces such as forms, statements, and official notices that will improve processing of these pieces on automated Postal processing equipment.

August 15, 2011 US Mobile Video Viewership Has Grown 40%, Millennial Media Reports Millennial Media has released its 50th mobile intelligence report. Highlights of the report include the finding that the number of US mobile video viewers has grown 40% year-over-year, according to Nielsen.

August 10, 2011 Personalized Messages Four Times More Effective than Time-, Lifestyle- or Location-Based Offers, Upstream Study Finds A new study from Upstream reveals that mobile advertisements that are tailored to respondents' "tastes and interests" far out-perform other offers that are based on time, lifestyle, or location.

August 10, 2011 Google Wallet and NFC Smartphones Spark Buzz Around Retail Contactless Technology, Says ABI Research Recent developments in contactless payment technology are generating renewed interest, and suggest that the long-delayed dream of comprehensive contactless payment systems may finally be approaching reality. The introduction of Google Wallet and the expectation that several new NFC-enabled smartphones will reach consumer markets soon have created a sense of optimism.

August 8, 2011 E-Commerce Spending Reached $37.5 Billion in Q2, Up 14% from Year Ago, comScore Reports comScore, Inc. has released its Q2 2011 US retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $37.5 billion for the quarter, up 14% versus a year ago.

August 8, 2011 Linear Mobile Barcode Scanning Traffic to Rise during Back-to-School and Holiday, ABI Reports 2D barcodes attract market interest and media hype, but after more than 40 years of use conventional 1D linear barcodes are still useful, ubiquitous, and remain important in mobile barcode scanning applications, especially in late Q3 and Q4 2011, according to ABI Research.

August 8, 2011 US Postal Service Loss Continues in Third Quarter The US Postal Service ended its third quarter of fiscal year (FY) 2011 (April 1-June 30) with a net loss of $3.1 billion, compared to a net loss of $3.5 billion for the same period in FY 2010. Total mail volume declined to 39.8 billion pieces for the quarter, compared to 40.9 billion pieces in the third quarter of FY 2010.

August 8, 2011 CAS, Inc. Continues Growth, Adds Jared Wright as Director of Bus. Development CAS, an Omaha based list marketing and data processing company has announced the addition of a new member to its executive team. Jared Wright joined the company as director of business development in July. CAS is proud to welcome Wright, a dynamic professional who will help guide the company's continued growth.

July 29, 2011 Citi Launches Credit Card with No Late Fees or Penalty Rate More than half of consumers have paid a bill late in their lifetime, according to the Citi Simplicity Survey. Citi Cards has announced it is introducing the Citi Simplicity Card to US consumers, with a single rate across all purchases, balance transfers and cash advances, no late fees, and no penalty rate.

July 28, 2011 Travel Sites Witness Seasonal Surge as Summertime Officially Commences, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US web activity at the top online properties for June 2011 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Several Travel subcategories ranked among the top-gainers in June as summertime officially began. Sporting Goods and Toy sites also saw gains as parents looked for ways to keep their kids occupied during the summer recess.

July 27, 2011 Majority of US and UK Consumers Trust Their Banks Post-Recession, Pitney Bowes Reveals Pitney Bowes Business Insight has announced a study revealing that 57% of consumers in the US and the UK trust their banks overall. According to the study, trust in the marketing communications of a service provider determines up to 23% of a customer’s overall trust in the provider.

July 26, 2011 Would You Like to Make a Call? Consumers Say, 'No Thanks' CloudTalk Survey Would you believe making calls is not the first or even second thing consumers choose to do when using their mobile devices? How about that it ranks near the bottom of the top five smart phone uses? Believe it or not, that’s exactly the case, according to an informal survey conducted by CloudTalk.

July 25, 2011 Despite Privacy Issues, Location Analytics Market Forecast to Reach $9 Billion in 2016, ABI Research Finds As a result of the recent “locationgate” controversy (centering on Apple’s and others’ logging of the location of mobile devices as they are used by consumers) the location-based services (LBS) and advertising (LBA) markets have come under intense scrutiny, with privacy legislation a major focus.

July 25, 2011 The Big Ad Gig Returns - Atmosphere Proximity and The New York Times Launch Call for Entries Eight young advertising creatives will once again compete to win a 30-day paid freelance position with the return of The Big Ad Gig (www.thebigadgig.com), to Advertising Week 2011, produced in association with Atmosphere Proximity and The New York Times.

July 22, 2011 Video Content Views Surpass Six Billion for First Time, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 178 million US Internet users watched online video content in June for an average of 16.8 hours per viewer. The total US Internet audience engaged in more than 6.2 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month, an all-time high.

July 21, 2011 Media Tablets Have the Opportunity to Transform the Enterprise, According to IDC Canada According to IDC Canada, Businesses represent a small portion of the media tablet market to date, but the opportunity and potential for these devices to transform the enterprise is huge.

July 20, 2011 comScore Releases June 2011 US Search Engine Rankings; Google Sites Lead comScore, Inc. has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in June with 65.5% of search queries conducted.

July 19, 2011 Mobile Cloud Enterprise Revenues to Reach $39 Billion by 2016, Juniper Research Finds A new report from Juniper Research has found that annual revenues derived from mobile cloud based enterprise services are expected to reach $39 billion by 2016 as mobile network operators increasingly offer corporate clients an array of unified communications suites.

July 18, 2011 Facebook Users Are More Trusting, Pew Survey Finds New national survey findings by Pew Research suggest that use of social networking sites is growing and that those who use these sites, especially Facebook users, have higher measures of social well-being.

July 15, 2011 Media Tablet Sales Lag Optimistic Q1 Targets, But Forecast Remains Strong, Finds IDC Worldwide media tablet shipments into sales channels fell by 28% on a sequential basis in the first calendar quarter of 2011 (1Q11) to 7.2 million units worldwide, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet and eReader Tracker. Looking forward, however, IDC raised its shipment forecast for 2011 to 53.5 million units from a previous projection of 50.4 million units.

July 15, 2011 Worldwide PC Shipments Increased 2.3% in Second Quarter of 2011, Gartner Says Worldwide PC shipments surpassed 85.2 million units in the second quarter of 2011, a 2.3% increase from the same period last year, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. These results are below Gartner's earlier projection for 6.7% growth.

July 15, 2011 Free Standing Insert (FSI) Coupon Activity Decreased 3.9% in First Half of 2011, Kantar Reports Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupon activity decreased 3.9% based on Coupons Dropped during the first six months of 2011 versus the same time period a year ago according to Marx, a Kantar Media solution.

July 15, 2011 Tension Launches New Brand Identity to Highlight Expanded Technology, Services, and Global Presence Tension Envelope Corporation, for years an industry leader in envelope design, printing, and manufacturing, has announced an updated brand identity that includes a new naming convention, refreshed logo, and tagline.

July 14, 2011 Mobile Payments Market to Almost Triple by 2015, Reaching $670 Billion, Juniper Reports A new study from Juniper Research has determined that the total value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and NFC (Near Field Communications) transactions will reach $670bn by 2015, up from $240bn this year. These forecasts represent the gross merchandise value of all purchases or the value of money being transferred.

July 13, 2011 366 Million Unique Visitors Went Online in Europe in May, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released an overview of Internet usage in Europe, showing 366.9 million unique visitors went online in May 2011 for an average of 26.8 hours per person.

July 12, 2011 Additional $1.85 Billion Spent on Video Game Content for First Quarter 2011, NPD Research Shows According to The NPD Group, in addition to the $2.03 billion spent in the US by consumers on new physical video and PC game software in the first quarter of 2011, the total consumer spend on content via other monetization methods, including used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games, is estimated at $1.85 billion.

July 11, 2011 Apple's App Store Downloads Top 15 Billion Apple has announced that over 15 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store by the more than 200 million iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch users worldwide. The App Store offers more than 425,000 apps and developers have created an incredible array of over 100,000 native iPad apps.

July 11, 2011 Global Ad Spend up 8.8% in Q1 2011 as Advertisers Increase TV Spend, Nielsen Reports According to Nielsen, Global advertising rose 8.8% year-on-year in Q1 to total USD 118 billion based on published rate cards, as advertisers spent more on television and continued to invest in booming consumer Asian and Latin American markets.

July 11, 2011 Men and Women Show Different Priorities in Selecting Brands, NPD Reports According to The NPD Group, while men and women share many of the same priorities when it comes to selecting brands, they differ in important ways and that represents opportunities for manufacturers who recognize and then leverage these unique requirements.

July 11, 2011 Global Search Ad Spending Slows in Q2 Covario Study Finds Covario, Inc. has issued its quarterly Global Search Advertising Spend Analysis, which found that second quarter growth in paid search ad spending among a selection of high-tech and consumer electronics companies slowed to 7% versus the same period last year.

July 8, 2011 Viewers Still Prefer 'Live' Content Over Connected TV Technology, Knowledge Networks Finds Though connected TV technology can now be found in almost two in five TV households, new Knowledge Networks findings reveal that viewers of all age groups still prefer "live" TV over "high-control" technologies.

July 7, 2011 Reliance on Smartphones Driving Changes in Consumers' Purchase Habits, ExactTarget Finds A new study released by ExactTarget finds that more than half of US consumers who’ve made at least one purchase on their smartphone have done so based on a marketing message delivered via mobile email.

July 6, 2011 Advertisers Are Buying Local; According to New Research by Topix Topix, a leading local forum site in the US, has announced new research that shows the market for geo-targeted online advertising is booming, as indicated by 90% of advertising professionals surveyed stating their clients are buying more geographically-targeted online ads in 2011 than ever before.

July 5, 2011 Amazon.com, Apple Stores Gain Significant Ground in Latest Top Retailers Report The view from the top hasn’t changed much, but the nation’s largest retailers are keeping a watchful eye on two companies that continue to make significant advances on their coveted territory -- Amazon and Apple --according to the STORES Top 100 Retailers.

July 1, 2011 Consumer Confidence in Technology Increased in June, According to CEA Index Consumer confidence in technology spending rose in June, according to the latest data released today from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The CEA Indexes also showed that consumer sentiment in the overall economy dropped to its lowest level in 10 months.

June 22, 2011 comScore Ranks Top 50 US Web Properties for May 2011: Summer Travel Plans Drive Gains at Car Rental Sites comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top online properties for May 2011 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Mother’s Day prompted sons and daughters nationwide to shop for bouquets and other gifts on Flowers/Gifts/Greetings sites, as well as send loving e-cards. As the summer months neared, Americans looked ahead to book travel plans at Car Rental sites.

June 22, 2011 Yankee Group Unveils New European Mobile User Study: Mobile Users are Multi-Device-Savvy Yankee Group's 2011 European Mobile User Study finds 40% of consumers who intend to buy a smartphone as their next mobile device will choose an iPhone. Android-based devices come in second, followed by BlackBerry and Nokia.

June 16, 2011 Infogroup President and CEO Clare Hart to Moderate Panel at DMA's ALL FOR ONE Summit Infogroup, a leading provider of targeted high-value sales and marketing data, global research, market intelligence and innovative digital engagement solutions, has announced that the company’s president and CEO Clare Hart will moderate a panel at the Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) ALL FOR ONE Summit. The panel is entitled “Is Your Organization Up to the Challenge of Integration?” and will be held at 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday, June 21, the second day of the summit.

June 15, 2011 Digital Becomes 'New Normal' Fueled by Rising Collaboration Across Entertainment & Media Industry, Says PwC As we move into the golden age of the empowered consumer, the demand for digital experiences is increasing and becoming the norm, according to PwC’s Global entertainment and media outlook: 2011-2015 (Outlook) – a comprehensive five-year outlook for global consumer spending and advertising revenues directly related to entertainment and media content – released today.

June 15, 2011 Canada Post Forced to Shut Down Urban Operations Nationwide Following 12 days of increasingly costly and damaging rotating strikes being carried out by the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canada Post has announced it has suspended operations across the country. Canada Post says that the accelerating decline in volumes and revenue combined with the inability to deliver mail on a timely and safe basis has left the company with no choice but to make this decision.

June 9, 2011 Mobile Media Nearing Mainstream, Knowledge Networks Reports On-the-go use of the Internet and apps is approaching mainstream status, according to new research from Knowledge Networks. The study shows that 38% of US homes now have at least one Internet- or app-capable mobile device, such as a smartphone, tablet, or iPod Touch.

June 9, 2011 Consumers and Brands Both Benefiting from Daily Deals Websites, According to ConsumerSearch.com According to a new survey released by ConsumerSearch.com, sentiment towards “daily deal” websites is decidedly positive, with consumer interest, participation, and satisfaction on high. Businesses are also generating repeat visits as a result of offering discounts through these sites.

June 9, 2011 90% of Consumers Already Own or Are Considering Purchasing a Tablet, Samsung Mobile Finds Samsung Mobile has announced the results of an online survey that showed that mobile tablets are becoming the new must-have device for an overwhelming majority of Americans. The survey revealed that 90% of US consumers either already own a tablet or would consider buying one.

June 7, 2011 Old Brand Rules, Finds Hub Magazine Survey The older a brand is, the stronger its identity tends to be, according to a new survey of marketing executives to be published in The Hub Magazine. The survey presented marketers with 30 pairs of brands and asked them to select the one they deemed to be stronger.

June 7, 2011 Over-the-Air TV Homes Now Include 46 Million Consumers, Knowledge Neworks Finds According to new research by Knowledge Networks (KN), the number of Americans now relying exclusively on over-the-air (OTA) TV broadcasting in their home increased to almost 46 million, up from 42 million just a year ago. The survey also found that the demographics of broadcast-only households skew towards younger adults, minorities and lower-income families.

June 7, 2011 Communications is Leading Driver of Trust, Reports Pitney Bowes Pitney Bowes Business Insight, has released a new research study illustrating that communications from a service provider is one of the leading influencers of trust. Customer communications drives more than 20% percent of overall trust of the company, according to the research.

June 3, 2011 Digital Era Enables Chinese Marketers to Leapfrog, According to Z.H. Studio The digital era, in the view of marketers and industry observers, has put Chinese advertising and marketing firms on a "level playing field" with their more established international competitors, according to a recent report by Z. H. STUDIO.

June 2, 2011 House Energy and Commerce Committee Plans Comprehensive Review of Data Security and Electronic Privacy The House Energy and Commerce Committee has announced that it is launching a thorough review of data security and electronic privacy issues affecting American businesses and consumers. The committee has begun its work with hearings to shed light on the foundational question of data security, which has drawn increased attention in the wake of recent high-profile data breaches affecting tens of millions of consumers.

May 27, 2011 Europe Sees 40% Growth in Mobile Banking through Smartphones, According to comScore New research by comScore, Inc. shows that 20 million mobile users across the five leading European markets accessed their bank account via a mobile phone in March 2011. Since August 2010, there has been a 15.4% rise in mobile bankers - largely driven by smartphone users, who accounted for 70% of the mobile banking market in March 2011. Among Smartphone owners the number of banking users has risen by 40% since August 2010.

May 27, 2011 Majority of Smartphone Users Fully Integrate Their Devices in Their Daily Lives, Prosper Survey Shows According to a recent smartphone survey conducted by Prosper Mobile Insights among smartphone users on their devices, 52.9% say they utilize all of the functions of their smartphones. As mobile technology continues to evolve, a majority of smartphone users are fully integrating their devices into every aspect of their daily lives.

May 26, 2011 Media Tablets to Boost Enterprise Mobile Broadband Revenues to $36 Billion Worldwide by 2016, Says ABI Research In the latest update to its Enterprise Mobility Market Data, ABI Research says mobile broadband revenues from the enterprise segment for cellular connectivity of laptops, netbooks, and media tablets will reach $36 billion worldwide. Boosting enterprise mobile broadband revenues will be connections for the high growth media tablet segment.

May 26, 2011 Internet Advertising Revenues Hit $7.3 Billion in Q1; Highest First-Quarter Revenue Level on Record, According to IAB and PwC Internet advertising revenues in the US hit $7.3 billion for the first quarter of 2011, representing a 23 percent increase over the same period in 2010, according to figures released by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). This marks the highest first-quarter revenue level ever for the industry and a significant increase over last year's first-quarter revenue level, which had been the highest on record to date.

May 26, 2011 US Small Businesses Are Projected to Spend $36B on Marketing Activities in 2012, says AMI Total marketing spending by US small businesses (SBs, or companies with fewer than 100 employees) will expand in 2012, as an increased number of firms invests in advertising and promotional activities. According to New York-based Access Markets International (AMI) Partners, Inc., overall spending is expected to grow 4%, rebounding from 2010 recessionary lows.

May 25, 2011 DMA Updates Its 'Guidelines for Ethical Business Practice' The Direct Marketing Association (DMA), through its Ethics Committees and its Board, has announced it has modified and updated its Guidelines for Ethical Business Practices. The Guidelines now include new provisions for social media marketers; changes reflecting the passage of new laws; and updated material addressing consumers’ recent concerns.

May 24, 2011 Green Websites See Second Consecutive Month Of Strong Growt, According to comScore comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top online properties for April. Green sites saw their second consecutive month of strong growth as Americans looked for ways to celebrate Earth Day (April 22) and cut back on fuel costs. Incentive sites were also popular in April, helping Americans stretch their dollars with promotions, daily deals and free samples, and the Royal Wedding drove gains at Entertainment News sites.

May 23, 2011 76% of Small Businesses Believe Ideal Marketing Mix Includes Physical and Digital Communications, Pitney Bowes Survey Finds The majority of small businesses, 76%, agree their ideal marketing mix includes a combination of physical and digital communications, according to a new survey released by Pitney Bowes. Nearly three quarters surveyed, 72%, say they would do more of it if they had the right customer communications management tools.

May 20, 2011 Google Sites Accounts for 9 of 10 Searches Conducted in Latin America, comScore Reports A new study by comScore, Inc. finds that in the past year, searches in Latin America surged 21% to more than 18.5 billion queries in March 2011, with the typical searcher conducting 167 queries during the month. Google Sites held a strong lead as the top search destination, accounting for 90% of all searches conducted in the region.

May 20, 2011 American Online Shopping Personalities Are Diverse, SteelHouse Survey Finds One size does not fit all when it comes to enticing online shoppers to buy, according to a new consumer survey from SteelHouse. Findings include: 25% of men say they would buy premium brand name products compared to just 16% of women.

May 20, 2011 DATALINE Announces Creation of New Data Processing Center, Dataline Analytics DATALINE, a leading provider of consumer information and modeling services, announces the creation of Dataline Analytics, located in Paramus, New Jersey. Dataline Analytics is the new data processing and fulfillment arm of DATALINE, specializing in merge/purge, data hygiene, NCOA, file enhancement, database maintenance, and order fulfillment.

May 19, 2011 Local Search Advertising Revenues to Reach $8.2 Billion by 2015, BIA-Kelsey Forecasts BIA/Kelsey forecasts local search advertising revenues to increase from $5.1 billion in 2010 to $8.2 billion by 2015, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10%. Driving this growth in ad revenues is a continuing increase in local search activity. By 2015, the firm expects 30% of search volume will be local in nature.

May 19, 2011 Tablet Use for Business Soars; Smartphone Addiction Continues Apace, Says RingCentral Fifty-one percent of SMB professionals would rather take their tablet with them when traveling than a laptop or PC, according to a new survey by RingCentral. The survey showed nearly one in every three professionals surveyed owns a tablet.

May 19, 2011 Retailers Watch Consumer Behavior Closely as Economy Evolves, BDO USA Study Finds Retailers are paying close attention to consumer behavior this year as climbing sales indicate consumers are spending more freely, according to a study by BDO USA, LLP. The report found consumer confidence and spending is less of a concern this year as it fell from the fifth most cited risk factor in 2010 to the 11th.

May 13, 2011 President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts President Barack Obama has announced his intent to nominate the following individuals to key Administration posts: Robert G. Taub, Commissioner, Postal Regulatory Commission; Mark P. Wetjen, Commissioner, Commodity Futures Trading Commission; and William J. Burns, Deputy Secretary, Department of State.

May 9, 2011 Small Business Are Attractive Target for Fraudsters, Javelin Report Shows According to a new report by Javelin Strategy & Research small business are an attractive target for fraudsters because they conduct a myriad of transactions that often span both business and personal accounts.

May 9, 2011 US Online Display Ad Market Delivers 1.1 Trillion Impressions in Q1, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released an overview of the US online display advmarket for Q1 2011, indicating that nearly 1.11 trillion display ads were delivered to US Internet users during the quarter. Facebook accounted for 346 billion impressions, accounting for nearly one third of all display ad impressions delivered.

May 6, 2011 Mixed Results in Retail Driven by Shifting Weather, Higher Gasoline Prices and a Late Easter Holiday, According to MasterCard Report MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse has provided summary results for performance of specific US retail industries in April 2011. Luxury, e-Commerce and Apparel enjoyed strong growth, and the Restaurant category surpassed last month’s gains. However, Electronics sales dipped back into negative territory.

May 6, 2011 Connections with Banks Inspire Social Media Moms to Become Brand Advocates, Motista Reports Although women have traditionally been seen as taking care of household finances, new consumer connection data powered by Motista reveals that social media moms—women with one or more children under 18 living at home and who recently engaged in social media activity—are far more likely to try new products or services from their banks and nearly eight times more likely to try mobile banking services than their non-social media counterparts.

May 3, 2011 Conversations over Bin Laden's Death Surge in Social Media, According to ORC International The death of Osama bin Laden has prompted a massive surge of bin Laden-related social media conversations overnight. Based on early data from ORC International’s Social Analytics Solutions, powered by Infegy’s Social Radar, since the initial announcement of his death on Sunday, May 1 conversations about bin Laden have increased a staggering 75,813% across social media sites monitored.

May 3, 2011 44 Billion Mobile App Downloads by 2016, Says ABI Research A new study from ABI Research reveals that the worldwide app industry is well on its way to achieving 44 billion cumulative downloads by 2016. Android and Windows Phone 7 are steadily catching up with Apple as adoption picks up pace and expansion of their mobile OS installed bases continues to grow.

May 3, 2011 Retailers Increasing Mobile and Social Efforts According to Shop.org/Forrester Survey According to a new report conducted by Forrester Research for Shop.org, 91% of retailers currently have a mobile strategy in place or in development (up from 74 percent a year ago). Additionally, 72% of retailers say they will increase their spending on social networks this year over last year.

May 3, 2011 This Mother's Day, Mom's Getting Pampered, According to NRF Survey This year, consumers are fully intent on pampering Mom with some of the finer things in life. According to a new NRF survey conducted by BIGresearch, the average person celebrating the holiday is expected to spend $140.73 on gifts, up from $126.90 last year, and a return to 2008 spending levels. Total spending is expected to reach $16.3 billion.

April 26, 2011 Asia-Pacific Will Lead the Mobile App Gold Rush by 2015, Yankee Group Says Yankee Group's latest mobile app forecast predicts that by 2015, regions worldwide will reap nearly $36 billion in total app store revenue. But while North America has so far accounted for the lion's share of mobile app revenue, by 2015, Asia-Pacific will be the big generator, accounting for $16 billion, or nearly half of all mobile app revenue.

April 26, 2011 New comScore Report Measures Audience Across Mobile, Apps, Tablet, and Shared-Use Computer Traffic comScore, Inc. has announced the beta release of the comScore Media Metrix Total Universe report, which provides audience measurement for 100 percent of a site’s traffic, including usage via mobile phones, apps, tablets and shared computers such as Internet cafes.

April 25, 2011 Hispanics More Digitally Engaged than General Population, BIGResearch Finds Not only are Hispanic consumers more likely to regularly use smartphones and tablets, they tend to be more engaged on their mobile devices than the general population, according to the BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Usage Survey.

April 25, 2011 Green Lifestyles Top-of-Mind for Many Americans in March, According to comScore comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top online properties for March 2011. Green lifestyles were top of mind for many Americans in March as the country took part in the annual Earth Hour (March 26) amid rising fuel costs. Travel sites spiked as springtime rolled in, helping visitors to plan last minute spring break getaways and upcoming summer vacations.

April 22, 2011 Despite Growth in Activity, Magazines Are Still Outpaced by Other Media, Kantar Finds An analysis by Kantar Media’s new service, DirectHEATSM shows that, despite a growth in activity over the past year, magazines are still being far outpaced by other media, with 85% of all media activity in 2010 occurring outside of magazines.

April 22, 2011 Retail Industry Continues to Lead in Online Ad Spending, eMarketer Says Retailers spend more on Internet advertising than any other industry, according to new eMarketer estimates. Retailers are expected to spend $5.73 billion on online advertising this year, up from $5.16 billion in 2010, accounting for more than one in every five online ad dollars.

April 22, 2011 Consumer Comfort Index in US Climbs for Fourth Straight Week, Bloomberg Reports Consumer confidence rose for a fourth consecutive week as Americans became less pessimistic about the state of economy and their personal finances. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index climbed to minus 42.6 in the period to April 17, the best reading since the end of February, from minus 43 the prior week.

April 21, 2011 One in Five Smartphones will have Near Field Communication by 2014, Juniper Research Shows New market forecasts from Juniper Research show rapid adoption of NFC services over the next 3 years, with at least 1 in 5 smartphones worldwide having NFC contactless functionality. Worldwide, Juniper forecasts almost 300 million NFC capable smartphones by 2014.

April 21, 2011 Mobile Ad Spend for BRIC Countries to Grow, Says eMarketer Overall ad spending levels in India, Russia, and Brazil are still low, but the Chinese market will see nearly half a billion—$448.7 million—in mobile ad spending this year. Next year, eMarketer predicts, advertisers in China will spend nearly $717.8 million on mobile.

April 20, 2011 Credit Card Shopping More Prevalent as Consumer Sentiment Improves, comScore Reports comScore, Inc.has released its annual Online Credit Card Report, which provides a comprehensive look at the US online credit card industry over the past year. Among its findings, the study reveals a greater percentage of card shopping activity among consumers who reported having a more positive view of the economy.

April 20, 2011 Apple iPad Held 85% Media Tablet Market Share in 2010, Says ABI Research Apple’s iPad commanded 85% of the market for media tablets in 2010, according to ABI Research. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab ranked a distant second to the iPad in market share, with about 8%.

April 20, 2011 eReader Market in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa to Match the Size of North American Market by 2015, Says IDC Figures recently released by International Data Corporation (IDC) show the huge momentum behind ereaders in the EMEA region. IDC forecasts sales in this region to reach 9.6 million units by 2015.

April 19, 2011 Marketers to Slow Pace of New Hiring, According to Bernhart Associates' Survey Digital and direct marketers have entered the spring season with fewer plans to hire in the current quarter, according to Bernhart Associates' Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Employment Report for the second quarter of 2011. 45% ofcompanies responding to the survey said they plan to add to staff in Q2, down from 52% last quarter.

April 19, 2011 Digital Coupons Prove Stronger than Print at Attracting New Product Users, Knowledge Networks Finds A new analysis from Knowledge Networks suggests that digital print-at-home coupons are more powerful than print FSI (free-standing insert) coupons at getting consumers to try a product for the first time – but yield an 18% lower ROI than print FSI coupons.

April 15, 2011 Search Marketing Industry to Grow to $19.3B in 2011, SEMPO Reports According to a new SEMPO report conducted by Econsultancy, estimates that the North American search marketing industry will grow by 16% in 2011 to a value of $19.3B, up from $16.6B in 2010.

April 15, 2011 March Retail Sales Indicate Confident, but Cautious Consumer, According to NRF From clothing and electronics to home furnishings and building materials, retail sales in March increased across the board for the ninth straight month. According to the National Retail Federation, retail industry sales (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) for March increased 0.6% seasonally adjusted from February and 3.9% unadjusted year-over-year.

April 15, 2011 Consumer Comfort in US Climbs for Third Straight Week, According to Bloomberg Consumer confidence in the US rose for a third straight week as improving job prospects made Americans less pessimistic about the economy and their finances. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index climbed to minus 43 in the period to April 10, the best showing since the end of February, following a minus 44.5 reading the prior week.

April 11, 2011 Global Enterprise Cellular M-to-M Connections Will Nearly Triple by 2015, Yankee Group Predicts After years of anticipation, the machine-to-machine (M2M) era has finally arrived. A new Yankee Group forecast predicts enterprise cellular M2M connections worldwide will surge from 81.8 million in 2011 to nearly 217.5 million in 2015. In the same time frame, connectivity revenue will more than double from US $3.1 billion to US $6.7 billion, making the M2M market one of the highest growth areas in the wireless arena during the next decade.

April 11, 2011 Social Media has Little Impact on Web Traffic, ForeSee Research Shows Social media has very little direct impact on most website traffic, according to new research released from ForeSee Results. Less than 1% of website visits, on average, come directly from a social media URL. This finding suggests that the direct impact of social media is minimal, but also that the true value of social media cannot be quantified only by examining the traffic coming directly from a social media URL.

April 11, 2011 Facebook Users Shows Strong Monetization Potential for Music-Powered Social Games, MXP4 Finds New research from MXP4 has demonstrated the untapped potential of social music gaming on Facebook. According to a survey of Facebook users, one third of Facebook members play games on the social networking site, and only 33% of self-reported Facebook gamers have ever played a music-related game on the site.

April 8, 2011 Magazine Ad Revenue and Pages Grow in Q1, Publishers Information Bureau Reports Total magazine rate-card-reported advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2011 closed at $4,292,674,279, posting a +6.1% increase versus the same period in 2010, according to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). Ad pages during the first quarter totaled 35,755, a +2.5% gain compared to January through March, 2010.

April 8, 2011 Consumer Comfort in US Rises for Second Consecutive Week, Bloomberg Index Shows Consumer confidence in the US rose for a second consecutive week as an improving job market helped ease the burden of higher fuel costs. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index climbed to minus 44.5 in the period ended April 3 from minus 46.9 the prior week.

April 7, 2011 Spending on Food, Gifts, and Apparel Expected to Increase This Easter, According to NRF According to NRF’s 2011 Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average consumer is expected to spend $131.04 on everything from candy to clothes – up from last year’s $118.60 but not quite to pre-recession levels. Total spending on Easter related merchandise is expected to reach $14.6 billion.

April 7, 2011 Mobile Entertainment Market to Grow by 15% in 2011, Juniper Finds A new report from Juniper Research has found that revenues from mobile entertainment content and services are expected to increase by more than 15% this year from $33.2 billion to nearly $38.4 billion.

April 7, 2011 Radio Industry Revenues Rose 5.4% to $14.1 Billion in 2010, BIA/Kelsey Reports Over-the-air local radio station revenues hit $14.1 billion in 2010, a 5.4% increase over 2009, according to research by BIA/Kelsey. BIA/Kelsey expects 2011 radio industry revenues to rise a moderate 3.7%, and 2012’s election year to bump up revenues 4.5%.

April 7, 2011 Android to Command Nearly Half of Worldwide Smartphone Operating System Market by Year-End 2012, Gartner Says Worldwide smartphone sales will reach 468 million units in 2011, a 57.7% increase from 2010, according to Gartner Inc. By the end of 2011, Android will move to become the most popular operating system worldwide and will build on its strength to account for 49% of the smartphone market by 2012, Gartner says.

April 6, 2011 Android Platform Now Accounts for One in Three Smartphone Users, comScore Reports comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, which found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.8% market share. Google Android led among smartphone platforms with 33.0% market share.

April 6, 2011 Most Sectors Continue to Record Solid Year-Over-Year Sales Growth, According to SpendingPulse According to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, electronics sales and department stores showed modest gains while luxury and e-commerce recorded strong growth. Some segments of the restaurant sector also showed strength in March. The travel sectors, particularly airlines, saw improvement as well.

April 6, 2011 Consumer Confidence Falls 2.6 Points in March, Discover Reports Consumer confidence fell for the second straight month in March, as high gas prices correlated with discouraging consumer views about the direction of the US economy, according to the Discover US Spending Monitor.

April 5, 2011 Mobile Consumers Shun Third-Party Ads, According to Upstream Mobile operators have significant opportunities to boost revenues by offering deals via SMS but risk large-scale churn if they chase third-party advertising income, according to the 2011 Upstream Mobile Marketing Consumer Attitudes Report, based on independent research conducted by YouGov, which polled 2,198 consumers online.

April 5, 2011 Majority of Marketers and Agencies Plan to Increase Digital Video Ad Spend, IAB Reports A new study by the IAB shows that 69% of marketers and 55% of agencies plan to increase their Digital Video Advertising (DVA), with a 22% growth predicted in the next 12 months.

April 5, 2011 Brand Advertisers Ready for Real-Time Bidding through Private Marketplaces, PubMatic Study Indicates PubMatic has revealed the results of an online study showing that Real-Time Bidding (RTB) campaigns sold directly by publishers are in very high demand.

April 4, 2011 Android Will Seize 45% of Smartphone Market by 2016, Says ABI Research Android’s success since its launch is expected to continue: some 69 million smartphones running the Android operating system shipped last year, and ABI Research expects that in 2016 Android will have captured 45% of the market.

April 4, 2011 MDs Prefer a Mix of Digital, Face-to-Face Marketing, Physicians Consulting Network Finds For pharmaceutical companies marketing to health care professionals, going mobile is only part of the story. New research by Knowledge Networks using the Physicians Consulting Network (PCN) shows that doctors are seeking a combination of digital and in-person marketing.

April 4, 2011 Consumer Comfort in US Increases for First Time in Five Weeks, According to Bloomberg Index Consumer confidence in the US rose for the first time in five weeks as Americans said their finances were in better shape. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index improved to minus 46.9 in the period ended March 27 from a seven-month low of minus 48.9 the prior week.

March 30, 2011 Retail Industry Shows Signs of Recovery, According to Interbrand Best Retail Report A new report by Interbrand shows that US retailers are leading on the road to recovery much as the US was first affected by the economic downturn in 2008. Across Europe, retailers are harder pressed to generate value from cash-strapped consumers and Asian retailers are presented with both opportunities and challenges as markets expand consumers’ preferences.

March 30, 2011 Eversave Survey Reveals Secret Facebook Opinions and Habits of Women A new survey, conducted by Eversave, uncovered the surprising love/hate relationship women have with Facebook. Eversave confirmed that reason women like Facebook is alerts on daily deals, one of the fastest-growing online activities today.

March 30, 2011 Phishers Use Sophisticated Techniques to Dodge Security Measures, Cyveillance Reports Cyveillance has announced that despite a decline in traditional phishing attack volume during the second half of 2010, the ability of phishers to attempt successful fraud remained constant. The number of malicious urls discovered continued to increase as fraudsters exploited social networking sites to deploy their malware.

March 30, 2011 Media Tablets Help Drive Worldwide IT Spending Up 5.6% in 2011, Gartner Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total $3.6 trillion in 2011, a 5.6% increase from $3.4 trillion in 2010, according to the latest outlook by Gartner, Inc. Gartner has slightly raised its outlook for 2011 from its previous forecast of 5.1% growth.

March 29, 2011 IDC Forecasts Worldwide Smartphone Market to Grow by Nearly 50% in 2011 The worldwide smartphone market is expected to grow 49.2% in 2011 as more consumers and enterprise users turn in their feature phones for smartphones with more advanced features. According to research by the International Data Corporation (IDC), the smartphone market will grow more than four times faster than the overall mobile phone market.

March 29, 2011 Americans Give Green Marketing Claims Too Much Credit, Study Finds Many Americans believe products to be better for the environment than they actually are, according to research by strategy and communications agency Cone. Consumers continue to misunderstand phrases commonly used in environmental marketing and advertising – such as “green” or “environmentally friendly” – giving products a greater halo than they may deserve, the 2011 Cone Green Gap Trend Tracker found.

March 29, 2011 Growing Number of Adults are 'Hooked' to Their Email, Yahoo Study Shows More than ever before, people rely on digital communication, such as email, instant messaging (IM), and texting to stay connected and get things done. And our evolving online behavior reveals a lot about our habits and values. A new survey conducted by Yahoo! Mail shows the average adult is highly invested in email, regularly using 3 email accounts — 2 for personal use, and 1 for work use. The Yahoo! survey also finds a growing number of adults are “hooked” to their email, with 2 in 3 adults checking their email as soon as they wake up, up from only 41% last year.

March 29, 2011 Amazon and Kohl's Tops in Customer Experience; Healthcare Providers at Bottom, Temkin Survey Shows A new research report published by Temkin Group provides information about customer experience based on a survey of 6,000 US consumers who had recent interactions with 143 large US companies. Industry leaders Amazon.com, Kohl’s and Costco came out on top of the ratings in which only 24 companies or 16 percent of the total, received a “good” or “excellent” rating.

March 28, 2011 US Local Digital Ad Revenues to Nearly Double to $42.5B by 2015, BIA/Kelsey Forecasts BIA/Kelsey expects online/interactive advertising revenues to climb to $42.5 billion by 2015, almost double 2010’s $21.7 billion, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.4%.

March 28, 2011 Smaller Regional Financial Brands Gaining Traction in 2011 Harris Study Finds Consumer confidence in some financial service categories is shifting towards smaller more regional brands according to the 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend study as the Financial Services Brands of the Year are released in four categories: Retail Bank (BBVA Compass Bank); Financial Investment (The Principal Financial Group); Insurance (USAA), and Payment Card (Visa). Overall, awards are given in each of 46 different categories.

March 28, 2011 M&A Activity in Technology Sector Made Strong Recovery in 2010, Finds IDC Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector made a strong recovery in 2010 as the global economy and IT spending rebounded from the recession of 2008-2009. According to a new International Data Corporation (IDC) report, there were more than 1,900 M&A deals in the ICT sector in 2010 with a total valuation of over $200 billion.

March 25, 2011 Mobile Financial Account Use Surged 54% in Past Year, comScore Says comScore, Inc. has released the latest insights on the state of the mobile financial services market from its quarterly Mobile Financial Advisor report. The report found that in Q4 2010, 29.8 million Americans accessed financial services accounts via their mobile device, an increase of 54% from Q4 2009.

March 25, 2011 One in Seven Boarding Passes to Be Mobile by 2013, Juniper Research Reports One in every seven bar coded boarding passes worldwide will be delivered to passengers' mobile devices within two years, according to the latest forecasts from Juniper Research. This equates to 480 million mobile boarding passes which is treble the 160 million for last year.

March 24, 2011 Adoption and Use of Mobile and Video Services Accelerating, QuickPlay Survey Finds QuickPlay Media, Inc. has revealed the results of an independent Market Tools survey, which shows a continuing acceleration in the adoption and usage of mobile TV and/or video services.

March 24, 2011 Online Reviews More Impactful than Small Companies' Websites, Marchex Reports Marchex, Inc. has announced that an internal performance analysis of small business search results showed that online consumer reviews and social network sites have a greater impact on the reputation of a small business than its own website.

March 24, 2011 comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 US Web Properties for February 2011 comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top online properties for February 2011 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Valentine’s Day propelled gains at Flowers/Gifts/Greetings sites and E-card sites, while Tax sites climbed as Americans began to file their 2010 tax returns.

March 23, 2011 Alarming Complacency Among Users of Mobile Devices on Security Revealed by Ponemon Study A new study conducted by the Ponemon Institute in concert with AVG confirmed AVG’s concerns focusing on consumers’ indifference to the many serious security risks associated with the storage and transmission of sensitive personal data on iPhone, Blackberry and Android devices.

March 23, 2011 Retail Websites Now Reach 75% of European Web Audience Each Month, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released results from a study of online shopping in Europe. In January 2011, 270.6 million unique visitors in Europe visited sites in the Retail category, representing a market penetration of 74.5% of Internet users, up 8.5 percentage points versus last year.

March 23, 2011 When it Comes to Brands, Spelling Matters, Lexicon Study Shows TLexicon Branding, Inc. has just completed its latest study, which investigates ways that spelling contributes to a brand name’s character. The answers showed reliably that, among other things, products whose names had double letters tended significantly to be judged as having more features and capabilities.

March 23, 2011 More Than 60% of US Small Businesses in Danger of Losing Critical Emails, GFI Survey Finds GFI Software has announced the results of an independent survey conducted by Opinion Matters. The study revealed a dramatic lack of adoption of email archiving, opening the door to a host of issues including data loss.

March 22, 2011 Microsoft Sites Jumps to Second Place in Video Content Ranking, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 170 million US Internet users watched online video content in February for an average of 13.6 hours per viewer. The total US Internet audience engaged in more than 5.0 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month.

March 22, 2011 Pharmaceutical Websites Drive Conversions Among Prospects and Patients, comScore Reports comScore, Inc. has released results from its fifth annual Online Marketing Effectiveness Benchmarks for the Pharmaceutical Industry. The study supports previous findings that exposure to online display advertising and branded websites provides a positive lift in awareness and favorability toward pharmaceutical brands.

March 22, 2011 Consumers Will Drive $2 Trillion Technology Market by 2014, Yankee Group Predicts Yankee Group predicts the growing deployment of wireless and wired connectivity globally is fueling a consumer revolution that will drive $2 trillion in technology spending by 2014.

March 22, 2011 Companies will generate 50% of Their Web Sales via Social Media by 2015, Gartner Predicts By 2015, companies will generate 50 percent of their Web sales via their social-media presence and mobile applications, according to Gartner, Inc.

March 21, 2011 Online Viewing of TV Network Video Is Growing, Knowledge Networks Reports A new report from Knowledge Networks indicates that more people are consuming video from TV networks online, and that their tolerance for pre-roll or embedded ads within that video has not diminished since 2006. Knowledge Networks’s most recent TV’s Web Connections report demonstrates that more people are choosing to consume TV network video through free or pay-for-content websites than ever before.

March 21, 2011 Usage of Smartphone Apps in Cars Remains Low in Europe, Frost& Sullivan Finds A recent Frost & Sullivan survey on consumer preferences for smartphone apps and usage within cars reveals that, in spite of the general perception that awareness and usage of such apps is soaring, actual awareness among European car owners is very moderate — and daily usage is, in fact, low.

March 21, 2011 Latin America's Internet Population Grows 15% in Past Year, According to comScore comScore, Inc. has released the latest results from a study of the growth in the Internet audience in Latin America. The study found that in the past year the Internet population in Latin America has increased 15% to 112.7 million visitors as the region’s digital ecosystem continued to grow and develop.

March 18, 2011 Healthy Growth for Ecommerce Sales in 2010, eMarketer Forecasts After strong growth in 2010, the turnaround for online retail sales is expected to continue this year, according to a new forecast by eMarketer. eMarketer estimates US retail ecommerce sales forecast to grow 13.7% to $188.1 billion in 2011. Over the next four years eMarketer expects double-digit growth to taper off as continues to mature.

March 18, 2011 Sentiment Toward Consumer Brands Improving for Second Straight Year, According to Harris Interactive Brands that give us comfort and provide value are driving an overall improvement in consumer sentiment according to the 2011 Harris Poll EquiTrend study conducted by Harris Interactive. Target Stores, Nintendo, and M&Ms Plain Chocolate Candy were each highest ranked in their respective category.

March 18, 2011 UK Regulator Ofcom Slams Misleading 'Unlimited' Broadband, Text and Call Claims Broadband Genie has joined communications regulator Ofcom in condemning the use of the word 'unlimited' when selling broadband and mobile phone tariffs that are anything but. Confused consumers have received huge bills, leading to anger and mistrust of broadband and phone suppliers.

March 18, 2011 Gartner Identifies 'Dos and Donts' for Using Context-Enriched Mobile Applications By 2015, companies will generate 50% of their Web sales via their social-media presence and mobile applications, according to Gartner, Inc. As context gains importance, analysts revealed eight dos and don’ts to leveraging context-enriched mobile applications in customer relationship management (CRM) to drive sales and increase customer satisfaction.

March 17, 2011 US Advertising Expenditures Increased 6.5% in 2010, Kantar Media Finds Total advertising expenditures increased 6.5% in 2010 and finished the year at $131.1 billion, according to data released today by Kantar Media. Ad spending during the fourth quarter of 2010 was up 7.0% versus last year, propelled by the long-tail of small advertisers outside the Top 1000.

March 17, 2011 Japan Earthquake: Global Supply Chains to Suffer Extensive Disruption, Marsh Risk Consulting Says Organizations need to prepare for the possibility of an extended disruption to global supply chains resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Marsh Risk Consulting has warned. Thousands of multinational companies that rely on Japanese manufacturers for goods and services, as well as for sales, can expect significant global supply chain disruptions lasting up to several months.

March 17, 2011 Consumer Spending Up in February, According to Deloitte Consumer Spending Index Deloitte Consumer Spending Index (the Index) rose in February, driven primarily by the slight improvements in real home prices and initial jobless claims. The Index attempts to track consumer cash flow as an indicator of future consumer spending.

March 17, 2011 eBay Expands Free Listings eBay has announced new pricing that it says makes it more convenient than ever to sell items on eBay. For the first time, eBay is making it free to list up to 50 items per month in auctions at any start price, and free to add the “Buy it Now” option to those listings.

March 17, 2011 Tension Envelope Celebrates 125th Anniversary Tension Envelope Corporation celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, marking it as the oldest family-owned and operated company in the envelope industry. Founded on March 17, 1886, Tension also ranks as one of the oldest continuously family-run companies in the US.

March 16, 2011 Active Mobile Users Conduct More Regular Product Research Online, BIGresearch Finds Mobile users who actively search for information, such as news, sports, and TV/videos, are more likely than general consumers to conduct regular product research online, according to the BIGresearch Simultaneous Media Usage Survey.

March 16, 2011 Google Sites Lead Search Market for February, According to comScore comScore, Inc. has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in February with 65.4% of searches conducted.

March 16, 2011 One in Eight Mobile Users Expected to Use Mobile Ticketing by 2015, Juniper Reports One in every eight mobile users worldwide will either have a ticket delivered to their mobile phone or buy a ticket with their phone by 2015 which equates to over 750 million users, according to new analysis from Juniper Research.

March 16, 2011 Six out of 10 Digital Movies Are Streamed via Netflix, According to NPD According to research by The NPD Group, Netflix's share of digital movie units — downloaded or streamed — reached 61% between January 2011 and February 2011, followed by Comcast at 8%, and a three-way tie for third at 4% among DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, and Apple.

March 15, 2011 Advertisers Are Missing Out on Opportunity of 'Long-Tail' Internet, According to CONTEXTWEB A new study and white paper from CONTEXTWEB Inc. reports that advertisers are missing a vast, largely untapped opportunity for digital media performance by focusing on the relatively small number of hugely popular short-tail Internet sites to the exclusion of the long tail – the millions of smaller sites with niche audiences of enthusiasts.

March 15, 2011 26% of Mobile Application Users are Fickle or Loyal, Localytics Finds In a previous study, Localytics found that, while smartphone and tablet owners are very willing to give applications a try, 26% of the time they never use the same application again. In this study, Localytics found that another 26% of people become very loyal, repeat customers, using a new application more than 10 times.

March 15, 2011 Tablet Sales Booming Alongside 3G and 4G Network Subscriber Growth, According to Parks Associates Parks Associates forecasts more than 68 million of the 126 million tablets sold worldwide in 2015 will have 3G or greater technology. The research firm's latest report shows 29% of the 16.5 million tablets sold in 2010 featured embedded 3G technology, while tablets with 3G/4G technology will account for over one-half of all tablets sold in 2015.

March 14, 2011 Online is Fastest Growing Fundraising and Engagement Channel, Convio Study Finds According to a New Study by Convio, Inc., online is the fastest growing fundraising channel for nonprofits. The study shows that online engagement continues to play a crucial role for nonprofits.

March 14, 2011 Amazon.com Leads for Consumer Perception-of-Value, According to Millward Brown Millward Brown has released a report, revealing that only 7% of consumers truly buy based on price alone. The report ranked the top global brands based on how consumers perceive the value of the brand and the cost associated with it and found that Amazon.com led the Value-D ranking both globally and in the US.

March 14, 2011 Retailers Suffering 'Promotion Fatigue,' Aldata Survey Shows Aldata Solution, a global leader in retail and distribution improvement software, has revealed that retailers are suffering from 'Promotion Fatigue,' according to its 2011 Global Retail CIO Survey. Almost half of retailers surveyed plan to switch their attention to gaining a 360˚ view of their customers (in-store, online, and via catalog), following two years of focusing on promotions.

March 11, 2011 70% of Indian Web Users Watch Online Video in a Month, According to comScore comScore, Inc. has released its latest study on online video viewing in India based on data from its comScore Video Metrix service, which was launched in India earlier this year. The report found that 30.2 million online users in India watched online video in January 2011, representing 72% of the total online population.

March 11, 2011 Google Monthly Share of Searches at 67%, Experian Hitwise Reports Experian Hitwise has announced that Google accounted for 66.69% of all US searches conducted in the four weeks ending Feb. 26, 2011. Bing-powered search comprised 28.48% of searches for the month, with Yahoo! Search and Bing receiving 14.99% and 13.49%, respectively.

March 11, 2011 February Brings More Good News for Nation's Retailers, NRF Finds Improvements in the US economy bolstered retailer’s February sales, reflecting improved consumer sentiment as it relates to spending. According to the National Retail Federation, retail industry sales for February were 0.6% seasonally adjusted from January and 4.2% unadjusted year-over-year.

March 10, 2011 Mobile Applications Downloads Approached Eight Billion in 2010, Says ABI Research According to ABI Research’s estimates, the iPhone interface had notched up more than 5.6 billion accumulated downloads by the end of 2010, compared to nearly 7.9 billion total downloads from all stores during that year. However, Apple is set to face more intensive competition in 2011.

March 10, 2011 Nearly 18 Million Media Tablets Shipped in 2010; eReader Shipments Quadrupled to More Than 12 Million, According to IDC According IDC, 10.1 million media tablets were shipped in the fourth quarter of 2010 (4Q10) - more than double the 4.5 million shipped in the third quarter.

March 9, 2011 Kantar Media Launches RapidView; Tool Creates TV Audience Profiles Based on Shopping Behavior Kantar Media is launching RapidView, an end-to-end media planning tool that makes it possible to create and analyze TV audience profiles based on shopping behaviors, including brand loyalty and product category usage.

March 9, 2011 Online Users Are Most Likely to Convert After First Exposure to Finance Campaigns, According to MediaMind MediaMind Technologies Inc. has released a new study that shows that users are most likely to convert after the first exposure to an ad when compared to subsequent impressions.

March 9, 2011 UK to Have 88.8 Million Mobile Subscriber Connections in 2012, IE Market Research Finds IE Market Research Corp. has announced the release of its 1Q.2011 United Kingdom Mobile Operator Forecast, 2010 - 2015. “Given the latest quarter numbers, we expect that the number of mobile subscriber connections in the UK will rise to 88.8 million in 2012," said Nizar Assanie, VP, research, at IEMR

March 8, 2011 Google Android Captures #1 Position in Smartphone Market, comScore Finds a new comScore study surveyed more than 30,000 US mobile subscribers and found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.9% market share. Google Android took the lead among smartphone platforms with 31.2% market share, after two short months in second place.

March 8, 2011 St. Patrick's Day Expected to Give US Retailers a Spring Boost, According to NRF According to a new survey by NRF, 52.4% of Americans will celebrate St. Patrick's day this year, up from 45.2% last year and the most in the survey’s eight year history. The average amount they plan on spending will be a lot closer to what it was last year ($33.97 vs. $33.05 in 2010). Total spending is expected to reach $4.14 billion.

March 8, 2011 Android Explodes in Western Europe, Says IDC The Western European mobile phone Q4 of 2010, according to IDC's European Mobile Phone Tracker. Android devices along with the iPhone4 from Apple were the most advertised devices in the quarter. This had a direct impact on sales, and Android grew 1,580% year-on-year from a year ago.

March 8, 2011 Smartphone Texting While Driving Rampant, Strategy Analytics Reports The Strategy Analytics Automotive Consumer Insights (ACI) report, “Widespread Use of SMS and Email While Driving,” shows that 38% of US smartphone owners and 40% of smartphone owners in Western Europe, compose text messages while driving on a daily basis.

March 7, 2011 Kantar Media Analysis Shows 'March Madness' Biggest Spenders and Ad Revenue An analysis of trend data by Kantar Media shows how the tournament has evolved over the past decade to become one of the largest and most valuable franchises in all of television sports.

March 7, 2011 Affluent Chinese Consumers Becoming More Budget-Conscious, ProsperChina Survey Finds According to the ProsperChina Q4 Survey of 19,402 respondents, 61.5% of Chinese consumers 18-54 with annual incomes over 100,000 RMB have become more practical with their purchases in the past six months. This reading is up from 58.5% in Q4 2009.

March 7, 2011 More Adults in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India are Optimistic about Their Economies than Americans, Harris Poll Finds According to Harris Interactive, when it comes to how optimistic people are about their own country's economy over the next ten years, strong majorities of adults in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and India are optimistic compared to just half of Americans.

March 4, 2011 Consumer Spending on Deal-a-Day Offers Likely to Reach $3.9B by 2015, According to BIA/Kelsey BIA/Kelsey has released a new forecast on US consumer spending on deal-a-day offers, which the firm expects will grow from $873 million in 2010 to $3.9 billion in 2015, representing a 35.1 percent compound annual growth rate.

March 4, 2011 Online Banking on the Rise in Southeast Asia, According to comScore A new report by comScore, Inc. found that an increasing number of consumers across Southeast Asia turned to online banking throughout 2010. In each of the six markets included in the study, visitation to the online banking category grew by double-digits percentages, outpacing overall Internet growth by a factor of two in most cases.

March 4, 2011 Click Forensics Acquires Adometry; Adopts New Company Name Click Forensics, Inc. has announced that it has acquired display ad verification technology provider Adometry of Redmond, Washington. In addition, Click Forensics announced it has changed its company name to Adometry. The moves are designed to support the continued expansion of the Click Forensics product line for the display advertising market.

March 4, 2011 Smartphones to Drive Enterprise Data Plan Revenues to $102 Billion in 2016, Says ABI Research Mobile data plan revenues will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 9%, and are expected to exceed $102 billion worldwide by 2016, according to latest ABI Research forecasts.

March 3, 2011 Mobile Entertainment Market to Reach $54B by 2015, Driven by Smartphone Adoption, Juniper Predicts A new report from Juniper Research has valued the Mobile Entertainment market at $33 billion for last year, rising to $54 billion in 2015, driven by the continuing escalation in smartphone adoption and the attendant increase in downloads of consumer-oriented applications.

March 3, 2011 Use of Social CRM for Customer Service Will Grow Rapidly Over Next Two Years, Gartner Says During the next two years, 30% of leading companies will extend the goals of their online community activities to the design of enhanced service processes, such as social CRM, according to Gartner, Inc.

March 3, 2011 Social Networking Accounts for 25% of Time Spent Online in Argentina and Chile, comScore Finds A new study by comScore, Inc. has found that in Chile and Argentina, social networking now accounts for more than one-quarter of all time spent online, ranking as the top activity in Chile and the second most popular activity in Argentina.

March 3, 2011 Outlook for Same-Store Sales Growth Down from January, ForecastIQ Finds The outlook for same-store sales growth continues to decline from the holiday spending high in December, according to the February ForecastIQ. However, the forecast appears slightly brighter than February 2010, with less retailers likely to see decline.

March 2, 2011 Social Media Helps Retailers Win Back Dissatisfied Customers, RightNow Reports According to the Retail Consumer Report, commissioned by RightNow and conducted by Harris Interactive, retailers are using social media channels to bring back dissatisfied customers. The research demonstrates that by listening and proactively responding to complaints on the social Web, retailers have an opportunity to turn disgruntled customers into brand advocates.

March 2, 2011 Smartphone Adoption Continues to Grow in Japan, comScore Reports comScore Japan KK has released the latest insights into mobile usage in Japan from its comScore MobiLens service. The report found that Japanese users are continuing to adopt smartphone devices, with Apple and Google platforms seeing significant increases in subscribers.

March 2, 2011 Retail Sales Continue to Maintain Momentum, According to SpendingPulse February Report According to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, February 2011 recorded continuing growth across most retail categories, maintaining the positive performance that began in fall 2010.

March 2, 2011 Consumer Confidence Falls Slightly in February, According to Discover Consumer confidence declined slightly in February, as dampening consumer views about the state of the US economy correlated with rising gas prices sparked by Middle East tensions, according to the Discover US Spending Monitor.

March 1, 2011 MeritDirect and Ziff Davis Enterprise Announce Strategic Partnership MeritDirect and Ziff Davis Enterprise have announced a strategic partnership that will provide marketers access to the Ziff Davis Enterprise Database of active IT buyers and purchasing influencers

March 1, 2011 Bing Overtakes Yahoo Globally for First Time, According to StatCounter The Bing search engine overtook Yahoo for the first time worldwide in January and increased its lead in February according to Web analytics company, StatCounter. Its research arm StatCounter Global Stats finds that globally Bing reached 4.37% in February ahead of Yahoo at 3.93%.

March 1, 2011 More Double-Digit Growth Ahead for Online Retail in US and Western Europe, Forrester Forecasts Online retail in both the US and Western Europe will continue on a double-digit growth trajectory over the next five years, according to two new forecasts released today by Forrester Research, Inc. Both US and European online retail will grow at a 10% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2010 to 2015, Forrester projects.

February 23, 2011 4.5 Million Media Tablets Shipped in 3Q-2010, Says ABI Research The shipment, price and revenue data for media tablets, eBook readers and netbooks are in for the third quarter of 2010. Published in ABI Research’s “Netbooks, MIDs, Media Tablets, and Mobile CE Market Data,” they show that media tablets were indeed the “promising new talent” they appeared to be: some 4.5 million of the fashionable devices shipped during the quarter.

February 23, 2011 Amazon Adds Instant Videos to Amazon Prime Amazon.com, Inc. has announced the launch of a new benefit for Amazon Prime members: unlimited, commercial-free, instant streaming of more than 5,000 movies and TV shows.

February 23, 2011 Advertising Expenditures in Japan Down 1.3% from 2009, Dentsu Reports Dentsu Inc. has released its annual report of advertising expenditures in Japan for the 2010 calendar year, including an estimated breakdown by medium and industry. According to this report, the nation's advertising expenditures in 2010 totaled 5,842.7 billion yen, a decrease of 1.3% compared with the previous year.

February 22, 2011 Retail Web and Mobile Sites Outperformed this Valentine Season, Shows Keynote Index According to Keynote Competitive Research has announced the top performers on its ‘Romance Performance Index’ created especially for Valentine’s Day 2011. Other than a few performance hiccups, the results showed that most of the mobile and connected websites dealing in gifts, greeting cards, chocolates, flowers, wine, online dating and restaurant reservations did remarkably well considering the onslaught of visitor traffic typically experienced in the lead-up to Valentine’s Day.

February 22, 2011 Social Networking Accounts for One of Every Five Minutes Spent Online in Australia, comScore Finds According to a new study by comScore, Inc., social Networking now accounts for the largest amount of total time spent online by Australians, at 22%, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from the previous year.

February 22, 2011 US Consumers More Likely to Purchase a Smartphone than Other Consumer Devices in 2011, Gartner Survey Shows Consumers in the US are more likely to buy a smartphone in 2011 than PCs, mobile phones, e-readers, media tablets and gaming products, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc.

February 18, 2011 Academy Awards Spending Reached $720 Million Over The Past 10 Years, Kantar Reports According to Kantar Media Intelligence, marketers have spent almost $720 million during the past ten years to advertise during the live network TV broadcast of the awards ceremony.

February 18, 2011 Droid Owners More Likely to Visit Online Communities; eReader Owners More Likely to Shop Online, BigResearch Finds According to the BIGresearch BlackBerry, Droid, iPad, iPhone and even eReader Owners are more likely to be engaging in social networking, online shopping and downloading music/videos compared to the average consumer.

February 17, 2011 Global Mobile Transaction Value Will Near $1 Trillion by 2014, Yankee Group Forecasts Yankee Group research shows that, while mobile transaction usage is growing, consumers show little willingness to pay for these services. The company's forecasts predict unprecedented growth in mobile transactions worldwide, with the total value of global mobile transactions increasing from $162 billion in 2010 to $984 billion in 2014.

February 17, 2011 Stronger Discretionary Spending Helps Boost Retail Sales for Seventh Straight Month, According to NRF With consumers showing spending power beyond the holiday season, January marked the seventh straight month of retail sales gains. According to the National Retail Federation, retail industry sales for January increased 0.2% seasonally adjusted from December and 3.5% unadjusted year-over-year.

February 17, 2011 Bowe Bell + Howell Wins STC Award for Technical Documentation BÖWE BELL + HOWELL’s (BBH) Technical Communications Department has won an Excellence Award from the Carolina Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC). STC chapters award three levels of honors to entries in ascending level: Merit, Excellence and Distinguished. In the eight years BBH has participated in the competition, they have earned 26 awards, including an Excellence and Merit Award at the international level.

February 16, 2011 Apple Launches Subscriptions on the App Store Apple has announced a new subscription service available to all publishers of content-based apps on the App Store, including magazines, newspapers, video, music, etc. This is the same innovative digital subscription billing service that Apple recently launched with News Corp.’s “The Daily” app.

February 16, 2011 Mobile Media Consumption Intensified in 2010, comScore 'Mobile Year in Review' Report Finds comScore, Inc., has released The comScore 2010 Mobile Year in Review. According to the report, smartphone adoption accelerated in both the US and Europe. US smartphone adoption reached 27% of mobile subscribers in December 2010, an increase of 10% from the previous year.

February 16, 2011 Customer Satisfaction with E-Commerce Is Down, According to ForeSee The American Customer Satisfaction Index’s annual E-Commerce Report, produced in partnership with ForeSee Results, shows that customer satisfaction with e-commerce websites is down 2.6% to 79.3 on the ACSI’s 100-point scale, its lowest score since 2004.

February 16, 2011 171 Million US Viewers Watched Online Video in January, comScore Reports comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore Video Metrix service showing that 171 million US Internet users watched online video content in January for an average of 14.5 hours per viewer. The total US Internet audience engaged in nearly 4.9 billion viewing sessions during the course of the month.

February 15, 2011 Online Giving Grew 35% in 2010, According to Blackbaud According Blackbaud, Inc.'s new 2010 Online Giving Report, nonprofits of all sizes continue to see growth in online giving, with online giving accounting for 7.6% of all total fundraising.

February 15, 2011 US Retail Sales for January Up 5.5% Year-over-Year, MasterCard Reports MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse has provided summary results for January 2011. Results show that, excluding auto sales, total retail sales grew by 5.5% year-over-year, on par with December’s growth rate, and slightly higher than November’s.

February 15, 2011 Interest in Mobile Payments Strong Among Most Active Mobile Users, According to Accenture New research by Accenture shows that nearly half of the most active mobile device users would welcome the opportunity to pay for goods and services using their mobile phone, despite the fact that 73% expressed significant privacy and identity theft concerns.

February 15, 2011 Consumer Interest in the Multi-Screen Experience is High in the UK, QuickPlay Finds According to a new survey by QuickPlay Media, Inc., the multi-screen entertainment experience is in high demand in the UK, with 58% of respondents expressing interest in the ability to watch TV programming and/or movies on one device and then seamlessly switch to view the content on another device such as a smart phone, TV, PC or tablet.

February 14, 2011 Top 10 Super Bowl Ads Earned Over $1 Million in Media through Online Video in the First Three Days, Kantar Reports According to a new study by Kantar Video, in the three days after the Super Bowl aired, the top 10 ads have earned a total of over $1 million in media impressions through online video.

February 14, 2011 Augmented Reality Can Transform Mobile Marketing, Says ABI Research According to a study by ABI Research, Mobile Augmented Reality (AR)has the potential to transform mobile marketing. The key to real AR market growth, says a new study, is to embed AR into a wide range of apps running on a variety of devices.

February 11, 2011 Consumers Want Mobile Video Communications, But Lack Interconnectivity, Syniverse Survey Shows Consumers have video chatted on PCs for more than a decade, and they’re eager to take video communications mobile, according to a recent iGR consumer survey commissioned by Syniverse Technologies. But not everyone who wants to communicate via mobile video can – yet.

February 11, 2011 Postal Service Begins 2011 with $329 Million Loss in First Quarter The USPS ended the first quarter of this fiscal year with a net loss of $329 million, compared to a net loss of $297 million for the same period in fiscal year 2010. Excluding the cost of prefunding future retiree healthcare benefits and noncash adjustments to the workers’ compensation liability, the Postal Service would have had a net income of $226 million for the first quarter.

February 11, 2011 Gartner Identifies Top Ten Mobile Technologies for 2012; Mobile Apps will Increasingly Define the User Experience on High-End Devices Gartner, Inc. has identified what it believes will be the most important mobile applications in 2012. Winning mobile apps will have unique features that cater to the mobile environment rather than act as a mobile extension of their online peers.

February 10, 2011 Banks Must Adapt to Payment Industry Changes, Says Boston Consulting Group Major banks must adapt to sweeping changes in the payments industry in order to reverse revenue and profit declines and chart a course to sustainable growth, according to a new report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

February 10, 2011 JC Penney Expands In-Store Digital Experience In keeping with its commitment to giving customers the very best selection and shopping experience, J. C. Penney Company, Inc.has rolled out its findmore smart fixture to over 120 select stores across the country. Additionally, in conjunction with the launch of its Modern Bride concept, the Company will begin rolling out a findmore experience using iPad to 50 fine jewelry departments.

February 10, 2011 Consumers Pull Back After Holiday Season; Same-Store Growth Outlook Down, ForecastIQ Finds The outlook for same-store sales growth declined month over month, ending the upward trend we've seen since September, according to the January ForecastIQ. However, the forecast appears brighter than last January, and more of the retailers tracked will likely see growth rather than decline:

February 10, 2011 80% of Web Users Look Online for Health Information, According to Pew Internet Project In a national telephone survey conducted August 9-September 13, 2010, the Pew Internet Project and California HealthCare Foundation find that 80% of internet users look online for health information, making it the third most popular online pursuit among all those tracked by the Pew Internet Project, following email and using a search engine

February 9, 2011 Number of Smartphone Users Up 60% Versus Year Ago, According to comScore comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the US mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending December 2010. Results show that 63.2 million people in the US owned smartphones during the three months ending in December 2010, up 60% versus year ago.

February 9, 2011 Consumers Break Up with Brands on Email, Facebook and Twitter, Report by ExactTarget and CoTweet Finds A new study by ExactTarget and CoTweet finds more than 90% of consumers have “broken up” with at least one brand on Facebook, email, or Twitter because of irrelevant, too frequent, or boring marketing messages.

February 9, 2011 Global E-Reader Sales Will Soar to $8.2 Billion by 2014, Yankee Group Forecasts Yankee Group’s latest forecast predicts global e-reader sales revenue will grow from just $1.9 billion in 2010 to $8.2 billion in 2014, while unit sales will rise from just under 11 million in 2010 to nearly 72 million in 2014.

February 9, 2011 Identity Fraud Fell 28% in 2010 According to New Javelin Report The 2011 Identity Survey Report, released by Javelin Strategy & Research, reports that in 2010 the number of identity fraud victims decreased by 28% to 8.1 million adults in the US, three million fewer victims than the prior year.

February 8, 2011 comScore Reports Record-Breaking $43.4 Billion in Q4 2010 US Retail E-Commerce Spending comScore, Inc. has released its Q4 2010 US retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached a record $43.4 billion for the quarter, up 11 percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the fifth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth and second quarter of double-digit growth rates in the past year.

February 8, 2011 Mobile Internet Usage Still Rising, Strategy Analytics Finds The proportion of mobile device owners who use their phone to access the internet has quadrupled in the US, and tripled in Western Europe over the past four years according to a new report from Strategy Analytics. Smartphone owners, who typically browse the internet on their phones daily, are driving this increase in mobile internet usage.

February 8, 2011 Phishing Game Confirms Majority of Online Users Vulnerable to Attack PhishMe, a leading provider of anti-phishing training, has announced the results from its free online game devised to assess a player’s phishing knowledge. Over a thousand users played the game, with the majority of players getting fundamental questions wrong.

February 8, 2011 Online Revenue, Traffic, Conversion Rates, Order Values Up in 2010, Endeca Survey Reveals Results from an ecommerce survey by Endeca Results from an ecommerce survey by Endeca Technologies, Inc., show online revenue, traffic, conversion rates, order values up in 2010. 72% of respondents reported that online revenue was up over the last year. 77% reported higher total traffic, with 61% seeing more natural traffic and 50 percent reporting higher traffic from paid search programs.

February 7, 2011 Mobile Augmented Reality Global Revenue to Reach $1.5 Billion by 2015, Juniper Predicts A new report from Juniper Research has found that an increasing number of leading brands, retailers and mobile vendors are investing in mobile augmented reality (AR) applications and services, with global revenues expected to approach $1.5 billion by 2015.

February 7, 2011 Online Video's Explosive Growth Will Continue, YuMe Reports In a study of viewers across the YuMe video ad network, Frank N. Magid Associates found that not only had use grown substantially over the last 12 months with 66% of respondents reporting increases in usage, but also that the growth would continue at a rapid pace in the coming year.

February 7, 2011 AOL Agrees to Acquire The Huffington Post AOL has announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire The Huffington Post, the influential and rapidly growing news, analysis, and lifestyle website founded in 2005, which now counts nearly 25 million unique monthly visitors.

February 4, 2011 SMS Traffic Growth Driven by Enterprise, Emerging Markets, and Social Networks, Informa Forecasts According to the latest forecasts from Informa Telecoms & Media, SMS will remain a significant source of revenues and traffic for mobile operators on a global basis until at least 2015. Global SMS revenues are forecast to rise to US$136.9 billion in 2015 from US$105.5 billion in 2010, while global SMS traffic is expected to increase to 8.7 trillion messages in 2015 from 5 trillion messages in 2010.

February 4, 2011 Infogroup Sees 24% Increase in Client Email Volume at End of 2010 Infogroup, a leading provider of data driven and interactive resources for targeted sales, marketing and research solutions today announced that clients of its Infogroup Interactive division saw a 24 percent uptick in email activity in late 2010. In all, Infogroup sent over 7 billion marketing emails on behalf of clients in the fourth quarter of last year. It’s a trend that continues into 2011 with large retailers most active in marketing via email.

February 4, 2011 Food Network Tops Advertiser Survey of Top Media Brands, According to Scripps Food Network scored two first-place finishes in a semiannual survey of advertisers and agency representatives. The Advertiser Intelligence Reports named Food Network No. 1 among cable networks in Sales Knowledge and in Customer Service.

February 3, 2011 Over Two-Thirds of Americans Planning to Watch the Super Bowl

February 3, 2011 Yahoo Study Highlights the Power of Hyperlocal Online Ad Targeting in Driving Sales Results of a new Yahoo study show that hyperlocal targeting of a retail display campaign generated more than five times return-on-ad-spend, measured by sales lift at the retailer.

February 3, 2011 Consumers Seek Out Daily Deal Sites for Valentine's Day Shopping, Eversave Survey Finds With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, daily deal sites promise to be popular shopping destinations this year. According to a recent survey by Eversave.com, 92% of consumers surveyed said that they would buy a daily deal voucher for a Valentine’s Day gift.

February 2, 2011 One Billion Mobile Broadband Subscriptions in 2011, Says ABI Research Worldwide mobile broadband-enabled subscriptions are mounting up, and will hit the one billion mark in 2011. According to the latest market data released by ABI Research, at the end of 2010 there were more than five billion mobile subscriptions globally, with one in five of those having access to mobile broadband.

February 2, 2011 US E-Book Revenue Will Outstrip Mobile App Revenue by 2013, Yankee Group Says In a new report, Yankee Group predicts e-book sales will grow from $313 million in 2009 to $2.7 billion by 2013, a CAGR of 72%. By contrast, the mobile app market will grow from $834 million in 2009 to just $1.6 billion in 2013, a CAGR of only 62%.

February 2, 2011 Global Mobile Data Traffic to Grow 26-Fold from 2010 to 2015, According to Cisco According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast for 2010 to 2015, worldwide mobile data traffic will increase 26-fold during this time period reaching 6.3 exabytes per month or an annual run rate of 75 exabytes by 2015 due to a projected surge in mobile Internet-enabled devices delivering popular video applications and services.

February 2, 2011 Love is in the Air; Valentine's Day Spending to Increase 11% This Year, NRF Predicts According to the National Retail Federation’s 2011 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average person will shell out $116.21 on traditional Valentine’s Day merchandise this year, up 11% over last year’s $103.00. Total holiday spending is expected to reach $15.7 billion.*

February 1, 2011 Shift to Digital by US Entertainment and Media Industry Boosts M&A Activity, According to PwC US US entertainment and media (E&M) merger and acquisition (M&A) activity outpaced the overall US deal market in 2010, according to PwC US. With the industry’s fast-paced shift to digital - and attractive levels of corporate cash reserves and private equity dry powder, PwC believes the catalysts are in place for more E&M deal activity during 2011.

February 1, 2011 Entry-level Smartphones to Gain Widespread Popularity by 2015, Juniper Reserch Finds Shipments of entry-level smartphones are set to exceed 185m globally by the year 2015, driven initially by operators' own brand devices which are intended to boost data usage on their networks, finds a new report by Juniper Research.

February 1, 2011 Apple to Pass RIM in Smartphone Market Share This Year Apple is expected to pass Research In Motion as the leader of the US smartphone market in 2011—but not for long. Google's Android platform will overtake both Apple and RIM in 2012, according to a new forecast by eMarketer.

January 31, 2011 Mobile Phone Market Grows 17.9% in Fourth Quarter, According to IDC The worldwide mobile phone market grew 17.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010, a new quarterly high driven by smartphones. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 401.4 million units in 4Q10 compared to 340.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2009.

January 31, 2011 70% of Users Feel Personal Data is at Risk, Opinions Very on Who to Hold Responsible, Global Survey by 123People Shows 123people recently conducted a user survey on data privacy in thirteen countries, the results showed that, while over 70% of all users feel their personal information is at risk on the Internet, opinions vary greatly on who should be responsible for guarding online privacy.

January 31, 2011 Negative Consumer Confidence Signals Move from 2010 Resilience Says Liberum Capital Consumer confidence has fallen for the third consecutive quarter to -6.3%, according to figures released by the independent investment bank, Liberum Capital.

January 28, 2011 Global Spam Declines: Now Accounts for 78.6% of All Email Traffic, Symantec Finds Symantec Corp. has announced the publication of its January 2011 MessageLabs Intelligence Report. Analysis reveals that spam now accounts for 78.6% of all email traffic, the lowest rate since March 2009.

January 28, 2011 80% of Web Users Participate in Groups, Pew Research Finds A new national survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project has found that 75% of all American adults are active in some kind of voluntary group or organization and Internet users are more likely than others to be active: 80% of Internet users participate in groups, compared with 56% of non-Internet users.

January 28, 2011 Click Fraud Rate Drops to 19.1% in Q4 2010, According to Click Forensics According to new data from Click Forensics, the overall industry average click fraud rate was 19.1% - That's lower than the 22.3% reported for Q3 2010, but higher than the 15.3% reported for Q4 2009.

January 28, 2011 Facebook Overvalued at $50 Billion, Finds Global Poll of Investors by Selzer for Bloomberg Facebook isn’t worth $50 billion, according to a poll of global investors that shows skepticism about Goldman Sachs’s recent estimate of Facebook's value and concern that a bubble may be forming in the technology sector. The poll was conducted by Selzer & Co. for Bloomberg.

January 27, 2011 United States Is Top Source of Cyber-Attack Traffic, Akamai Reports A new report by Akamai Technologies finds Asia boasts highest average connection speeds; the US remains top source of observed attack traffic; and mobile providers continue to experience increase in data consumption.

January 27, 2011 Ringback Tone Advertising to Hit $780 Million Annually by 2015, Says Juniper Research A new report from Juniper Research has highlighted the increasing popularity of ringback tone advertising, which is expected to be the destination of more than $780 million in annual adspend by 2015.

January 27, 2011 Green Teams Help Postal Service Save Millions Lean Green Teams helped the Postal Service reduce energy, water, solid waste to landfills and petroleum fuel use, saving the agency more than $5 million in 2010. They also helped the Postal Service recycle more than 222,000 tons of material.

January 27, 2011 Third-Party Email Prices Still in Decline, According to Worldata Worldata’s Winter 2010 List Price Index shows a $12 CPM drop in B2B Aggregated Email Databases. The index also shows continued drops in Permission-Based Email pricing with the most significant decline being in the Consumer sector.

January 26, 2011 Worldwide Mobile App Store Revenue to Surpass $15 Billion in 2011, Gartner Forecasts Worldwide mobile application store downloads are forecast to reach 17.7 billion downloads in 2011, a 117% increase from an estimated 8.2 billion downloads in 2010, according to Gartner, Inc.

January 26, 2011 Tablet Onslaught Motivates Businesses to Accelerate Mobile App Strategies, IDC Finds A new survey by Appcelerator and International Data Corporation (IDC) reveals how new entrants to the tablet market are changing application development priorities and how businesses large and small are accelerating their efforts to build a mobile application strategy to deal with an explosion in apps, mobile devices, operating systems, and capabilities.

January 26, 2011 Consumer Confidence in Overall Economy Highest in 35 Months, According to CEA Indexes Consumer confidence in the overall economy reached its highest level in nearly three years this month, according to the latest figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The CEA Indexes also show consumer confidence in technology reached an all-time high for the month of January.

January 25, 2011 FTC Extends Deadline for Comments on Privacy Report to Feb. 18 The FTC has extended the deadline for the public to submit comments on a preliminary staff report issued on Dec. 1, 2010, “Protecting Consumer Privacy in an Era of Rapid Change: a Proposed Framework for Businesses and Policy Makers.” The Commission extended the original Jan. 31 deadline to Feb. 18.

January 25, 2011 Twitter Expected to Hit $150 Million in Ad Revenues This Year, According to eMarketer Advertising spending on Twitter reached an estimated $45 million in 2010, and is expected to hit $150 million this year, according to eMarketer’s first full forecast of ad spending on the service.

January 25, 2011 Apple's App Store Downloads Top 10 Billion Apple has announced that more than 10 billion apps have been downloaded from its revolutionary App Store by the more than 160 million iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad users worldwide.

January 25, 2011 Google and Yahoo Lead comScore's 50 US Web Properties for December 2010, According comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top online properties for December 2010. With the holiday season in full swing, December saw increased traffic within E-cards, Shipping, Retail and even Travel sites.

January 24, 2011 Retailers Say Store Expansion High on Agenda for 2011, NRF/KPMG Report Finds Retailers in 2011 will be intent on actively growing their businesses and improving customer insight capabilities, in addition to continuing efforts begun during the economic downturn to stabilize operating costs and focus on financial discipline, according to a report from the National Retail Federation’s research and education arm, the NRF Foundation, and KPMG LLP, the US audit, tax and advisory firm.

January 24, 2011 Majority of Marketers Have Little Understanding of Social Media Conversations About Their Brands, Alterian Finds According to a new survey by Alterian, less than one-third of marketers have a strong understanding of social media conversations happening around their brand. In fact, seven in 10 indicated they either have very little to no understanding or use a few ad-hoc tools to track and measure social media conversations.

January 24, 2011 Amazon and Victoria's Secret Are Top-Searched Stores in Online Coupons, RetailMeNot Reports RetailMeNot.com has announced the release of its 2010 Holiday Consumer Coupon Report. Amazon and Victoria's Secret led the list of most-searched stores in online coupons from November to December.

January 24, 2011 Web-based Email Shows Signs of Decline in the US While Mobile Email Usage on the Rise, comScore Finds According to the results of a new study by comScore, Inc., in November 2010, the number of visitors to Web-based email sites declined 6% compared to the previous year, while email engagement declined at an even greater rate. During the same time period, the number of users accessing email via their mobile devices grew by 36% as an increasingly complex digital environment influenced consumers’ communication habits.

January 21, 2011 Americans Plan to Give More to Charity in 2011, Dunham+Company Survey Shows For the first time since the recession began, Americans say that in 2011they are more likely to increase their giving to charity than decrease their charitable support, according to the annual Dunham+Company New Year’s Philanthropy Survey conducted by Wilson Research Strategies.

January 21, 2011 US Small Business Confidence Drops 12 Points but Remains in Positive Territory, According to HSBC The HSBC Small Business Confidence Monitor has revealed that US small business confidence remained positive at 108, a slight increase from 4Q2009 but declined versus 2Q2010. Although the US economy is gradually gaining momentum, the US small business economic outlook has retracted over the past six months amid local economic growth concerns.

January 21, 2011 Amazon to Acquire LOVEFiLM International Limited Amazon.com has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire the remaining shares in LOVEFiLM International Limited. LOVEFiLM is a leading European subscription entertainment service which combines the benefits of online DVD and games rental-by-post as well as streaming films and TV shows instantly over the Internet.

January 21, 2011 Super Bowl Spending Reached $1.62 Billion Over Past 10 Years, Kantar Media Reports Kantar Media has mined its extensive database to report on the past 10 years of Super Bowl advertising. From 2001 through 2010, the Super Bowl game has accounted for 425 minutes – over seven full hours – of commercial time representing more than 850 announcements and $1.62 billion of network advertising sales.

January 20, 2011 Google Sites Lead in December 2010 US Search Engine Rankings, comScore Finds comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in December with 66.6% of searches conducted.

January 20, 2011 19% of Shoppers Will Spend More on Valentine's Day Gifts this Year, According to eBillme Online Spending Index Love is in the air and so is online shopping. 32% of consumers plan to do their Valentine’s Day shopping online this year, a 9% over last year, while 19% of consumers plan to spend more money this year on Valentine’s Day gifts, according to the eBillme Online Spending Index.

January 20, 2011 Cautious Consumers Put Brakes on Retail Sales Growth, But Profits Increase, Deloitte Report Finds More than one-third of the world's 250 largest retailers suffered a decline in sales in fiscal year 2009. However, the 2011 Global Powers of Retailing report from Deloitte reveals net profit across the top 250 retailers increased from 2.4% in 2008 to 3.1% in 2009.

January 20, 2011 NextMark Releases 4Q10 Data Card Quality Report NextMark, Inc. a leading provider of direct marketing tools and resources, has published its fourth quarter 2010 Data Card Quality Report. The report categorizes list management firms based on the number of titles managed, and provides an average data card quality score across each company’s list management portfolio.

January 19, 2011 US Paid Search Market Bounces Back in 2010, According to SearchIgnite Report US paid search spend bounced back with 18.5% growth year-over-year in 2010. Q4 showed impressive gains, increasing +35.5% YoY with December leading the quarter at 44.8% YoY growth. The Q4 holiday season indicated improved consumer sentiment, with AOV up 31.3%YoY compared to a 13% decline in 2009.

January 19, 2011 Sophos Report Reveals Significant Increase in Social Networking Security Threats According to findings of a new report by Sophos, by mid-2010, Facebook recorded half a billion active users. Unsurprisingly, this massive and committed user base is heavily targeted by scammers and cybercriminals, with the number and diversity of attacks growing steadily throughout 2010 – malware, phishing and spam on social networks have all continued to rise in the past year.

January 19, 2011 iPad Users Are Not Ready to Pay for Entertainment, Knowledge Networks Report Shows The iPad is still a ways off from becoming a “fourth screen” and creating new revenue streams for content providers, according to Knowledge Networks’ How People Use Media: iPads – A First Look report. The report found that early iPad adopters are not demonstrating unique behaviors: six of the seven top reported activities are familiar ones, like Web surfing and email.

January 19, 2011 MBS Announces Partnership with Luxury Institute to Offer Unique Consumer Insight to Luxury Brand Retailers MBS, a premier provider of customer database marketing solutions within the GSI Commerce Global Marketing Services division, has announced a strategic partnership with the Luxury Institute, a key provider of independent primary research and consulting services to the luxury marketing sector.

January 18, 2011 Social Media Users More Demanding than Users of Traditional Media, Lightspeed Research Reveals New research from Lightspeed Research and the IAB revealed that consumers have much higher expectations of social media customer services compared to more traditional channels. The research found that a quarter of people who complain about brands through Twitter or Facebook expect a response within the hour, and around 6% within 10 minutes.

January 18, 2011 Worldwide PC Shipments in Q4 of 2010 Grew 3.1%; Year-End Shipments Increased 13.8%, Gartner Reports Worldwide PC shipments totaled 93.5 million units in the fourth quarter of 2010, a 3.1% increase from the fourth quarter of 2009, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.

January 18, 2011 Consumers More Bullish Heading Into 2011, ForecastIQ Finds The outlook for same store sales continues the improvement trend begun in September, according to the December ForecastIQ. But with consumer confidence more than two points lower in December 2010 than it was in December 2009, it’s not certain if the continuing improvement trend will bring sustainable recovery.

January 18, 2011 Bing Searches Increase in December 2010, Experian Hitwise Reports Experian Hitwise has announced that Google accounted for 69.67% of all US searches conducted in the four weeks ending Jan. 1, 2011. Bing-powered search received 25.77% of searches for the month, with Yahoo! Search and Bing receiving 15.17% and 10.60%, respectively.

January 18, 2011 DM Employment in 2011 Starts Off Strong, Bernhart Associates' Survey Finds Digital and direct marketers are planning a surge in hiring this winter with agencies leading the way, according to Bernhart Associates’ Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Employment Report for the first quarter of 2011.

January 14, 2011 Consumers Still Slow to Respond to Location-Based Marketing Efforts, Lightspeed Survey Shows Despite the popularity of location-based services among Smartphone users, location-based advertising and promotions are surprisingly slow to catch on, according to a new mobile survey from Lightspeed Research.

January 14, 2011 Retailers Should Bring the Web Inside Stores with 'Mashop' Experiences, Cisco Survey Suggests Research from the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG) finds that retailers must respond to technology-savvy consumers by combining Web-like and in-store shopping experiences to create "mashops" in order to drive growth and build brand awareness.

January 14, 2011 Marketing a Priority for Small Businesses in 2011, Social Media to Benefit, According to Manta Survey An overwhelming majority of small business owners plan to spend money on their business in 2011, according to a new survey by Manta. 77% plan to spend in 2011 even though 85% percent reported they implemented across-the-board cuts in 2010.

January 14, 2011 December 2010 US Online Retail Sales Up 12% Over 2009, Reports IBM The US online retail sector delivered double-digit growth in December 2010 compared to the same period last year, according to analytics-based findings by IBM. IBM's findings expand on the company's earlier report that both Black Friday 2010 and Cyber Monday 2010 delivered strong double-digit growth over 2009.

January 13, 2011 Postal Service to Adjust Prices The first U.S. Postal Service price change in two years will have minimal impact on retail customers who will continue to pay only 44 cents for a stamp.

January 12, 2011 Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA) to Co-Chair Congressional Internet Caucus The Co-Chairs of the Congressional Internet Caucus have announced Representative Anna Eshoo (D-CA) as the newest Co-Chair of the prominent, bipartisan and bicameral Member organization, focused on educating Congress about the promise and potential of the Internet.

January 11, 2011 Consumer Usage of the Mobile Banking Channel Growing Rapidly According to Novarica Research Driven largely by increased smartphone penetration rates, mobile is really beginning to matter for banking interactions and transactions, according to a new executive brief published by Novarica.

January 11, 2011 Targeted Mobile Threats, and Increased Cyber Espionage Coming Soon, Warns AppRiver AppRiver, LLC, a leading provider of email messaging and Web security solutions, has released its year-end Threat and Spamscape report. Over the last twelve months, AppRiver quarantined more than 38 billion spam messages, almost double the amount quarantined just two years ago. Of that total, 450 million messages contained viruses.

January 11, 2011 Consumers 'Returned to Fun' This Holiday Season, MasterCard Survey Shows MasterCard Worldwide has released survey results that reveal how consumers demonstrated a “return to fun” this holiday season as they purchased a combination of gifts that were both pragmatic and pleasurable.

January 11, 2011 Zappos.com Tops in Customer Service, According to NRF/American Express Survey Zappos.com took top honors in the sixth annual NRF Foundation/American Express Customers’ Choice survey, conducted by BIGresearch. Amazon.com and LL Bean followed close behind.

January 7, 2011 comScore Reports Mobile Market Share A new report from comScore, Inc. found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 24.5% market share, while RIM led among smartphone platforms with 33.5% market share.

January 7, 2011 Free Standing Insert (FSI) Coupon Activity Increased 7.2% During 2010, Kantar Media Reports Kantar Media reported that Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupon activity increased 7.2% during 2010 versus the previous year to more than 291 billion Coupons Dropped. This is the highest level of activity observed during the past decade by Marx, a Kantar Media solution and the industry standard for tracking FSI coupon activity.

January 7, 2011 US Consumer Technology Holiday Sales Drop 5% in 2010, According to NPD US consumer technology holiday sales declined 5% in 2010 totaling $10.3 billion, according to leading The NPD Group. The heavy sales promotion early in November, prior to Black Friday, did not entice shoppers to spend early as sales results for the first three weeks of November fell by 5% compared to the prior year.

January 5, 2011 Global Tablet Market Will Soar to $46 Billion by 2014, Yankee Group Predicts The tablet PC has hit its stride. Yankee Group released its first-ever global tablet forecast, predicting total global revenue from tablet devices like Apple’s iPad and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab will increase from $16 billion in 2010 to a whopping $46 billion in 2014.

January 5, 2011 AdSpend on Mobile Games to Reach Nearly $900 Million Globally by 2015, Says Juniper Research A new report published by Juniper Research forecasts that adspend on mobile games will increase tenfold over the next five years. By 2015, adspend on this platform will reach $894 million, up from $87 million in 2010, fuelled by increasing brand interest in mobile as an advertising channel, and apps,of which games are the dominant sector.

January 5, 2011 US Online Holiday Shopping Season Reaches Record $32.6 Billion, According to comScore comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, has reported that retail e-commerce spending for the entire November – December 2010 holiday season reached $32.6 billion, marking a 12% increase versus last year and an all-time record for the season.

January 5, 2011 Most Retail Categories Record Robust December Growth, SpedningPulse Reports Accroding to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse, growth in December sales was robust across many retail categories, further building on November’s positive results, with some performing at better than pre-recession levels

January 4, 2011 US Advertising Expenditures Increased 6.4% in First Nine Months of 2010, Kantar Media Reports Total ad expenditures in the first nine months of 2010 grew 6.45 from a year ago and finished the period at $94.06 billion, according to data released by Kantar Media. Ad spending during the third quarter of 2010 was up 8.7% versus last year, the largest quarterly gain since the end of 2004.

January 4, 2011 Computers and Mobile Phones Purchases to Decline, New-Tech Purchases to Soar, Accenture Predicts A new Accenture survey predicts that consumer purchase rates for personal computers and mobile phones (excluding smartphones) will decline by 39% and 56% this year compared with last year, respectively. By contrast, buying rates of 3DTVs are expected to rise 500%; tablet computers 160%; ebook readers 133%; and smartphones 26%.

January 4, 2011 Connected TV Sales, Consumer Satisfaction, Are on the Rise, According to NPD Consumers are using the connected features of their connected TVs and say that they are pleased with the results, according to leading market research company, The NPD Group’s Connected TV Owner Study.

January 4, 2011 Sears Enlists Bloggers for New Social Media Initiative at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show Sears has announced its launch of a new social media initiative called the Sears Blue Blogger Crew, which is dedicated to providing knowledgeable, industry bloggers the opportunity to engage in consumer electronics announcements, events and activities throughout the year. The goal of the Sears Blue Blogger Crew initiative is to provide enthusiastic bloggers with new resources and early access to consumer electronics information, so they can further report, blog, and interact with their social media communities about the latest technology news.

January 3, 2011 Strong Uptick in M&A Led by Online Media, Marketing Services, and Mobile Sectors, JEGI Finds M&A activity for the media, information, marketing services, and technology sectors rebounded strongly in 2010, with 845 transactions at a total value of $43.3 billion, as tracked by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI).

January 3, 2011 Majority of Web Users Have Paid to Download Web Content, Pew Research Center Finds According to The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, nearly two-thirds of internet users (65%)have paid to download or access some kind of online content from the internet, ranging from movies to games to news articles. Music, software, and apps are the most popular content that internet users have paid to access or download.

January 3, 2011 Facebook Was Top Search Term in 2010 for Second Straight Year, Experian Hitwise Finds Experian Hitwise has analyzed the top 1000 search terms for 2010, and Facebook was the top-searched term overall. This is the second year that the social networking website has been the top search term overall, accounting for 2.11% of all searches.

January 3, 2011 Final Pre-Christmas Push Propels US Online Holiday Season Spending to Record $30.8 Billion, comScore Finds comScore has reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 56 days of the November – December 2010 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $30.81 billion has been spent online, marking a 13% increase versus the corresponding days last year.

December 30, 2010 More than Seven Trillion SMS Messages Will Be Sent in 2011, According to ABI Research According to ABI Research estimates, more than seven trillion SMS messages will be sent worldwide, from nearly 4.2 billion mobile subscriptions. Messaging is also more prevalent among younger subscribers, and as they replace older subscribers, messaging will get a further boost.

December 29, 2010 Not All US E-Retailers Had a Happy Holiday, ForeSee Reports ForeSee Results has released its annual holiday survey showing that while many e-retailers had a holiday to celebrate, customer satisfaction with the top 40 online retailers overall has fallen since last year. The overall decline can largely be attributed to declining scores for some computer and electronics retailers and mass merchants

December 29, 2010 Third-Generation Kindle Now the Bestselling Product of All Time on Amazon Worldwide Amazon.com has announced that the third-generation Kindle is now the bestselling product in Amazon's history, eclipsing "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)."

December 29, 2010 The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Dips in December The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved in November, decreased slightly in December. The Index now stands at 52.5 (1985=100), down from 54.3 in November. The Present Situation Index declined to 23.5 from 25.4. The Expectations Index decreased to 71.9 from 73.6 last month.

December 28, 2010 Strong Holiday Season for Retailers; eCommerce and Apparel Fare Best, MasterCard Data Reveals According to MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse, during Nov. 5 through Dec. 24 - the data showed overall season-over-season growth of 5.5%, as consumer spending continued to show progress compared to the same period in 2009.

December 28, 2010 PayPal Grows in Volume and Independence, says Auriemma Consulting Group PayPal, once seen as a niche product, has achieved mainstream status for American consumers, according to a new survey conducted by by Auriemma Consulting Group, which found that 76% of American consumers have an active PayPal account.

December 28, 2010 Consumer Confidence in Technology Reaches New High, According to CEA Indexes Consumer confidence in technology reached an all-time high in December, according to the newest figures released from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The CEA Indexes also show that consumer confidence in the overall economy is at its highest point in 18 months.

December 28, 2010 US Consumers More than Twice as Likely to Buy Portable Computers as Desktops in the Next Six Months, ABI Research Survey Finds A Study by ABI Research has revealed that while desktops are the most common type of computer in consumers’ homes, consumers are more than twice as likely (35 percent) to buy laptops, netbooks, or media tablets than desktops in the next six months.

December 22, 2010 Smartphones Being Used for Holiday Shopping, According to Q&A According to a new survey conducted by Q&A Research and marketing firm Thomas/Ferrous, Inc., many consumers are now integrating the use of smartphones into their shopping behavior.

December 22, 2010 Prepaid Cash Cards Offer Option in Personal Finance, Says Turner Investments It’s estimated that the percentage of US households without bank accounts may be as high as 26 percent. So what happens to the $1.1 trillion that those households take in each year? According to the latest Sector Focus commentary by Turner Investments, much of that money is likely to end up on prepaid cash cards over the next five years.

December 22, 2010 Shoppersto Pack Stores on Christmas Eve, According to ICSC and Goldman Sachs Based on the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs (ICSC-GS) holiday consumer tracking survey, 15% or 23.1 million consumers (16 years of age or older) plan to shop on Christmas Eve.

December 22, 2010 Debt-Weary Consumers Move from Credit to Debit Cards for Web-Purchases, Javelin Research Finds A new Javelin Strategy & Research report finds that the economic downturn has not dampened consumer online spending, but it is changing how consumers pay for their purchases. With the Federal Reserve proposing changes to merchant debit card transaction costs, these shifts take on increased significance.

December 20, 2010 Holiday Shoppers are Empowered by the Mobile Internet, Poll from SapientNitro Shows Findings from a new GfK Roper Poll, conducted on behalf of SapientNitro, part of Sapient, demonstrate that American consumers are increasingly empowered by their mobile devices when it comes to researching products and finding the best prices while holiday shopping.

December 17, 2010 Mobile Commerce Sales Explode in United States in 2010, According to ABI Research In the US, purchases attributed to mobile online shopping – excluding travel – grew from $396.3 million in 2008 to an impressive $1.4 billion in 2009. ABI Research believes that in 2010, mobile online shopping excluding travel in the US had more than doubled again, to total more than $3.4 billion by year’s end.

December 17, 2010 Charitable Donations Increase by 42% During Holiday Months, Causes.com Survey Finds A new survey released by Causes.com, conducted on its behalf by Harris Interactive, found that 85% of Americans have donated to a charitable organization and that among them, 34% are more likely to make contributions during Holiday season.

December 17, 2010 Moms Turn to Social Media When Buying Electronics, CEA Study Finds A new study from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reveals that most moms use social media to share and review opinions of technology products and retailers to make informed purchasing decisions.

December 17, 2010 Contact Centers Spending More on Self-Service Solutions, but with Low Success-Rates, inContact Survey Finds A recent survey by inContact illustrates that contact centers are accelerating spending on self-service solutions. However, based on low success rates, the majority of those contact centers are still searching for optimal strategies for self-service success.

December 15, 2010 Media Tablets Poured into World Markets in 2010, Says ABI Research Most people in North America or Western Europe, if asked how many media tablets had been commercially launched so far, would say "just one or two." But the reality is very different: in fact more than 60 distinct media tablet models from nearly 50 different manufacturers are already available in at least one country or region.

December 15, 2010 Oodle Launches New Social Marketplace Social commerce pioneer Oodle has launched a new version of its popular classifieds platform, turning it into a social marketplace. The new social marketplace powers both the Facebook Marketplace and Oodle, and is also available on smart phones.

December 15, 2010 M&A Activity in Media and Marketing Services to Increase in 2011 According to AdMedia Partners According to a new survey by AdMedia Partners, M&A Activity in Media, Marketing Services, and Internet Expected to Increase in 2011.

December 15, 2010 Organizations Targeting Students Should Focus on Their Own Websites, Not Social Networks, Research by Nielsen Norman Group Suggests According to a new study by Nielsen Norman Group, students associate social networking sites with private discussions, not with corporate marketing, suggesting that organizations targeting students that should focus their efforts on their own sites.

December 13, 2010 Mobile Marketing and Ad Revenue Will Approach $1.5 Billion in 2016, According to ABI Research The audience for mobile marketing and advertising is growing steadily, and spending on the new medium is growing in parallel. A new ABI Research study indicates that in 2016, revenue from mobile display ads will be getting close to $1.5 billion.

December 9, 2010 Social Networking by Small Business Nearly Triples in Past Three Years, Discover Survey Finds Social networking by small business owners has nearly tripled in the past three years, jumping 23% in the past six months alone, according to a new survey from Discover, but less than a third of owners are using it to promote their businesses.

December 7, 2010 Consumers Want to Connect with Financial Institutions via Social Media, Says Fiserv Survey Results from a new survey by Fiserv, Inc. show that that 11% of online consumers are currently connected with their bank or credit union through a social site, and more than one-third of those not connected are interested in doing so.

December 7, 2010 70% of Online Shoppers Say eGift Card Offerings Impact Brand Loyalty, CashStar Survey Finds According to a new survey sponsored by CashStar, Inc., more than half of online shoppers are planning gift card purchases this holiday season and nearly a quarter will wait until the week leading into the holiday to make their purchase.

December 7, 2010 Intersection of Mobile and Social Enables More Connections with Consumers, Hipcricket Survey Reveals The evolving relationship between mobile devices and social networks presents brands with significant new opportunities to connect with consumers. The third annual Hipcricket Mobile Marketing Survey found that 57% of consumers would be interested in opting in to a brand’s loyalty club via a mobile social networking application such as Facebook. Despite these insights, the survey also found that 80 percent of respondents stated that they still have not been marketed to by their favorite brands via their mobile device.

December 7, 2010 Digital Media Strategies Undermined by 'Growing Pains,' According to Meltwater Group According to new research by Meltwater Group, companies are learning ‘on-the-job’ how best to create and distribute content, and effectively connect with audiences. Only 40% consider that their company fully embraces social media, yet budget is only an issue for 18%.

December 3, 2010 Amazon, JCPenney, and Kohl's Tops in Customer Service, NRF Finds A new survey by the NRF Foundation, the research and education arm of the National Retail Federation, has announced the top 10 retailers for customer service selected by shoppers. Amazon.com and JCPenney top the list.

December 1, 2010 Competitive Strength of Retailers & Manufacturers in 2010 on the Rise, According to wRatings Study A new study by wRatings Corporation finds that consumers are willing to pay a premium for items that are “on display,” whereas “behind the scenes” products like toiletries are open to the trade down syndrome seen throughout the past recession.

November 30, 2010 UK Retail Banks, Credit Card Providers, and Mortgage Lenders Improve; Home and Motor Insurance Companies Fall, National Customer Satisfaction Index Shows UK Customer satisfaction rises again, but at a slower pace, according to the latest National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI UK) results.

November 29, 2010 Mobile Shopping Warriors Will Account for 28% or $127 billion of Overall 2010 Holiday Spending, IDC Predicts According to a new survey by IDC Retail Insights, mobile shopping "warriors" (hyper-connected individuals) and mobile shopping "warrior wannabies" (moderately connected individuals) will account for 28% or $127 of the $447 billion the NRF predicts US consumers will spend this holiday season.

November 24, 2010 Encouraging Signs for Retailers Approaching Black Friday, US Spending Monitor Shows The number of shoppers who say they expect to spend less this holiday season has fallen 10 percentage points from this time last year, according to early data from the Discover US Spending Monitor.

November 24, 2010 Small Businesses See Social Media as Key to Customer Engagement, Positive about Future, Finds Constant Contact Constant Contact, Inc. has released the results from the company’s latest Small Business Attitudinal Survey. In the fall 2010 survey, small businesses reported an increased use of social media tools, viewing these tools as additive and complementary to other marketing activities.

November 24, 2010 Amazon, JCPenney, and Kohl's Tops in Customer Service, NRF Finds The National Retail Federation has announced the top 10 retailers for customer service, with Amazon.com and JCPenney topping the list.

November 23, 2010 Consumer Confidence in Economy, Technology Hit Highest Level for 2010, According To CEA Indexes Consumer confidence in the overall economy and in technology spending both improved in November to the highest points of the year, according to the latest figures released today by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

November 23, 2010 Majority of Holiday Shoppers Are Avoiding Credit Cards as Primary Form of Payment, Green Dot Finds As Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals usher in the holiday shopping season, a new online survey conducted by Harris Interactive for Green Dot finds the majority of holiday shoppers are shunning credit as their primary form of payment this holiday season.

November 19, 2010 Google Sites Led The Explicit Core Search Market in October, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in October with 66.3% of searches conducted.

November 19, 2010 Amazon.com Announces Launch of New Visual Search Capability for Customers Amazon.com, Inc. has announced a new search capability that allows customers to search and browse for shoes based on how they look, allowing them to find the styles they want easily and quickly.

November 19, 2010 US Online Hispanic Consumers More Likely to Have Positive Association with Advertising than Non-Hispanics Online, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released results of a study of US Hispanic consumers, including insights into their online behavior and engagement with advertising. The study found that US online Hispanic consumers’ sentiment towards, and response to, advertising often varies significantly from Non-Hispanic online consumers, providing critically important insights for brands looking to reach and engage this dynamic consumer segment

November 19, 2010 Website Visitors Influenced by Social Media Spend 40% More Than Those Not Influenced by Social Media, ForeSee Report Shows ForeSee Results has announced the creation of a new benchmark for its proprietary Social Media Value Calculation. The study found that, on average, 20% of visitors to websites studied reported being influenced by social media, while only 1% came directly from a social media URL

November 19, 2010 Indian Sub-Continent Mobile Data Revenues to Reach $10 billion by 2015, Juniper Forecasts Juniper forecasts that operator billed data revenues will increase from $4 billion in 2010 to $10 billion in 2015. The new Juniper study found that while mobile content service revenues are currently dominated by the Music sector, User Generated Content will surpass Music to generate the highest revenue by 2015.

November 18, 2010 Brands Need a More Human Face in Social Media, Research from Firefly Millward Brown Suggests New research by Firefly Millward Brown has found that although most organizations recognize the potential and importance of social media, they are confused about the rules of engagement and lack organizational support and confidence. As a result, many stay away from social media or jump in without fully understanding the impact it can have on their brand.

November 18, 2010 Consumer Holiday Spending Outpacing Earlier Expectations, Burst Media Finds According to a study by Burst Media found that most holiday shoppers still have purchases to make. The study also found that among holiday shoppers who have completed their purchases, a considerable number spent more on holiday gifts in 2010 compared to 2009.

November 17, 2010 Consumers' Reliance on Credit Cards for Holiday Purchases Lowest Since '02, According to NRF To ensure they only spend within their budget, more Americans will use their debit cards or cash for their holiday purchases, while the use of credit cards is expected to decrease, according to NRF’s 2010 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, conducted by BIGresearch.

November 17, 2010 US Monthly Magazines Look to Mobile Action Codes to Engage Readers, According to Nellymoser Study A new study by Nellymoser of the nation's leading monthly magazines has revealed that mobile action code usage is adding to consumer engagement in both editorial and advertising content.

November 17, 2010 Customer Satisfaction Weakens, According to American Customer Satisfaction Index After almost two years of stalling scores, the overall American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) falls 0.3% for the third quarter, which brings the Index to a score of 75.7 on a 0-100 point scale.

November 16, 2010 Black Friday Sales to Increase, According to BDO USA Survey According to BDO USA, LLP,CMOs at leading US retailers expect Black Friday sales to increase by 3.8% and Cyber Monday sales to grow by 2.5% this holiday season.

November 16, 2010 Boomers Spend 150+ Minutes/Month on Facebook, According to comScore Study Baby Boomers caring for aging parents rely on the Internet, and social media in particular, for emotional support and practical suggestions, spending more than 150 minutes per person per month viewing 1,010 pages on Facebook, over 70% more time and more pages than the average Internet user, according to the Age Lessons Boomer Social Media Study.

November 16, 2010 Consumers Value Texting for a Range of Activities, According to Survey by Q&A Research and Thomas/Ferrous According to a new survey conducted by Q&A Research and marketing firm Thomas/Ferrous, Inc., many US consumers are now using text messaging to accomplish a range of tasks that go beyond simply communicating with other individuals.

November 16, 2010 Lack of Competition in Broadband Providers Hurts Rural Small Businesses, Office of Advocacy Study Finds The availability, speed, and price of broadband services vary significantly between metro area and rural businesses, according to a new study released by the SBA Office of Advocacy. The study found that when prices are held constant, rural small businesses get less service compared with metro small businesses.

November 15, 2010 AOL Unveils Preview of New Email Initiative, Project Phoenix On the heels of the launch of the new AOL.com and several new local content initiatives, AOL has unveiled a preview of the new AOL Mail, code-named Project Phoenix. Phoenix was designed and built from the ground up as an innovative and intuitive email solution that fits the way consumers communicate today.

November 15, 2010 Postal Service Ends 2010 with $8.5 Billion Loss The US Postal Service has reported its 2010 financial results, showing a net loss of $8.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. Excluding charges to income primarily resulting from changes to interest rates that impact the organization’s workers’ compensation liability, the net loss was $6 billion.

November 15, 2010 eBay Launches 'Love to Give' Social Shopping Campaign eBay has kicked off the holiday shopping season with its Love to Give campaign. eBay says that Love to Give celebrates “unwrap attacks” – those unforgettable, uncontrollable emotional moments that occur when someone receives the perfect gift.

November 15, 2010 Consumers on a Holiday Budget, but Likely to Bust, Western Union Survey Finds The Western Union Company found in a recent survey conducted with Wakefield Research that 54% of consumers say they are likely to create a budget this holiday season.

November 12, 2010 Return Fraud to Cost Retailers $3.7 Billion This Holiday Season, NRF Survey Finds According to NRF’s annual Return Fraud Survey, the retail industry will lose an estimated $3.68 billion to return fraud this holiday season, up from $2.74 billion last year. Return fraud will cost retailers an estimated $13.95 billion during the 2010 calendar year, up from $9.59 billion in 2009.

November 12, 2010 Ad Spending in China to Top $33 Billion as Marketers Flock Online, According to eMarketer With the world’s most vibrant economy and the second largest consumer market, advertising spending in China is expected to grow 14.6% to $33.64 billion this year, according to a new report from eMarketer.

November 12, 2010 Walmart Offers Free Holiday Shipping for Online Purchases Walmart has announced that it is offering free shipping to home on nearly 60,000 holiday items,with no minimum purchase requirement or subscription fees, now through Dec. 20 at Walmart.com.

November 12, 2010 Demographic Differences Surface in Economic Outlook and Holiday Intentions, Deloitte Research Shows While many consumers are uncertain about the economy heading into the holidays, a few important demographic segments are exhibiting more seasonal cheer, according to Deloitte’s 25th annual holiday survey of consumer spending intentions and trends.

November 11, 2010 Facebook.com Now Accounts for Nearly 25% of Online Display Ads in US, comScore Reports Data from the comScore indicates that nearly 1.3 trillion display ads were delivered to US Internet users during the third quarter, marking a 22% increase versus year ago - and Facebook ranks as the top display ad publisher in Q3 2010.

November 11, 2010 AOL and Michael Eisner's Vuguru Team Up to Create Original Content for AOL AOL and Vuguru, an independent studio that finances content for digital and emerging platforms, have announced that Vuguru will develop and produce a minimum of six original scripted series for distribution by AOL.

November 11, 2010 Consumers Search for Online Coupons or Deals When Shopping Online, According to Ipsos Survey A new survey by Ipsos and commissioned by Offers.com shows that while 63% of online shoppers search for online coupons or deals at least some of the time before making an online purchase, only 21%report doing so most or all of the time.

November 11, 2010 20% of Employees will Use Social-Networking Services for Business Communications by 2014, Gartner Predicts Greater availability of social-networking-services, coupled with changing demographics and work styles, will lead 20% of employees to use social networks as their business communications’ hub by 2014, according to Gartner, Inc.

November 10, 2010 Online Retail Sales to Charge Ahead This Holiday, According to Forrester Online retail sales in the US will reach nearly $52 billion this holiday season, a 16% increase over last year’s weak numbers, according to a new forecast by Forrester Research.

November 10, 2010 Customer Engagement Levels Fail to Bounce Back After Recession, According to PeopleMetrics Consumers are starting to spend more, but they’re not emotionally connecting with brands and companies the way they did before the recession, a new study by PeopleMetrics has revealed.

November 10, 2010 Travel Industry Revenue Projected to Increase to Near Pre-Recession Levels, According to Maritz Survey Holiday travel, an economic bellweather for the airline and hospitality industry, is projected to increase to near pre-recession levels, according to findings from the annual Maritz Poll.

November 10, 2010 Employees Will Shop Less Online But Take Bigger Risks During 2010 Holiday Season, ISACA Survey Finds Employees in the US plan to spend less time shopping online from a work-supplied computer this holiday season than they did a year ago, but more of them are engaging in risky online behavior, according to a new ISACA survey.

November 9, 2010 Location-Enabled Services Set for Strong Growth; 1.7 Billion Geo-enabled Browsers by 2016, ABI Predicts Location-Enabled Services are set for strong growth driven by standards such as the W3C’s geo-location API. ABI Research forecasts that 1.7 billion geo-enabled browsers will be in use worldwide by 2016.

November 9, 2010 US Retailers Forecast 2.83% Increase in Comparable Store Sales This Holiday Season, According to BDO USA Survey According to BDO USA, LLP, CMOs at leading US retailers expect comparable and overall sales to increase by 2.83% and 3.51% respectively for the 2010 holiday season -- a big jump in expectations from last year.

November 9, 2010 40% of Online Adults Don't Look for Coupon Codes on the Web, According Coupons.com Gift givers will become bargain hunters this holiday season. That's because 94% of online adults say getting deals on the gifts they purchase is at least somewhat important to them, according to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive.

November 9, 2010 Americans Tightening Belts for Leaner Thanksgiving, First Command Reports The latest results of the First Command Financial Behaviors Index reveal that 38% of families are changing their Thanksgiving plans for economic reasons, continuing a larger trend toward more responsible spending and saving.

November 5, 2010 Android Platform Now Reaches More than One in Five US Smartphone Subscribers, comScore Reports comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the US mobile phone industry during the three month average period ending September 2010. The September report found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall, while RIM led among smartphone platforms.

November 5, 2010 Santa Will Be Nice to Some Retailers But Not Others, According to ForecastIQ The October same-store sales forecast appears to bring some retailers reason for cautious optimism this holiday season, according to ForecastIQ (a service from Prosper Technologies, LLC). 14 of the 27 retailers tracked are forecasted likely or almost certain growth in November and December.

November 5, 2010 Global Tablet Device Shipments to Exceed 80 Million Annually by 2015, Says Juniper Research The number of annual shipments for tablet devices will reach 81 million by 2015 as an increasing number of consumer electronics players and handset manufacturers enter the market, finds Juniper's latest report.

November 5, 2010 Yahoo and Samsung Expand Availability of Yahoo Connected TV to Millions of Consumers Across Europe Yahoo! and Samsung have announced an extended partnership to deliver Yahoo! Connected TV in 26 new countries across Europe, bringing Yahoo! Connected TV on Samsung TVs to 39 countries worldwide.

November 3, 2010 US Postal Service Announces Shipping Prices for 2011 The simpler way to ship – with Priority Mail Flat Rate Boxes from the US Postal Service – is set to extend its popularity with consumers and shippers in the new year when new prices take effect. Prices for Priority Mail, Express Mail and other Shipping Services will change Jan. 2, 2011.

November 3, 2010 Retailers Can Capitalize on Last-Minute Holiday Shoppers, Acxiom Study Shows Retailers can reap the benefits of last-minute holiday shoppers by adjusting their December marketing strategies, according to new research released today by Acxiom Corporation, a global leader in marketing services and technology.

November 3, 2010 Many US Retail Industry Sectors Swing to Positive Momentum, According to SpendingPulse According to MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse, During the month, sales in most sectors posted positive year-over-year growth compared with retail sales a year ago. From a sector-by-sector point of view, categories continued to stabilize, building strength onto the more tepid growth seen in previous months.

November 3, 2010 Ballantine Expands Services to Include Tech-Savvy Imprinted Promotional Products Ballantine Corporation, a leading, full-service direct marketing production firm, announced this week that they have added a new client service to its roster - imprinted promotional products.

November 2, 2010 Traditional Authentication Methods for Online Banking Do Not Work, Javelin Report Finds A new Javelin Strategy & Research report finds that traditional authentication methods used for online banking do not work for mobile banking and new approaches are needed that exploit mobile phone security features.

November 2, 2010 Nearly One-Third of US Adults Plan to Cut Holiday Spending, VeraQuest Survey Finds Americans may be spending less money at the mall and more of it in the kitchen this holiday season, according to a recent national online omnibus survey among US adults conducted by VeraQuest. Nearly one-third plan to decrease holiday spending this year and only 14% plan to spend more.

November 2, 2010 Amazon Announces New Method for Sending Gift Cards through Facebook Amazon.com has announced a new method for sending Amazon.com Gift Cards to friends on Facebook. Customers can now connect to their Facebook account on Amazon.com and create a personalized gift card that will be delivered on the recipient's Facebook Wall.

November 2, 2010 Inter/Media and Anders Ekman Launch New Pay-Per-Performance Venture, Performant Anders Ekman and the Inter/Media Group of Companies have teamed up to create a new venture, Performant, that is intended to bring big agency skills and campaigns and a pay-per-performance business model to the world's largest marketers.

November 2, 2010 10 Million UK Consumers Sought Financial Advice Online in September 2010, According to comScore comScore has released a ranking of top Financial Information/Advice Sites in the UK based on September 2010 data from its comScore Media Metrix service. Nearly 10 million internet users turned to the Web for financial advice, spending an average of 15 minutes on sites in the category during the month.

November 1, 2010 comScore Reports Q3 2010 US Retail E-Commerce Spending Up 9% vs. Year Ago comScore, Inc. has released its Q3 2010 US retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $32.1 billion for the quarter, up nine percent versus year ago. This growth rate represented the fourth consecutive quarter of positive year-over-year growth following a year of flat or negative growth rates.

November 1, 2010 Social Media Drives Face-to-Face Interations, ExactTarget Study Finds A new study by ExactTarget and CoTweet finds that consumers’ increased usage of social media directly corresponds to more face-to-face interactions.

November 1, 2010 Online Shopping Behaviors Vary Significantly Along Demographic Lines, ATG Study Reveals ATG (Art Technology Group, Inc.) has released a new report that describes how different groups of consumers research and purchase products and services across different channels - including websites, stores, contact centers, mobile, and social channels - and how they assess these experiences.

November 1, 2010 Thomson Reuters Acquires Highline Financial; The Jordan, Edmiston Group, represented Highline Financial in This Transaction Thomson Reuters has acquired Highline Financial, a financial information and analytics provider focused on the US banking sector. The acquisition supports Thomson Reuters’ strategy of providing timely, accurate and high quality information by expanding its offering to include differentiated financial content and analytics for the banking and capital markets sector.

November 1, 2010 Data-Mail Expands Direct Mail Production Capabilities with New Digital Print Technology and Envelope Converting Operations Data-Mail, a provider of integrated direct marketing solutions, has announced it will expand its in-house production capabilities to include digital full color web printing.

October 28, 2010 New Fundraising and Communication Channels Growing, But Not Replacing Traditional Channels, Blackbaud Survey Reveals Blackbaud, Inc. has announced the release of the results from The State of the Nonprofit Industry Survey. Findings show that new fundraising and communication channels, although growing, are not replacing traditional channels.

October 28, 2010 44% of Shoppers Plan to Do Their Holiday Gift Buying Online, Research by MarketLive and E-tailing Group Shows MarketLive, Inc. and the e-tailing group have revealed results from the 2010 Mindset of a Multi-Channel Shopper Survey. The survey reveals that 44% of shoppers plan to do their holiday gift buying on the Internet, compared to 37% percent in 2009.

October 28, 2010 Troubles Seen for Traditional Media, Both Print and TV, According to New 24/7 Wall St./Harris Poll According to research by 24/7 Wall St. and Harris Interactive, while two-thirds of Americans still agree that they prefer to get their news in more traditional ways such as network TV, newspapers, or magazines, over half of Americans say traditional media as we currently know it will no longer exist in ten years.

October 27, 2010 Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Improves Slightly The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined in September, increased slightly in October. The Index now stands at 50.2 (1985=100), up from 48.6 in September. The Present Situation Index increased to 23.9 from 23.3. The Expectations Index improved to 67.8 from 65.5.

October 27, 2010 19% of All Mobile Phones Shipped in 2Q Were Smartphones, According to ABI Research Smartphone markets continue to forge ahead at an extraordinary pace. According to ABI Research, smartphones made up 19% of all handsets shipped in the second quarter; that represents a 12% increase over the first quarter, and a 50% jump compared to the same quarter in 2009.

October 27, 2010 Frugal Holidays Ahead for Middle-Class Families, First Command Reports Middle-class families are preparing to extend their belt-tightening ways into the holiday shopping season, with three out of four consumers cutting back in some way this year. The latest results of First Command Financial Behaviors Index reveal that 71% of middle-class families plan to cut back by changing their gift-giving behaviors.

October 26, 2010 Online Poker Tournaments Drive Traffic to Gambling Sites; Education Sites Spike as School Year Kicks Off, According to comScore Online Gambling sites were popular in September as the competition heated up at several online poker tournaments, according to comScore, Inc. Classes resumed for schools and universities nationwide prompting teachers and students alike to visit Education sites

October 26, 2010 Consumers Are Changing Their Payment Methods Online, Javelin Reports A new Javelin Strategy & Research report issued in conjunction with Shop.org finds that consumers are not only spending more online, but they are also changing their payment methods: over one half are using online alternative payment options.

October 26, 2010 Facebook Should Learn Security Lesson from Apple, Sophos Poll Suggests A Sophos poll of over 1000 people has revealed that more than 95 percent believe that Facebook should follow Apple's example and security-check all third party apps running on the site.

October 26, 2010 Retailers Poised to Become the New 'Googles' of the Consumer Goods Industry, According to Havas Media and MPG Research by Havas Media and MPG shows that retail is perceived to be a leading sector in sustainability, with over 85% of all retail brands within the analysis recording above average results. Furthermore, half of the top 20 brands were from the retail sector.

October 25, 2010 Worldwide Mobile Subscriptions Number More than Five Billion, According to ABI Research ABI Research estimates that at the end of the second quarter of 2010, more than five billion mobile subscriptions were active worldwide. Emerging markets such as India, Indonesia and China have continued to add mobile connections at a rapid clip, and show no signs of slowing down.

October 25, 2010 Majority of Consumers will Shop Online for the Holidays; 38% will Spend More than Last Year, eBillme Finds Thirty-eight percent of consumers plan to spend more online for holiday gifts this year, a 9% increase over last year, according to the eBillme Online Spending Index. During the fourth quarter, consumers are planning to spend an average of $283.68 online, a 3% increase over Q4 2009.

October 25, 2010 Majority of Online Retailers Expecting Strong Sales This Holiday Season, According to Shop.org The holiday season may be merry and bright for online retailers, according to results of Shop.org’s eHoliday Study conducted by BIGresearch. Nearly two-thirds of retailers expect their company’s online sales to grow by 15% or more compared to last holiday season, up from less than half of retailers who had those expectations last year.

October 25, 2010 Mobility Will Be a Trillion Dollar Business by 2014, Gartner Says Worldwide mobile voice and data revenue will exceed one trillion dollars a year by 2014, according to Gartner, Inc. Mobile will generate revenue from a wide range of additional services such as context, advertising, application and service sales, and so on.

October 21, 2010 Calculated Consumption by Cautious Consumers Are Holiday Watch Words, According to NPD The NPD Group, Inc., a leading market research company, released the results of its ninth annual survey of consumers’ holiday spending intentions. The study’s results suggest that consumers will approach this holiday shopping season with care.

October 11, 2010 OgilvyOne Launches '21st Century Guide to Selling' at DMA2010 OgilvyOne Worldwide has launched the “21st Century Guide to Selling” at DMA2010, DMA's Global ROI Marketing event. The guide was developed in collaboration with Todd Herman, the winner of OgilvyOne’s Search for the World’s Greatest Salesperson contest, and advocates a complete rethink by sellers at a time when the buying process has fundamentally changed.

October 7, 2010 Bernhart Associates' Q4 Employment Survey Released: Hiring Indicators Holding Steady According to Bernhart Associates' latest Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Employment Report, direct marketer looking for employment will not see much of a change during the rest of 2010.

September 20, 2010 Google Sites Lead in comScore's August 2010 US Search Engine Rankings comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Google Sites led the explicit core search market in August with 65.4 percent of searches conducted.

September 10, 2010 Credit Card Usage Hits All-Time Low, Javelin Report Reveals According to a new Javelin Strategy & Research report, the pain of the recession has produced a risk-adverse, cash-hoarding cautious consumer, who is dropping credit cards and opting cash, checks, debit, prepaid and gift cards at a higher rate than ever before.

September 10, 2010 Americans Still Spend Money on Their Passions During Recession and Beyond, Accordng to American Express Survey While Americans remain budget-conscious and focused on saving since the onset of the economic downturn, the majority say they did not decrease spending in the areas they are most passionate about.

September 10, 2010 Four Out of Five Internet Users in Australia Viewed Online Video in July, comSore Finds A new report by comScore, Inc. found that 81% of Australia’s Internet population viewed video online in July, with an average viewer watching more than seven hours of video during the month.

September 10, 2010 Amazon, Walmart, eBay Top List of Shoppers' Favorite Online Retailers, According to BIGresearch Brand loyalty proves to be quite strong in the latest STORES Media Favorite 50 Online Retailers survey, conducted by BIGresearch and published in the September issue of STORES Magazine.

September 2, 2010 FTC Announces Fees Telemarketers Pay to Access the National Do Not Call Registry Will Not Increase in FY 2011 The fees that telemarketers pay to access phone numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain unchanged in fiscal year 2011, the Federal Trade Commission has announced. All telemarketers making calls to consumers in the US are required to download the Do Not Call list to make sure consumers who have placed their numbers on the list do not receive unwanted calls.

August 26, 2010 US Mobile Learning Revenues Reached $632 Million in 2009, Ambient Insight Reports The US demand for Mobile Learning is growing by a five-year compound annual growth rate of 18.3% and revenues will reach $1.4 billion by 2014 according to a new report by Ambient Insight.

August 25, 2010 Dicounts and 'Social Badging' Primary Reasons Consumers 'Like' Brands on Facebook, According to ExcactTarget A new study by ExactTarget finds that, while consumers primarily turn to Facebook to connect with friends and for entertainment, discounts and 'social badging' are the primary reasons consumers 'like' brands on Facebook.

August 24, 2010 Direct Marketers Facing Longer Unemployment, Bernhart Survey Finds The job outlook for unemployed direct marketers has sharply deteriorated since last summer, according to a new study by Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC, a leading digital and direct marketing executive search firm.

August 23, 2010 Marketers Send High Volumes of Email to Non-Responsive Customers, Return Path Study Finds According to new research by Return Path, e-retailers continue to struggle with building customized, 1-to-1 email marketing efforts tailored to subscriber response rates, or more importantly, lack of response.

August 23, 2010 Marketers Not (Yet) Sold on Social Media, According to KRC Research Tweeting and Facebooking may be the rage among the YouTube generation, but many corporate leaders are reluctant to change their marketing approaches for the sake of social networking, according to a new national survey by KRC Research.

August 20, 2010 Phishing Attacks Drop Year-Over-Year According to IID Report According to IID, phishing attacks were down 10 percent from April to June 2010 compared to the second quarter of 2009. Despite this drop, phishing attacks targeting e-commerce, gaming, web services and social networking sites significantly increased.

August 20, 2010 Average Family Has Completed More School Shopping Compared to Same Time Last Year, NRF Finds Consumers got a jump start on their back-to-school and college shopping this summer, according to a new survey by NRF. The average family has completed 43.2% of their school shopping, compared to 41.6% at this time last year.

August 20, 2010 Fixed Broadband Subscriber Numbers Approach 449 million in 2Q 2010, According to ABI Research The number of fixed broadband subscribers totaled just under 449 million in the second quarter of 2010, according to ABI Research’s most recent broadband subscriber Market Data. This represents a 10% increase over the same period in 2009.

August 13, 2010 July Total US Retail Sales Show Mixed Results, According to SpendingPulse July total retail sales grew by 1.4% year-over-year with seasonally adjusted month-to-month sales declining by 0.9%. Excluding auto and gasoline, on a seasonally unadjusted basis, year-over-year sales in July grew by 1.0%, according to MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse.

August 13, 2010 The 'Big Ad Gig' Returns - Top Agencies Offer Jobs to Five Finalists: Submissions Deadline Aug. 23 Eight young advertising creatives will once again compete to win a 30-day paid freelance position at five of today’s top advertising agencies, with the return of The Big Ad Gig (www.thebigadgig.com), to Advertising Week 2010.

August 3, 2010 Mobile Data Usage Grows Exponentially but Data Revenue Lags, According to ABI Research According to ABI Research, mobile data usage continues to grow exponentially as 3G technology spreads globally. From 2009 to 2015 data usage in Western Europe and North America is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 42% and 55% respectively.

August 3, 2010 Americans Budgeting More for Back to School Shopping, According to American Express The majority (80%) of consumers with children in preschool through high school expect to spend more (39%) or the same (41%) per child on back to school shopping this year compared to last year, according to the latest American Express Spending & Saving Tracker.

August 3, 2010 Twitter Users Three Times More Likely to Impact Brands Online, ExactTarget Finds A new study by ExactTarget finds consumers active on Twitter are three times more likely to impact a brand’s online reputation through syndicated Tweets, blog posts, articles, and product reviews than the average consumer.

July 23, 2010 Attention Mobile Operators: Courting Apple Owners Is Good Business, Says Yankee Group 1.7 million consumers bought iPhone 4s in its first three days of sale, sending Apple more than $1 billion in revenue. Research from Yankee Group shows that those same consumers will be worth more than $1.8 billion to AT&T this year, and more than $9 billion to it over the next five years.

July 23, 2010 Competition Will Drive Smartphone Pricing Down, Finds Juniper Research A new study from Juniper Research has forecast that challengers from the consumer electronics market will achieve global sales of smartphones exceeding 26 million by 2015. In addition, Asia will assert greater influence in the production of Smartphone devices.

July 23, 2010 Spring Radio Ratings Shows Stability of Overall Listening Habits, Nielsen Finds Radio consumption shows impressive year-over-year stability, according to an analysis of key listening metrics included in Nielsen’s spring 2010 ratings within 51 US markets.

July 23, 2010 PC Game Digital Downloads Reaching Parity With In-Store Purchases, Finds NPD Group According a new report from The NPD Group, in 2009, 21.3 million PC Game full-game digital downloads were purchased online in the US compared to 23.5 million physical units purchased at retail during the same period.

July 22, 2010 Mobile App Store Downloads to Reach 25 Billion by 2015, Juniper Report Finds As network operators and vendors increasingly deploy their own dedicated app stores, a new Juniper Research report has found that the annual number of consumer-oriented handset downloads is expected to rise from less than 2.6 billion in 2009 to more than 25 billion in 2015.

July 22, 2010 Facebook Flops in Customer Satisfaction, According to ACSI E-Business Report Despite being the most popular website in America, consumers don't like Facebook, according to the 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) E-Business Report, produced in partnership with ForeSee Results. Facebook scored 64 on the ACSI's 100-point scale, which puts its satisfaction even lower than IRS e-filers.

July 22, 2010 Click Fraud Rate Rises Slightly in Q2 2010 to 18.6%, Click Forensics Finds According to Click Forensics, the overall industry average click fraud rate was 18.6% in Q2 2010. That’s up from the 17.4% reported for Q1 2010 and the 12.7% rate reported for Q2 2009.

July 22, 2010 Banks Can Do More to Mitigate Escalating Malware Attacks, Javelin Report Finds A new Javelin Strategy & Research report finds that banks can do more to partner with security vendors and with their customers to mitigate malware attacks. Only two of the top 25 banks offer free or discounted unbundled antivirus protection to account holders.

July 21, 2010 Leading Retailers Aim for First-Mover Advantage in the Mobile Channel, According to Forbes Insights As consumers are starting to look to their smartphones for an enhanced shopping experience, leading US retailers are hoping to capture first-mover advantage in the growing mobile channel, according to a new study released today by Forbes Insights.

July 21, 2010 Online Retail Sales Projections Up 8% for Q3, eBillme Online Spending Index Shows Seventeen percent of consumers plan to do their back-to-school shopping online this year, a five percent increase over last year, according to the eBillme Online Spending Index, a quarterly survey conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research.

July 21, 2010 Marketers Should Wake Up to the Potential of Mobile, says ABI Research The first waves of what could become a marketing “perfect storm” are already lapping at the feet of marketing departments in many parts of the world, and according to ABI Research practice director for mobile marketing strategies Neil Strother, it’s time for marketing professionals to take note.

July 21, 2010 Bowe Bell + Howell and Gunther International Announce Strategic Marketing Agreement BÖWE BELL + HOWELL and Gunther International have announced an agreement whereby Gunther International will offer its customers disaster recovery and overflow services available through BBH. The BBH facilities offer secure mail-production services, from data management, printing and verification to induction by the USPS.

July 19, 2010 Mobile Video Services Revenue to Exceed $2 Billion in 2013, Says ABI Research Revenue from mobile video services is expected to top $2 billion worldwide in 2013, according to the latest data from ABI Research. Video services included in this forecast are video telephony, video messaging, video sharing, video-on-demand, VoD downloads, and “other” video services.

July 19, 2010 Customer Profitability Still Down at Big Retail Banks, Accenture Survey Finds According to a survey by Accenture, a majority of executives at leading retail banks globally say average customer profitability has remained below pre-crisis levels, while their customers’ price-sensitivity and inclination to "shop around" have increased.

July 19, 2010 Parents Will Not Be Cutting Back on Back-to-School Spending, Burst Media Survey Shows A new survey by Burst Media found that consumers will not cut back on back-to-school spending, as more than half plan to spend more or at least the same amount on back-to-school clothing and supplies as they did last year.

July 14, 2010 Shoppers Prefer Email Promotions Over Social Media, CrossView Survey Shows According to a new survey by CrossView, 35% of respondents said they were shopping due to a recently received promotion from a retailer. Of those who did not receive a promotion, 68% said they would have been more likely to visit a store if they had been given one.

July 14, 2010 United States Extends Lead as Top Spamming Nation as European Output Rises, Sophos Reports Sophos has published its latest report into the top twelve spam-relaying countries, covering the second quarter of 2010. The US continues to be the number one spam polluter, piping out 15.2% of all global spam messages – an increase from 13.1% in the first quarter of 2010.

July 12, 2010 Mobile Banking Usage Nearly Doubled Since Last Year, According to IDC Study According to a new report by IDC Financial Insights, mobile banking has seen an increase in usage and in institutions offering the service in the last year. In fact, reported mobile banking usage has almost doubled since last year's survey.

July 12, 2010 Google Sites Has Largest Audience in Asia Pacific comScore has released its May 2010 ranking of the top online properties in the Asia-Pacific region. Google Sites led as the most-visited property in the region reaching 55% of the online population, while Tencent led in engagement with visitors averaging 6.5 hours at the property during the month.

July 8, 2010 Six in Ten Americans Go Online Wirelessly; African-Americans Lead in Cellphone Usage, Pew Study Finds A May 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project finds that six in ten American adults now go online wirelessly using either a mobile phone or a laptop with a wireless Internet connection. Americans are also taking advantage of a much wider range of cell phone data applications than at a similar point in 2009.

July 7, 2010 US Spending on Mobile Display Ads Will Nearly Quadruple over the Next Five Years, Says ABI Research According to ABI Research, over the next five years, spending on mobile display ads in the US, estimated at just under $313 million today, will almost quadruple to exceed $1.2 billion in 2015.

June 29, 2010 Nearly 75% of Online Retailers Are Dialing up Mobile Strategies, According to Shop.org/Forrester Research According to a Forrester Research study produced in partnership with Shop.org, nearly 75% of online retailers either already have or are developing a mobile strategy. One in five boasts having a fully-implemented mobile strategy in place already.

June 29, 2010 Flash and Rich Media Ads Represent 40% of US Online Display Ad Impressions, comScore Reports According to comScore's Ad Metrix Creative Summary report, JPEG display ads led the market with more than 42% of impressions in the U.S., while “leaderboard”-style banner ads (728 x 90 in dimension) were the most commonly viewed display ad by size.

June 29, 2010 Smartphones Drive Gains in US Mobile Navigation, comScore Finds A new study by comScore on mobile map usage has found that 14% of mobile users in the US accessed maps on their devices in April 2010, as the mobile map audience reached 33.5 million users, up 44% from the previous year.

June 23, 2010 More than 55 Million Smartphone Shipments in the First Quarter of 2010, Says ABI Research The world’s smartphone markets continued to build on their strong 4Q-2009 performance in the first three months of 2010. According to the latest ABI Research data, a little more than 55 million smartphones shipped during the quarter.

June 23, 2010 Small Businesses Investing More in Email Marketing; Look to Integrate Social Media, AWeber Survey Finds According to a new survey by AWeber Communications, Email marketing continues to bring significant value to businesses, with more than 82% of respondents planning to increase their email marketing efforts over the next year.

June 23, 2010 Harte-Hanks Names Brian Dames Its CMO for Direct Marketing Harte-Hanks, Inc. has announced that it has promoted Brian Dames to the newly created position of CMO, Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing. Since first joining the company in 2007, Dames has been managing director in charge of data services and data solutions for Harte-Hanks Direct Marketing.

June 22, 2010 Online Behavior Leaves Consumers Vulnerable to Identity Theft, Finds Ponemon Study The use of social media can increase consumer vulnerability to identity theft because of the amount and type of personal information people share on these networks. However, consumers do little or nothing to protect themselves, according to a recent study conducted by the Ponemon Institute.

June 22, 2010 Nine of 10 Americans Have Cell Phones, but Talking Isn t All That Matters, Finds BIGresearch An increasing number of people are looking for phones which offer access to email, the Internet, picture-taking, and even calendars, according to new research, conducted by BIGresearch for the National Retail Federation’s Mobile Retail Initiative.

June 22, 2010 Tablets to Outsell Netbooks By 2012, Forrester Predicts Fueled by a growing interest in tablet computers, nearly half a billion PCs will be sold to consumers in the US between now and 2015, according to a new report by Forrester Research.

June 17, 2010 Mobile Phone Adoption Steps Backward as 23 Million Cash-Strapped Consumers Drop Out, Javelin Report Finds A new Javelin Strategy & Research report finds that the economy sucker punched overall mobile phone adoption, which dropped sharply from 85% in 2009 to 74% in 2010. The 23 million consumers who cancelled their contracts apparently considered having a mobile phone a luxury.

June 16, 2010 Mobile Apps Revenues to Exceed $30 billion by 2015, Juniper Reports A new report published by Juniper Research forecasts that the combined revenues from apps funded by pay-per-download (PPD), value-added services (VAS, including freemium and subscription) and advertising is expected to rise from just under $10 billion in 2009 to $32 billion in 2015.

June 16, 2010 Americans conducted 15.9 billion core searches in May, comScore Finds comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. In May 2010, Americans conducted 15.9 billion core searches, up 3 percent vs. April.

June 16, 2010 Retail Fraud, Shoplifting Rates Decrease, According to National Retail Security Survey As severe economic pressures slowly subside, retailers are noticing the same slight movement in merchandise losses, also known as shrinkage, and other types of criminal activity in their stores. Preliminary results of the latest National Retail Security Survey show that retail shrinkage decreased to 1.44% of retail sales in 2009, down from 1.51% in 2008.

June 16, 2010 BOWE BELL + HOWELL Announces Expansion Plans for Customer Excellence Center BÖWE BELL + HOWELL has announced expansion plans for a new customer excellence and demonstration center at its facility in Durham, N.C. This center will feature the widest range of inserting, sorting, software, vision and service offerings available today, and provide an opportunity for customers to meet with BBH industry experts.

June 15, 2010 Market for US Mobile Broadband about to Speed Up, IDC Says According a new forecast by IDC, the market for mobile broadband connectivity for portable computers has been slow to gain momentum over the past several years. Only in the past 18 months has the US market taken significant steps toward broader adoption beyond the traditional mobile worker. The report shows that the US mobile broadband market will grow from 6.5 million subscribers in 2009 to 30.2 million in 2014.

June 15, 2010 National Retailers Increasingly Concerned About Energy Efficiency, Prenova Survey Finds According to a survey by Prenova, Inc., findings indicate national retailers are increasingly concerned about energy efficiency and are refocusing efforts to promote cost-saving, sustainable business practices.

June 14, 2010 Organized Retail Crime Still Growing Problem for Industry, According to NRF According to NRF’s sixth annual ORC survey, 89.5% of retailers surveyed say their company has been a victim of organized retail crime within the past 12 months, a slight decrease from last year’s 92.2%.

June 14, 2010 Debit Card Use Remains Robust in Midst of Economic Downturn, According to PULS A new study commissioned by PULSE reveals that the debit market remained robust during the second year of the economic downturn and is projected to grow strongly in 2010. The study finds that much of the growth in debit use is in small-ticket transactions, suggesting that more consumers prefer debit over cash.

June 14, 2010 Consumers Prefer Email Embedded with Streaming Video, Goodmail Study Reveals Goodmail Systems has announced that a majority of consumers respond positively to streaming video in email as a new, effective and preferred marketing channel. This, acccording to a study conducted for Goodmail by the Adams Company.

June 14, 2010 Broadband Adoption Emerging at Different Rates for Latin American Consumers, According to Forrester According to a new report by Forrester Research, Brazilians are fanatical about social networking, with 40 million of them regularly using social networking sites.

June 14, 2010 MeritDirect Announces Asset Acquisition of Venture Direct Worldwide MeritDirect is proud to announce its agreement to acquire Venture Direct Worldwide. MeritDirect will now be managing all of Venture Direct Worldwide’s List Services Division including Xactmail – email and postal databases.

June 11, 2010 BOWE BELL + HOWELL Wins Five STC Awards for Technical Documentation BÖWE BELL + HOWELL’s (BBH) Technical Communications Department has won two Excellence Awards and three Merit Awards from the Carolina Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication (STC).

June 10, 2010 Half of All 'Americans' Start Their Day on Email, ExactTarget Finds A new study released today by ExactTarget found 58% of US online consumers begin their day interacting with companies on email, compared to 20% who start their day on search engines and 11% on Facebook.

June 10, 2010 Fixed Broadband Revenue Expected to Top $184 Billion by the End of 2010, Says ABI Research Global fixed broadband service revenue totaled $170 billion by the end of 2009, with YoY growth of 14%. DSL remains the largest broadband revenue generator with 62% of total global broadband service revenue.

June 9, 2010 Retail Recovery Hits Bump; Consumer Purchase Plans Dip, According to ForecastIQ With May consumer confidence down a point from April and retailers still feeling the effects of an early Easter, it’s not surprising that forecasts for same store sales growth for June and July are off. However, outlooks remain up year-over-year, according to ForecastIQ.

June 9, 2010 Comscore Reports April 2010 US Mobile Subscriber Market Share A new report by comScore, Inc. has found Samsung to be the top handset manufacturer overall with 22.1% percent market share, while Verizon led among mobile operators with 31.1% market share.

June 8, 2010 Mobile Developers Cite Collaboration as the Most Important Enterprise Application for Mobile Devices in New Evans Data Survey Collaboration tools, followed by enterprise instant messaging, and logistical tools were cited by global developers as the most important enterprise applications for mobile devices, according to Evans Data’s newly released Mobile Development Survey, 2010.

June 8, 2010 Affluent Consumers Pave the Way for Retail Recovery, According to L.E.K. Consulting The L.E.K. Consulting Consumer Sentiment Survey (CSS) has identified shifts in consumer attitudes and spending behaviors that have important ramifications for retailers. Key findings include a significant uptick in affluent consumer spending and optimism, insight into major drivers of purchasing decisions, and shifting online commerce expectations.

June 4, 2010 Clothes, Gadgets and Gift Cards Prevail as Top Gifts This Father's Day, According to NRF Survey According to a new survey by NRF, Americans will spend slightly more on Father's Day this year. Total Father’s Day spending is expected to reach $9.8 billion.

June 4, 2010 Most Industrial Companies Plan to Introduce New or Improved Products in 2010, According to Global Spec Survey According to a new survey by Grant Marketing, industrial marketers will promote new products and services through email marketing, websites, and press releases in the remainder of 2010.

June 3, 2010 Hearst Corporation to Acquire Global Digital Marketing Services Company iCrossing Hearst Corporation reached an agreement to acquire iCrossing, one of the largest independent digital marketing services providers in the world. The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI) initiated this transaction and acted as Hearst’s exclusive financial advisor.

June 3, 2010 Consumer Takes a Respite as Spending in Many Sectors Declines, According to SpendingPulse MasterCard Advisors’ SpendingPulse report, this month, more retail sectors showed a respite in year-over-year growth, as slow economic recovery appeared to weigh on the US consumer’s spending behaviors.

June 2, 2010 Outbound Spam Costs Majority of Service Providers Big Bucks, According to Commtouch Study Sixty-eight percent of service providers say outbound spam costs them up to $100,000 per year, according to a new research study by industry analyst firm Osterman Research and Commtouch.

June 1, 2010 FTC Extends Enforcement Deadline for Identity Theft Red Flags Rule At the request of several Members of Congress, the FTC is further delaying enforcement of the “Red Flags” Rule through December 31, 2010, while Congress considers legislation that would affect the scope of entities covered by the Rule.

May 25, 2010 Mobile Local Search Users to Reach Almost 1.5 Billion by 2014, Juniper Research Report Finds A continuing surge in mobile Internet usage, allied to the increasing penetration of integrated GPS receivers within both smartphones and featurephones, will see location-based local search and information services used by nearly 1.5 billion mobile users by 2014, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

May 25, 2010 Worldwide Mobile PC Shipments Grew 43% in First Quarter of 2010, Gartner Says Worldwide mobile PC shipments totaled 49.4 million units in the first quarter of 2010, a 43.4% increase from the first quarter of 2009, according to final results by Gartner, Inc.

May 25, 2010 Big Changes in Online News Consumption Revealed: Gather Survey New Research by Gather reveals that individuals are increasingly turning to the internet – not only when news breaks, but more and more frequently to share and get perspective on news stories.

May 25, 2010 Online Bill Payment Now Mainstream, Women Edge out Men, Says Fiserv Survey According to a new survey by Fiserv, Inc., bill payment and e-bill usage continues to grow, and the online bill payment population has changed significantly during the last decade. Between 2000 and 2010, the number of households that use online banking increased more than six-fold, the survey found.

May 24, 2010 comScore Ranks Top-Growing Properties and Site Categories for April 2010 comScore has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top-growing properties and site categories for April 2010. Community sites such as Home and Beauty/Fashion/Style saw gains during the month. Photo sharing sites also experienced a boost in activity .

May 24, 2010 Radio Advertising Revenue Growth Shows Strength, Radio Advertising Bureau Finds According to research by the Radio Advertising Bureau, radio has delivered its best results in quarter-to-quarter revenue comps since Q1 2007 with a +6% overall increase to $3.687B, reflecting growing signs that the US economy is back.

May 24, 2010 E-Commerce Spending in Q1 Accelerates to a 10% Growth vs. Year Ago, comScore Finds New research from comScore, Inc. shows that online retail spending neared $34 billion for the quarter, up 10% versus year ago. The strong acceleration represented the first time growth rates reached double-digits since the second quarter of 2008.

May 24, 2010 Mobile Music on the Increase Across Europe comScore, Inc. has released data showing that 23.8% of mobile users across five leading European mobile markets listened to music on their mobile handsets during the three month period ending March 2010 - a 10% increase in the past year.

May 20, 2010 Mobile Marketing CAGR at Least 40% to 2015, According to ABI Research In 2009, well under half a billion dollars were spent on mobile marketing and advertising. Over the five years to the end of 2015, that expenditure will grow at a compound annual rate of more than 40%, according to estimates from ABI Research.

May 20, 2010 Dramatic Turnaround in Consumer Confidence and Plans to Travel This Summer, Burst Media Survey Shows A newly released survey by Burst Media found one quarter of respondents plan to take more vacations this summer compared to last year, and 44% plan to take about the same number. The study’s most striking finding is that only one-in-ten respondents said they plan to reduce their number of summer trips compared to 2009.

May 20, 2010 Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association and Three Other Philadelphia Powerhouse Organizations Join Forces to Host Knockout Networking Event, Raise Funds For Haiti The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association, Philadelphia American Marketing Association, and Sales and Marketing Executives International’s Central Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Chapters joined forces to host an educational event and donated more than $1,000 in support of Haiti relief efforts in the process.

May 19, 2010 Consumers Back in the Practice of Gift Giving this Graduation Season, According to NRF Graduates have had it rough when it comes to job hunting, but this year family and friends will soften the blow of the real world by giving graduates cash, gift cards, and even electronics or apparel - according to a new NRF survey,conducted by BIGresearch. The survey found fewer people will buy graduation gifts this year (31.4% vs. 32.5% in 2009) but each gift giver will spend slightly more.

May 19, 2010 Consumers Will Increase Spending on Electronics Accessories by 5% This Year, CEA Study Finds A new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) finds that nearly half of consumers will shop to replace an accessory included with their consumer electronics purchase and that they will base their accessory purchase decisions on functionality rather than price.

May 19, 2010 Banking, Investment Direct Marketing Mail Volumes Remain Steady in Q1, Reports Mintel Comperemedia While the US finance market is still volatile, there are signs that life is starting to become more stable. According to Mintel Comperemedia, direct marketing mail volumes across the banking and investment categories appear to show stability in the first quarter of 2010.

May 19, 2010 Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales Grew 17% in First Quarter 2010, Gartner Says Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totalled 314.7 million units in the first quarter of 2010, a 17% increase from the same period in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc.

May 18, 2010 McAfee Reveals the Top Five Malware and Spam Trends Worldwide in Q1 2010 McAfee Inc. has unveiled its McAfee Threats Report, which uncovered that a USB worm has taken the No. 1 spot for top malware worldwide. Spam trends show that email subjects vary greatly from country to country with diploma spam out of China and other Asian countries on the rise.

May 17, 2010 Economic Conditions Linger as Chief Concern for Retailers in 2010, Finds BDO New research released by BDO identifies general economic conditions as the leading risk factor by far among the 100 largest public US retailers for the second year in a row.

May 17, 2010 April Retail Sales Show Continued Momentum, According to NRF Retail sales continued their upward climb in April, showing evidence of a much more confident consumer compared to this time last year, according to the National Retail Federation.

May 17, 2010 Worldwide Mobile Gaming Revenue to Grow 19% in 2010, Gartner Says Worldwide mobile gaming end-user revenue is forecast to surpass $5.6 billion in 2010, a 19% increase from 2009 revenue of $4.7 billion, according to Gartner, Inc.

May 14, 2010 Americans Received 1 Trillion Display Ads in Q1 2010, According to comScore comScore, Inc. has released an overview of the US online display advertising market for Q1 2010, which showed strong gains following softness for much of 2009. Data from comScore’s Ad Metrix services shows that US Internet users received a record 1.1 trillion display ads during the first quarter, marking a 15% increase versus year ago.

May 14, 2010 Three-Fourths Living a Simpler Life Because of Recession, According to American Pulse Survey 74.1% of Americans say they are living a simpler life – spending less, being more frugal, not trying to keep up with the Joneses – as a result of the recession, according to the latest American Pulse survey of 5,079 Americans.

May 14, 2010 Bowe Bell + Howell Business Continuity Production Services Achieves SAS 70 Certification for All Mail Processing Centers BÖWE BELL + HOWELL has announced that it has been awarded SAS 70 Type II Certification. The Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS) No. 70 certification is the latest demonstration of BBH’s ongoing commitment to internal controls and security of customer information.

May 14, 2010 Retail Container Traffic to be Up 10% in May, NRF Reports Import cargo volume at the nation’s major retail container ports is expected to be up 10% in May with double-digit increases expected into this fall as the US economy improves, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report released today by the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates.

May 13, 2010 Customer Satisfaction with Online Banking Slips, But Still Significantly Beats Offline Banking, ForeSee Finds According to a new study from ForeSee Results and Forbes, customer satisfaction with online banking fell two points in 2010, from 83 in 2009 to 81 (on a 100-point scale).

May 13, 2010 Online Ad Spending Sees 25% Year Over Year Growth In, Rubicon Project Reports A new report by the Rubicon Project shows that March ad spending on average was 38% stronger than January 2010.

May 11, 2010 Social Media: Banks' Secret Weapon to Combat Consumer Mistrust, According to Mintel Less than half of respondents to a recent Mintel Comperemedia survey stated that they believe their bank is a company they can trust. In the same survey, 22% of consumers said that they think that social media sites help them make good decisions about purchases.

May 11, 2010 Regional ISPs Drive Broadband Growth in Rural Markets, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released a study that found that broadband penetration in rural markets has experienced double-digit growth in the past year, driven largely by regional providers continuing to capture an increasing share of the market in these areas.

May 11, 2010 Consumers Choose Retailers That Offer More Control Over Interactions, NCR Study Finds North American consumers are choosing retailers that offer them more control over where, when and how they interact across a range of channels—including social media and smart phones—according to a new study commissioned by NCR Corporation.

May 10, 2010 Android Shakes Up US Smartphone Market, Finds NPD Group The Android operating system continued to shake up the US mobile phone market in Q1 of 2010, moving past Apple to take the number-two position among smartphone operating systems, according to The NPD Group.

May 10, 2010 Mobile Banking Appeals to the Younger Consumer, says Auriemma Consulting Group Mobile banking has been widely predicted to become a mainstream technology, but current usage is very much a youth phenomenon, according to Cardbeat, a syndicated market research report published by Auriemma Consulting Group (ACG).

May 10, 2010 Pharmaceutical Promotional Spending Indicates Trend Toward Electronic and Online Promotion, SDI Reports SDI, a leading healthcare market insight and analytics firm, reports evidence of pharmaceutical promotion shifting away from print advertising toward electronic promotion — for marketing to both professionals and consumers.

May 6, 2010 Mobile Payments Market to Quadruple by 2014, Jupiter Study Finds A new study from Juniper Research has found that the value of mobile payments for digital and physical goods, money transfers and NFC (Near Field Communications) transactions will reach almost $630bn by 2014, up from $170bn this year, representing the gross value of all purchases or the value of money being transferred.

May 6, 2010 StrongMail Research into Travel and Hospitality Sector Reveals Top Email Marketing Challenges and Priorities According to a research by StrongMail, only 30% of email marketers are using subscriber information and behavior to target customers with pre- and post-stay emails, signaling a significant market opportunity to increase revenue and differentiate their brand.

May 6, 2010 Smartphone Downloads from Mobile App Stores to Peak in 2013, Says ABI Research According to ABI Research data, last year consumers downloaded some 2.4 billion applications from such stores, and the download rate will accelerate over the next few years until in 2013 smartphone downloads are expected to peak at just below seven billion. Apple’s app store will continue to lead the field.

May 5, 2010 Ballantine Releases White Paper Providing Tips for Choosing Right Vendor for Direct Mail Campaigns Ballantine Corporation has announced that they are offering their expertise in a newly-released white paper that focuses on how to make the best vendor choice.

May 5, 2010 US Consumer Spending Rebounded in april According to Discovery US Spending Monitor Consumer confidence rebounded in April, fueled by a distinct change of heart among 18- to 39-year-olds about the state of the US economy, according to the Discover US Spending Monitor.

May 5, 2010 US Born & Non-US Born Hispanics Differ in Shopping Behavior and Media Usage, BIGresearch Finds According to a survey by BIGresearch, there are some key similarities and differences every marketer should know about Hispanic groups in America, including those households that speak English a majority of the time and those who don’t, as well as Hispanics who were born in the US and those who were not.

May 4, 2010 comScore ARS Reports Decline in Loyalty for Many Consumer Goods Brands During Recession comScore has released the March 2010 results of a study on brand loyalty among consumer goods products, showing a significant decline in consumers’ allegiance to their favorite brands during the past two years.

May 4, 2010 The Nielsen Company Launches New Sites Targeting Asian-American, Hispanic, and African-American Communities The Nielsen Company has unveiled its in-language microsites for the Asian-American, Hispanic/Latino and African-American communities. The three sites highlight Nielsen’s diversity efforts, explain measurement methods and services, how panels and surveys are representative of the diverse population and how data is captured and utilized.

May 3, 2010 Privacy Concerns Thwart Ad Spend on Behaviorally Targeted Campaigns, Ponemon Study Concludes According to a new study by Ponemon Institute, hundreds of millions of dollars are being held back from online behavioral advertising (OBA) over concerns that a lack of consumer trust in the practice could damage brand reputation.

May 3, 2010 e-tailing group Study Reveals Changes in Consumers' Online Shopping Habits and Usage of Customer Reviews A new study by the e-tailing group and PowerReviews reveals that online research remains central to consumer shopping behavior, with 50% of respondents reporting that they conduct research online for at least half of the purchases made.

April 26, 2010 Mother's Day Second Only to Winter Holidays, According to NRF Survey Behind the winter holidays (Christmas, Chanukah, and Kwanza), Mother’s Day is the second largest US consumer spending holiday. NRF’s 2010 Mother’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found the average person will shell out $126.90 on Mother’s Day gifts, compared to $123.89 last year. Total spending is expected to reach $14.6 billion.

April 26, 2010 UK Online Video Viewing Up 37% During Past Year, comScore Reports comScore has released data from the comScore Video Metrix service indicating that 5.5 billion videos were viewed online in the UK in February 2010, up 37% versus the previous year.

April 26, 2010 Online Auto Insurance Quotes and Policies Purchased Rebound in 2009, comScore Finds comScore has released its 2010 US Online Auto Insurance report, which found that US consumers submitted requests for 38.8 million online quotes in 2009 and purchased a record 2.8 million policies online during the year, each representing an increase of more than 20% versus the previous year.

April 23, 2010 Nearly Half of Mobile Phone Users Worldwide to Make Mobile Payments by 2014, according to Juniper Research A new study by Juniper Research has forecast that nearly half of all mobile phone users worldwide will pay by mobile for digital and physical goods by 2014, representing growth of nearly a billion users compared to 2010.

April 23, 2010 Global Luxury Goods Market to Expand 4% in 2010, Predicts Bain & Company Global luxury goods industry revenues will increase 4% from 153 million euro in 2009 to a projected 158 million euro for 2010, according to the Spring 2010 update of Bain & Company’s ‘Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study.’

April 23, 2010 Scareware Hackers Exploit Mcafee False Positive Problem, Sophos Reports According to Sophos, hackers are exploiting a problem with McAfee's anti-virus product that has caused hundreds of thousands of computers around the world to repeatedly reboot themselves.

April 23, 2010 72% of Teens are Texters; Average Texter Exchanges 1,500 Texts Per Month, Pew Finds Daily text messaging among American teens has shot up in the past 18 months from 38% of teens texting friends daily in February of 2008, to 54% of teens texting daily in September 2009.

April 23, 2010 PDMA Presenter and Author Hollis Thomases Helps Marketers Avoid Web Marketing Pitfalls Author Hollis Thomases was the keynote presenter at a recent networking & lunch meeting hosted by the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA). “Marketers need to leverage the measurability of the Web, and that starts with developing a holistic strategy,” Thomases remarked.

April 21, 2010 United Kingdom, France, India Among Cheapest for Mobile Broadband, Finds ABI Comparing mobile data pricing in a number of countries, ABI Research found that the UK, France, and India have among the world's lowest prices for mobile broadband plans.

April 21, 2010 Grocery Shoppers Influenced by Online Ads, According to Burst Survey A new survey by Burst Media has revealed that Internet food and product ads have considerable influence in the decision making process for both online and in-person store shoppers.

April 19, 2010 comScore Ranks Top-Growing Properties and Site Categories for March 2010 comScore, Inc. has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top-growing properties and site categories for March 2010 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Automaker discounts and incentives compelled millions of Americans to visit auto manufacturer sites to seek information and investigate possible purchases.

April 19, 2010 Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) Presents 'The Strategic Power of Online Video' at April 21 Networking Meeting Business and marketing professionals from across the Delaware Valley are invited to attend the April 2010 networking & breakfast meeting hosted by the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association. Chris Crafton, CMO for eCorpTV.com, Inc., and Craig Hunter, director of Internet marketing for VISHAY Intertechnology, will present “The Strategic Power of Online Video” on Wednesday, Apr. 21, 2010 at Penn State Great Valley in Malvern, PA.

April 19, 2010 Steve Kunkel Joins DMW Direct as VP of Business Development Warren Hunter, chairman and CEO of direct response advertising agency DMW Direct, has announced that Steve Kunkel has joined the company as VP of business development.

April 16, 2010 Adults exposed to 237 Million Video Ads in Last Four Months of '09, Finds Nielsen In the last four months of 2009, adults 18 years or older were exposed to 237 million video ads per month in the ten location-based video networks included in The Nielsen Company’s inaugural “Fourth Screen Network Audience Report.”

April 16, 2010 TV Hit Hardest as Consumers Reduce Media Time by Two Hours a Day, Yankee Group Reports The economic crisis hit the US ad market harder than expected, with overall revenue dropping from $77 billion in 2008 to $67 billion in 2009. According to a new Yankee Group report,the lion's share of the decline was due to TV advertising, which plummeted from $52 billion in 2008 to just $41 billion in 2009.

April 16, 2010 Worldwide PC Shipments Grew 27% in First Quarter of 2010, Gartner Says According to Gartner, Worldwide PC shipments totaled 84.3 million units in Q1 of 2010, up 27.4% from Q1 of 2009, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. These first quarter results have exceeded Gartner's earlier market outlook.

April 16, 2010 Mobile Mapping and Direction Services Post Strong Increases Across Europe, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore MobiLens survey, reporting a 68% increase in the use of mobile mapping and direction services across Europe in the last year.

April 16, 2010 BOWE BELL + HOWELL Names Hank Martin VP, Postal Software Marketing BÖWE BELL + HOWELL has announced that industry expert Hank Martin has joined the company as VP, Postal Software Marketing. Martin brings more than 25 years of experience to the company, most recently with AVI, and prior to that with postal software provider Firstlogic.

April 12, 2010 Social Networking Habits Vary Considerably Across Asia-Pacific Markets, comScore Finds According to a new study by comScore, 50.8% of the total online population in the Asia-Pacific region visited a social networking site in February 2010, reaching a total of 240.3 million visitors.

April 12, 2010 10% of US Fraud Victims Fell Prey to Fraudulent ATM Withdrawals in 1009, Javelin Reports In a new report, Javelin Strategy & Research states that 10% of all fraud victims in the US experienced fraudulent ATM cash withdrawals and as a result, 23% those left their primary financial institution.

April 9, 2010 Smartphones, Tablets, E-Readers Create New Revenue Opportunities for Publishers, Outsell Finds The surging popularity of untethered devices like the iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, Kindle and Sony Reader will help breathe new life into the publishing and information industries, but which revenue models will take hold will depend on the device, according to a new report from Outsell, Inc.

April 9, 2010 The Commercials ARE Louder Than the TV Shows, Adweek Media/Harris Poll Survey Reveals More than four in five Americans say that, compared to the shows themselves, TV commercials seem louder. In fact, over half say the commercials seem much louder than the shows, according to a new Adweek Media/Harris Poll.

April 9, 2010 Karmin Group Makes TV Debut with DRTV Campaign Created by Northern Lights The Karmin Group is making its television debut with a direct response television (DRTV) campaign for its Cool Crisp product created by Northern Lights Direct Response.

April 7, 2010 Confidence Returning to Job Market for Digital and Direct Marketers, Bernhart Survey Finds Digital and direct marketing job seekers can expect a spring thaw in layoffs and hiring freezes, according to the latest quarterly employment report by Bernhart Associates Executive Search, LLC.

April 5, 2010 M&A Recovery in Full Swing in Q1 2010, According to Jordan, Edmiston Group In Q1 2010, the number of deals announced increased 70% and overall transaction value rose to over five times the Q1 2009 levels, across the 10 media, information, marketing services and technology sectors tracked by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc.

April 5, 2010 Harte-Hanks Selects Veracentra to Power Private Label On-Demand Marketing Solution for Direct Marketers VeraCentra, Inc., an innovative leader of on-demand marketing software and services, has announced that it has signed an agreement with Harte-Hanks Inc., a worldwide direct and targeted marketing company, to brand and sell the VeraCentra Collaborate solution, an on-demand marketing intelligence tool and delivery platform.

April 5, 2010 IWCO Direct Completes Acquisition Of Transcontinental Direct US Operations IWCO Direct, a leading, US-based privately held provider of direct marketing solutions, announced it has successfully completed the acquisition of US operations from Transcontinental Direct, a high-volume direct mail organization with facilities across the US.

March 31, 2010 Postal Service Files Five-Day Delivery Plan with Postal Regulatory Commission The Postal Service yesterday took its case for five-day delivery to the Postal Regulatory Commission (PRC). The Postal Service is required by law to seek an advisory opinion from the PRC any time a nationwide change in service is proposed.

March 30, 2010 Mobile Web Presence-Based Revenues to Generate $6 Billion by 2012, According to Juniper Research The value of presence based Mobile Web 2.0 services will increase to more than $6 billion by 2012, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

March 30, 2010 Mobile Data Traffic from PC Modems and Routers Will Increase Fourfold by 2014, According to ABI Mobile data traffic from PC modems and routers is forecast to increase fourfold between 2010 and 2014, according to a new Research Brief from ABI Research.

March 30, 2010 The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index Rebounds in March The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had decreased in February, rebounded in March. The Index now stands at 52.5 (1985=100), up from 46.4 in February.

March 30, 2010 Credit Card Usage Falls and Online Payments Surge, According to Packaged Facts Research According to research by Packaged Facts, the world of payments continues to change as consumers back off checks and credit cards, debit cards move toward saturation, online payment options proliferate, and contactless payments and mobile payments move closer on the horizon.

March 29, 2010 Low Prices Replace Customer Service as Top Driver of Customer Loyalty, Finds COLLOQUY Walmart dominated the 2010 COLLOQUY Retail Loyalty Index, in results that low prices drove consumer loyalty. “Low prices have stepped up to become retail’s strongest loyalty lure according to consumers,” said COLLOQUY Partner Kelly Hlavinka.

March 29, 2010 Same Store Sales Outlook Up; Consumers More Bullish, According to ForecastIQ For the first time in the 18 months, ForecastIQ has been predicting that for same-store sales, the number of those forecasted to either likely or almost certainly see growth is higher than those likely to see a decline.

March 29, 2010 Retailers Focusing on Leadership Development and Diversity to Nurture Talent, Deloitte/NRF Survey Finds A new study by Deloitte and the National Retail Federation identified that, while the majority of respondents agree that talent management is part of their company’s strategic planning process, they appear to be challenged in translating strategy into action.

March 25, 2010 iPhone Poses Biggest Smartphone Security Risk, According to nCircle Survey iPhones present the greatest smartphone security risk to the enterprise, according to a recent survey from nCircle, a network security and compliance auditing firm.

March 25, 2010 Video and Display Advertising Driving Uplift in Site Visitation, According to .Fox Networks and comScore Video and display advertising are effective at driving significant uplift in site visitation and advertiser search queries, even in the face of minimal clicks on ads, according to findings by.Fox Networks and comScore.

March 25, 2010 Gartner Outlines 10 Mobile Technologies to Watch in 2010 and 2011 According to Gartner, Inc., Investments in mobile applications and technologies will increase through 2011 as organizations emerge from the recession and ramp up both business-to-employee (B-to-E) and business-to-consumer (B-to-C) mobile spending.

March 25, 2010 Web 2.0 Mobile Revenues to Reach $18.9 Billion by 2014, Says Juniper Research Demand for mobile access to Web 2.0 applications and services will see related annual revenues from these services hit $18.9 billion in 2014, a new report from Juniper Research has found.

March 24, 2010 Mobile Broadband Subscriptions Surpassed 271 Million by Year End 2009, ABI Research Finds According to ABI Research, mobile broadband subscriptions grew to 271 million for a year-over-year growth rate of 43%.

March 24, 2010 MetaResponse Group Announces Formation of MetaInfo Services Division MetaResponse Group is pleased to announce the formation of its MetaInfo Services division, offering an integrated suite of data and information processing services.

March 24, 2010 PerksCard Network Launches New Website Platform Promoting Loyalty, Savings and Discounts PerksCard Network, a premier loyalty savings and discount network, has announced the launch of a new website and program platform.

March 23, 2010 Strong Consumer Interest in Multi-Screen Viewing of TV & Movies Revealed in QuickPlay Survey According to the results of a new QuickPlay Media survey, there is a high level of interest in new TV and video entertainment delivery models, particularly multi-screen video services.

March 23, 2010 Consumers Show High Level of Interest in e-Readers, comScore Study Finds Results of a new comScore study show very high awareness of the iPad out of the gate, with an aided awareness of 65%, the same as that of the Amazon Kindle e-reader. Overall, consumers have demonstrated a high level of interest in these types of devices.

March 19, 2010 Easter a Warm Welcome for Shoppers and Retailers, According to NRF According to NRF’s 2010 Easter Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, holiday celebrants will spend slightly more this year with the average person expected to shell out $118.60, up from $116.59 last year. Total spending is expected to reach $13.03 billion.

March 19, 2010 comScore Ranks Top-Growing Properties and Site Categories for February; Valentine's Day Brings Traffic to Personals, e-Cards, and Gift Sites comScore has released its monthly analysis of US Web activity at the top-growing properties and site categories for February 2010. Valentine’s Day celebrations sent millions of Americans to Personals, e-Cards, and Gifts Sites as they planned for the occasion, while millions also flocked to tax sites as the Apr. 15 filing deadline inched closer.

March 19, 2010 China will be World's Fastest Growing Enterprise Software Market Through 2013, Gartner Says China’s enterprise software market is forecast to maintain its strong performance, with an estimated compound annual growth rate of 14.6% from 2008 to 2013, the highest growth rate in the world, according to Gartner, Inc.

March 17, 2010 Financial Institutions Losing Revenue by Not Capitalizing on Mobile Marketing, Javelin Reports In a new report issued this week, Javelin Strategy & Research states that financial institutions are losing revenue opportunities due to their lack of mobile marketing and advertising to a captive and willing audience.

March 17, 2010 US Advertising Expenditures Declined 12.3% in 2009, Kantar Media Reports Total advertising expenditures fell 12.3% in 2009 to $125.3 billion as compared to 2008, according to data newly released by Kantar Media.

March 16, 2010 2010 Could be Break-Out Year for Mobile Mobile Ads, Projects Mojiva and DM2PRO.com According to a poll conducted by DM2PRO.com in collaboration with Mojiva, 2010 could be a break-out year for mobile advertising, but that publishers are struggling to participate in the upside of the latest media ad boom.

March 16, 2010 MeritDirect and Penton Announce Marketing Partnership MeritDirect and Penton Media have announced a marketing partnership, effective April 1, that will provide marketers’ access to Penton Media’s Database and suite of integrated marketing solution products.

March 15, 2010 Male Voices in Ads Seen as More Forceful - Female Voices More Soothing; Harris Poll Finds According to a new Harris Poll, 48% of Americans believe a male voice is more forceful while 46% believe a female voice is more soothing in an ad. However, almost half of US adults also say it makes no difference to them and neither voice is more forceful.

March 15, 2010 Americans Eager to Enjoy Tax Refunds This Year, According to NRF Survey, According to NRF According to NRF’s 2010 Tax Returns Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, 43.9% of Americans expecting a refund will pay down debt, fewer than the 48.0% in 2009.

March 11, 2010 Display Advertising in Europe Has Greater Impact Than in US, comScore Study Suggests comScore, Inc. has announced the release of a new report that revealed that those exposed to online ad campaigns in Europe were 72% more likely to visit the advertiser’s website and 94% more likely to conduct a trademark search query on the advertiser’s brand, compared to a control group of similar Internet users who were not exposed to the campaigns.

March 8, 2010 Marketers' Digital Spending to Overtake Print for First Time Ever, According to Outsell For the first time, spending on digital/online advertising and marketing will overtake print in 2010, according to new projections from Outsell, Inc.

March 8, 2010 Double-Digit Growth for Online Retail in US And Western Europe, Forrester Forecasts Despite entering a more mature phase in its evolution, online retail in both the US and Western Europe remains poised for a robust period of double-digit growth over the next five years, according to two new forecasts by Forrester Research Inc.

March 8, 2010 US Internet Users Watched 32.4 Billion Videos in January, comScore Finds comScore has released January 2010 data showing that nearly 173 million US Internet users watched online video during the month. Video viewers at YouTube.com watched 93 videos on average during the month, a 50% increase versus a year ago.

March 5, 2010 Mobile Access for Facebook and Twitter Grows by Triple-Digits, comScore Reports A new study by comScore, 30.8% of smartphone users accessed social networking sites via their mobile browser in January 2010, up 8.3 points from 22.5% one year ago. Access to Facebook via mobile browser grew 112% in the past year, while Twitter experienced a 347% jump.

March 5, 2010 Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) Presenter Chris Brown Explains How to Maximize Frontline Sales and Customer Service “What is your role as marketing professionals and how are you maximizing the performance of your frontline sales and customer service teams,” asked Chris Brown of the marketing professionals attending the Feb. 17, 2010 networking & lunch meeting hosted by the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association.

March 4, 2010 Oneupweb Eye Tracking Study Shows Surprising Trends in Real-Time Search Oneupweb recently conducted a study to determine whether the average user is recognizing and understanding what real-time results are and if they’re finding and clicking on them.

March 3, 2010 Most US Retail Industries Show Continued Positive Trends, According to SpendingPulse While severe snowstorms hurt apparel sales in the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast, and North Central regions, easy year-over-year comparisons helped produce positive results in other sectors, according to research by SpendingPulse,

March 3, 2010 More than 130 million Enterprise Users in the Mobile Cloud by 2014, Juniper Report Finds As collaborative applications become ever more important for enterprise, a new report from Juniper Research has found that the number of enterprise customers using mobile cloud-based applications will rise to more than 130 million by 2014.

March 1, 2010 Text Messaging to Remain Dominant in Near Future, Evolve with New Capabilities, Says Frost & Sullivan Text messaging (SMS) will continue its dominance in the messaging arena for the foreseeable future and will evolve with additional features over the next three to five years, according to Frost & Sullivan in a report exclusively licensed to Comverse.

February 26, 2010 US Ad Spending Down 9% in 2009, Nielsen says US ad spending declined 9% in 2009, according to preliminary figures released today by The Nielsen Company. Spending fell an estimated $11.6 billion to a total of $117 billion last year.

February 26, 2010 Colorado Governor Proposes Tax Bills Affecting Direct Marketers Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter has proposed a package of 11 tax bills to remove sales tax exemptions on a variety of products and services and to raise money needed to close the gap. Two of the bills (HB 1189 and HB 1193) are bills that affect direct marketers.

February 26, 2010 Sports Site Traffic in India Reaches New Heights, comScore Finds A new study by comScore has found that more than 10 million Internet users at home and work locations in India visited a sports site in January 2010, nearly double the number from the previous year.

February 25, 2010 Insurance Companies Maintain Steady Direct Mail Through End Of 2009, Mintel Reports Direct mail is still a formidable force in the insurance industry: Mintel Comperemedia reports that insurance companies upheld direct mail volumes throughout 2009, despite budget cuts and the growing strength of social media.

February 25, 2010 Outlook for Retailers Continues to Improve, According to Prosper Technologies Month-over-month, forecasts for same store sales growth look brighter for many retailers, according to the February ForecastIQ. However, the positive outlook could turn out to be a dead cat bounce in light of the fact that the BIGresearch consumer confidence reading dropped to 27.2 percent.

February 25, 2010 Worldwide Mobile Phone Sales to End Users Grew 8% in Fourth Quarter 2009, Gartner Says Worldwide mobile phone sales to end users totaled 1.211 billion units in 2009, a 0.9% decline from 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. In the fourth quarter of 2009, the market registered a single-digit growth as mobile phone sales to end users surpassed 340 million units.

February 24, 2010 93 Million Americans Disconnected From Broadband Opportunities, FCC Survey Finds The FCC has released its National Broadband Plan Consumer Survey, Broadband Adoption and Use in America, which found that affordability and lack of digital skills are the main reasons why 93 million Americans,one-third of the country,are not connected to high-speed Internet at home.

February 23, 2010 163 Million Smartbooks Expected to Ship in 2015, Says ABI Research A new ABI Research study estimates that 163 million smartbooks will ship worldwide in 2015 – a significant rate of growth given that the very first models only appeared in 2008.

February 23, 2010 UK Customer Satisfaction with Retail Rebounds, According to National Customer Satisfaction Index UK Customer satisfaction is improving for the first time after three straight quarters of small declines, according to the National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI). The study measures customer satisfaction with department stores, supermarkets, electrical retailers, petrol stations, and e-commerce.

February 23, 2010 Discover Card Ranked Tops in Customer Loyalty for 13th Consecutive Year The Discover brand remains on top of the credit card category for the 13th consecutive year, finishing in a tie with American Express for No. 1 in the 2010 Brand Keys Customer Loyalty Engagement Index.

February 23, 2010 Omeda, EE Times Group Sign Database Management Agreement Omeda, a leading integrated database management provider, has reached an agreement to provide database management and email deployment services for EE Times Group, a division of United Business Media.

February 22, 2010 Consumer Interest Growing for Over-the-Top Video and Web-Enabled TV Devices, Says In-Stat Nearly 37% of broadband households in North America are extremely or very interested in viewing Over-the-Top video content on the home TV, according to market research firm, In-Stat. The demand is growing as companies such as Amazon, Hulu, Netflix, and Apple offer streamed or downloadable TV and movie content.

February 22, 2010 Mobile is the Next Frontier in Online Shopping, According to eMarketer More than 80 million US mobile phone users will access the Internet from their device in 2010, eMarketer forecasts. That’s nearly 35% of all mobile phone users and almost 27% of the US population

February 22, 2010 Facebook Will Be No. 1 Social Network in All But 25 Countries, Gartner Predicts Facebook will be the Number One social network in all but 25 countries. However, in countries such as Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Japan, it will not be No. 1. This prediction is one in a series Gartner analysts have made on customer relationship management (CRM).

February 19, 2010 More Than One Billion Mobile Workers Worldwide by Year's End, According to IDC According to a new forecast from IDC, the world's mobile worker population will pass the one billion mark this year and grow to nearly 1.2 billion people by 2013, with the most significant gains in the emerging economies of Asia/Pacific.

February 19, 2010 Amazon Expands Kindle Digital Text Platform to Include Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian Amazon.com has announced that authors and publishers around the world can now use the self-service Kindle Digital Text Platform (DTP) to upload and make available their books in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian to customers worldwide in the Kindle Store.

February 19, 2010 Interest Low for Person-to-Person Mobile Payments, ABI International Survey Finds A consumer survey conducted by ABI Research in November 2009 in seven countries on three continents has found consistently low levels of interest in making person-to-person payments via the mobile phone.

February 18, 2010 Atlantic List Company Acquires Bush Company Atlantic List Company, Inc., an employee owned list brokerage and list management business, announces the acquisition of Bush Company, Inc. based in Newport Beach, California.

February 18, 2010 Women Predominate in European Online Retailing, According to Deutsche Card Services According to an analysis by Deutsche Card Services, women played a predominant role in European online retailing. The “E-Retail-Report 2009” shows that women initiated 61.35% of all transactions in European online shops.

February 18, 2010 Consumer Media Consumption Will Splinter in 2015, Says New Report from Unilever, Mindshare, and ESPN In 2015, consumers will be more in control of a fragmented media marketplace than they are today and will compartmentalize their media consumption habits into segments that align with their attention spans, personal tastes, information needs, and technological savvy. This according to a new report commissioned by Unilever, Mindshare, and ESPN.

February 18, 2010 US Travel Spending Declines In 2009, Growth Expected in 2010, According to Mintel While travel spending in the US saw a decline of 9% in 2009, Mintel expects to see more people taking off in the new decade with a 6% increase in travel spending expected for 2010.

February 12, 2010 Majority of B-to-B Marketers Cannot Track ROI, Velos Study Finds Nearly 65% of B-to-B marketers cannot track return on investment, according to results of a study created by The Velos Group.

February 12, 2010 January Retail Sales Continue Slow Road to Recovery, According to NRF Post holiday sales and gift cards helped consumers open up their wallets to take advantage of special deals on popular apparel, electronics and sporting goods items. According to the National Retail Federation, January retail industry sales increased 0.5% seasonally adjusted month-to-month and decreased 0.2% unadjusted year-over-year.

February 12, 2010 Love Is Cheap Majority of Americans to Spend Under $50 on Valentine's Day, Zogby Survey Finds Two-thirds of Americans say they plan to spend less than $50 on Valentine's Day this year, a new Zogby Interactive survey of adult Americans finds.

February 11, 2010 Women Shoppers Trending Toward Online for Clothing Purchases in 2010, According to Survey by CheapToday According to a survey by CheapToday, women expect to spend about the same this year as they did last year on clothing, with the tendency to make clothing purchases online.

February 11, 2010 Mobile Sector Will Comprise 62% of Total Telecom Market in 2010, IDC finds According to a new report from IDC, the mobile sector is now a 850 billion global market, comprising 57% of the global telecom market. It is also the fastest growing segment and will comprise 62% of the total telecom market in 2010.

February 11, 2010 Identity Theft Rises but Resolution Times and Consumer Costs Plummet, According to Javelin Report Last year the economy helped drive up the number of identity theft cases and the overall cost of identity fraud, but consumers had lower out of pocket costs and resolution times fell 30% to 21 hours, according to the Javelin Strategy & Research 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report, co-sponsored by ITAC.

February 11, 2010 Seven Out of Ten Consumers Plan Valentine Purchases This Year, According to ICR Survey 70% of consumers are planning Valentine purchases this year, according to a survey just completed by ICR/International Communications Research. 70% of men and 65% of women intend to buy Valentine cards, candy, flowers, and other gifts.

February 11, 2010 Mobile Broadband Investment Set to Soar, According to GSMA The GSMA has announced that mobile operators around the world will invest up to $72 billion in Mobile Broadband technologies in 2010. The new operator CAPEX investment data comes as global HSPA connections reach the 200 million milestone.

February 10, 2010 TV Ad Budgets Are Under Siege, According to ANA/Forrester Survey Respondents to a new ANA/Forrester study of national advertisers said their TV ad spending will remain flat this year. They also reported allocating only 41% of their media budgets to television last year versus 58% in 2008.

February 10, 2010 NPD Reports Home Appliance Holiday Sales Show Signs of Hope According to The NPD Group, both major and small appliance sales posted positive dollar and unit sales figures in the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to fourth quarter 2008.

February 10, 2010 Retail Container Traffic to be Up 25% in First Half of 2010, NRF Reports According to the National Retail Federation and Hackett Associates., import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports will be a full 25% higher during the first half of 2010 compared with the same period a year ago.

February 9, 2010 UK Consumers Hold Retailers Responsible for Safety of Online Shopping, CyberSource Survey Finds Almost a quarter of UK adults believe retailers are primarily responsible for making online shopping safer, according to a survey by CyberSource Ltd.

February 9, 2010 US Consumers Are Changing from Big Spenders to Big Savers, According to Allianz Study The US savings rate could rise as high as 6% in the wake of the crisis, according to a recent study by Allianz Group Economic Research. Moreover, saving patterns are set to change; with US consumers particularly shy of risky assets.

February 9, 2010 US E-Commerce Spending in Q4 2009 Reached $39 Billion, Up 3% from Previous Year, comScore Reports comScore has released its Q4 2009 US retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending reached $39 billion, up 3% versus a year ago. Total retail e-commerce spending reached $129.8 billion for the full year 2009, marginally below the previous year’s total of $130.1 billion.

February 9, 2010 The Ballantine Corporation Releases Direct Marketing Trends for 2010 Ballantine Corporation has assembled a new white paper that reveals the likely direct marketing trends for 2010.

February 9, 2010 HMS National Names Douglas Stein President HMS National, Inc., a leading provider of home warranties, has announced that it promoted Douglas Stein to president. Stein will focus on growing HMS' client base and maximizing customer lifetime value through a range of leading marketing, sales, and client management strategies.

February 8, 2010 Mintel Comperemedia Predicts Banking Industry Changes for 2010 Mintel Comperemedia forecasts five major changes for banks in 2010. "From the fall of free checking to the rise of comprehensive banking rewards programs, banks seem poised to make 2010 a year of innovations,” states Susan Wolfe, Mintel's VP of financial services.

February 8, 2010 Philadelphia Direct Marketing Assocation (PDMA)Presents Marketing Consultant and Author Chris Brown at February Networking Meeting On Wednesday, Feb. 17, at the Clarion Hotel Park Ridge in King of Prussia, PA., the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) will host a networking & lunch meeting featuring a presentation by marketing consultant and author, Chris Brown, entitled “Tough Times, Focus Inward – Effective Use of Frontline Sales and Customer Service Teams.”

February 8, 2010 Boost Mobile, Home Away, E*Trade & Google Scored Integrated Marketing Standouts at Superbowl, According to Reprise Media Marketers competed in their own game during this year's Super Bowl: Boost Mobile, Home Away, E*Trade & Google were the integrated marketing standouts in Reprise Media's 6th annual Search Marketing Scorecard.

February 8, 2010 Dydacomp Posts Record Active User Base and Revenue Growth in 2009 Dydacomp, a leading provider of business automation software, has announced that in 2009 the size of their Mail Order Manager active user base reached an all-time high in their 20 year history, fueled by tripled new business sales in December and lapsed customer re-engagement.

February 5, 2010 15 Billion Tickets to be delivered via Mobile Phone by 2014, Forecasts Juniper Research A new study by Juniper Research has forecast that nearly 15 billion tickets will be delivered to subscribers' mobile devices worldwide by 2014, compared to just over two billion this year.

February 5, 2010 US Heads the Top Ten List of Countries for Hosting Malware, According to Sophos According to Sophos, the US has the dubious distinction of being the number one country for hosting malware on the Web January-December 2009. The US is followed by US, Russia, China, Peru, Germany, South Korea, Poland, Thailand, Turkey, and the UK

February 4, 2010 This Valentine's Day, Couples Cut Back on Gifts to Each Other, According to NRF Survey According to a new NRF survey, couples plan to spend less on each other this year for Valentine's Day, but more on their family, friends, co-workers, even their pets.

February 4, 2010 Retailers Bolster Multichannel Offerings, According to eMarketer According to research by eMarketer, many retailers conduct business in multiple channels — via stores, a Website and catalog/call centers — but few have mastered the coordination of these channels.

February 4, 2010 Winter Olympics to Boost Sales for Canadian Retailers, eMarketer Predicts Retailers will see a small uptick in sales from the 2010 Winter Olympics, according to eMarketer, but it won’t result in high gains for retailers who are already taking a hit from weak consumer confidence, according to a recent Reuters article.

February 4, 2010 Consumer Trust In US Financial Institutions Is Returning, According to Forrester One year after the depths of the worst financial crisis in half a century, Americans are more likely to say their financial institutions are doing what's best for them, according to the seventh annual customer advocacy rankings by Forrester Research, Inc.

February 3, 2010 Radio, TV, Print Budgets Slashed as Marketers Look Online to Build Brand Reputation, According to ExactTarget According to new research conducted by Econsultancy and ExactTarget, increasing investment in social media, mobile marketing, email marketing, and search will fuel a 17% surge in digital marketing spending this year, as marketers migrate budgets from television, print and radio.

February 3, 2010 Merkle Releases 'View from the Social Inbox' Consumer Email and Social Networking Trends Report According to a new report by Merkle, time spent with personal, or social, email to friends and family is unchanged from last year, with 71% of respondents spending 20 minutes or more weekly. These numbers contradict early speculation that social networking would quickly replace traditional email use.

February 3, 2010 Retailers Missing the Mark with Product Recommendations, ChoiceStream Survey Finds According to the finding of a survey by ChoiceStream, the quality of product recommendations on retailers’ sites declined significantly year over year with many more shoppers reporting that they received poor quality recommendations in 2009 versus 2008.

February 2, 2010 Mintel Comperemedia Predicts Five Financial Services Trends for 2010 On the heels of a year full of economic turmoil and uncertainty, Mintel Comperemedia forecasts five consumer-focused trends that will impact the financial services industry in 2010. Mintel Comperemedia looks at how consumers’ actions and beliefs about their finances will change next year, and how this will impact companies trying to do business with them.

February 2, 2010 Life Insurance Searches in the US Increase 15% in 2009 to Reach Record Number, comScore Finds comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released a study on life insurance search activity in 2009. The study found that searches for life insurance information grew to 16.6 million queries, an increase of 15% versus the previous year, as more consumers turned to the Web to research policies.

February 1, 2010 Malware and Spam Rise 70% on Social Networks, Sophos Report Reveals A new report published by data protection firm Sophos has revealed an alarming rise in attacks on users of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, by cybercriminals.

January 29, 2010 In Australia, Online Retail Sites See Traffic Surge in December, According to comScore A new study by comScore found that three out of five Australians online visited a retail site in December, as traffic to the category reached its highest volume of the year with more than eight million visitors during the month.

January 29, 2010 Boomers Are Multichannel Media Consumers, eMarketer Reports In the US, boomers account for about one-third of Web traffic on a typical day, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Still, boomers who use the Internet remain avid consumers of TV, radio and newspaper.

January 29, 2010 Senate Commerce Committee to Hold Hearing on Role of FTC in Consumer Protection The Senate Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance will hold a hearing on “Financial Services and Products: The Role of the Federal Trade Commission in Protecting Consumers,” Thursday, Feb. 4, at 2:30 p.m.

January 28, 2010 Credit Card Direct Mail Back on the Rise, According to Mintel Comperemedia According to Mintel Comperemedia, in Q4 2009—for the first time in three years — credit card direct mail volume increased from the previous quarter. With a 47% increase in direct mail compared to Q3 2009, credit card issuers demonstrate increased confidence in the economy and willingness to extend more consumer credit.

January 28, 2010 Shopping on Mobile Sites Has Long Way to Go, According to Study from Keynote According to Keynote Research, shopping on mobile websites still has a lot of catching up to do in both download performance and uptime when compared to the performance of connected websites.

January 28, 2010 PDMA January Speaker, Det Ansinn, Brings Mobile Age into View For Regional Marketers At a recent networking & lunch meeting of the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA), Det Ansinn, VP of mobile technology for Mobile Tag Company and president of BrickSimple LLC, gave a keynote presentation, entitled “How to Hit a Moving Target: Secrets of Marketing in the Mobile Age.”

January 27, 2010 One Third of Companies Plan to Reinstate Pay Cuts, Bernhart Survey Finds According to Bernhart Associates' latest Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Employment Report, among employers who imposed pay cuts last year, 37% said they plan to either partially or fully reinstate those reductions in 2010.

January 27, 2010 comScore Reports November 2009 German Mobile Market Share comScore, Inc. has released data from the comScore MobiLens service, reporting key trends in the German mobile phone industry over the three month period between August and November 2009. The report found Nokia to be the most popular brand of handset with a 35.4% market share, while its Symbian operating system continues to lead among smartphones with a 58.5% market share.

January 27, 2010 23% of Consumers Will Shop Online for Valentine's Day, According to eBillme Online Spending Index According to the eBillme Online Spending Index, 23% of consumers plan to shop online for Valentine’s Day gifts, with 9% indicating they will spend more money online compared to last year. This represents an increase in online shoppers over the 2009 Valentine’s Day holiday.

January 27, 2010 Innovyx Introduces Dialogue 1to1 Version 8.0 Email Technology Platform nnovyx, an email service provider that deploys email campaigns and customer communications programs for agencies and Global 2000 companies, today announced a major new release of Dialogue 1to1, the company’s proprietary email technology platform.

January 26, 2010 2010 US Virtual Goods Market to Surpass $1.6 Billion, Concludes Inside Network A new report by research firm Inside Network concludes that the total US market size for virtual goods will reach $1.6 billion in 2010, with social gaming contributing $835 million of that total.

January 26, 2010 Food and Drink Product Launches Decline During 2009, According to Mintel Data The economic slump paid its toll on US food and drink manufacturers in 2009, according to a recent review of Mintel’s Global New Product Database (GNPD). Food and drink product launches show a substantial decline of nearly 30% from 2008.

January 26, 2010 Zinio Reveals Second of Three Core Elements of 'UNITY' Design Zinio, a world leader in digital publishing, technology, distribution and services, has announced the second element of its "UNITY" platform -- design optimization -- in conjunction with the latest addition to its newsstand from the United States Tennis Association: USTA Magazine.

January 25, 2010 Ads Integrated Within Interactive TV Environment Outperform Broadcast TV Equivalents, Akoo Study Finds Traditional 30-second TV commercials, when integrated within an interactive, social TV programming environment, often outperform broadcast TV equivalents in brand metrics such as recall, consideration, and purchase intent. This, according to a new study by Akoo, a leading social music television network.

January 25, 2010 Newspaper-Magazine Ads Seen as Best Way to Find Bargains, According to Harris Poll According to a new Adweek Media/Harris Poll, almost one-quarter of adult Americans (23%) believe that newspaper and magazine advertisements are where they can find the best bargains.

January 21, 2010 FCC Proposes Tougher Restrictions on Pre-recorded Telemarketing Calls The FCC has proposed revisions to its rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to further empower residential telephone subscribers to avoid unwanted telephone solicitations. The proposals would require sellers and telemarketers to obtain written consent from recipients before making prerecorded telemarketing calls.

January 21, 2010 Daily Media Use Among Children and Teens Up Dramatically from Five Years Ago, Kaiser Study Finds With technology allowing nearly 24-hour media access as children and teens go about their daily lives, the amount of time young people spend with entertainment media has risen dramatically, especially among minority youth, according to a study released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

January 21, 2010 Most Super Bowl Viewers Tune in for the Commercials, Nielsen Says The majority of Super Bowl viewers enjoy the game’s ads more than the action on the field, according to results of a new survey released by The Nielsen Company.

January 21, 2010 Mobile Product Recommendations Heat Up In 2010, According to ChoiceStream Survey According to findings of a new survey by ChoiceStream, there is a significant opportunity for product recommendations to lift mobile commerce revenue. A full 65% of m-commerce shoppers indicated that they would buy more products from their mobile devices if it were easier to find products on them from trusted retailers.

January 20, 2010 Consumers Willing to Spend More to Go Green, Burst Media Survey Shows According to a new survey by Burst Media, consumers are willing willing to pay more for a variety of products that are "green," and 90% of respondents have incorporated some level of “greenness” into their daily lives.

January 20, 2010 83% of Brands Remain in the Dark about Mobile Campaign Performance, Bango Reports According to statistics released by Bango Inc., 83% of brands do not use mobile specific analytic tools, leading to inaccurate data on campaigns performance.

January 20, 2010 Mothers Today Play Important Roles in Tech Purchase Decisions, BabyCenter Report Finds According to a new report by BabyCenter, the 21st-century Mom has become tech fluent, and takes an important role in the tech purchase decision process.

January 19, 2010 Search Marketing Sector Rebounds After Positive Holiday Season, According to Efficient Frontier According to Efficient Frontier, the search engine marketing (SEM) industry posted solid sequential and year on year growth for the fourth quarter of 2009. Marketers, especially in the retail category, took advantage of growing consumer demand and took a more aggressive position with their search campaign spend.

January 19, 2010 BIA/Kelsey Analysts Identify Key Local Media Trends to Watch in 2010 According to BIA/Kelsey's analysts, the next two years will fundamentally alter the local media market landscape, based on the thesis that the economic implosion over the past year and a half will irrevocably change advertiser behavior.

January 15, 2010 BIGresearch's Electronics Retail Ratings: Best Buy Increases Hold on Top Spot; #2 Walmart Gaining Ground One-third of adults 18+ say they shop Best Buy most often for Electronics, and its preference among consumers is growing, according to the December Retail Ratings Report from BIGresearch. Walmart, Amazon, Target and Sears all experienced positive gains in consumer share.

January 15, 2010 2009 US Video Game Industry and PC Game Software Retail Sales Reach $20.2 Billion, NPD Reports According The NPD Group, US retail sales of video games, which includes portable and console hardware, software and accessories, generated revenues of close to $19.66 billion, an 8% decline over the $21.4 billion generated in 2008.

January 15, 2010 Bowe Bell + Howell Business Continuity Production Services Achieves Compliance with Payment Card Industry s Data Security Standard BÖWE BELL + HOWELL has announced that it has achieved the highest certification level of the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS).

January 15, 2010 NextMark Releases 4Q09 Data Card Quality Report NextMark, Inc. a leading provider of direct marketing tools and resources, has published its fourth quarter 2009 Data Card Quality Report. The report categorizes list management firms based on the number of titles managed, and provides an average data card quality score across each company's list management portfolio.

January 14, 2010 Online Retailers Deliver Strong Performance During '09 Holiday Season, AlertSite Finds According to metrics released by AlertSite, online sales, totaling approximately $27 billion, was not the only positive outcome for online retailers in the 2009 holiday season. Overall, during the period beginning Nov. 26, Thanksgiving Day, and ending Dec. 31, online retailers showed strong Web performance.

January 14, 2010 Mobile Security Market to Exceed $4 Billion by 2014, Says ABI Research Strong enterprise demand for data security is driving rapid growth in mobile device management services. According to a new study by ABI Research, the number of smartphones protected by advanced security software will increase fivefold over the next five years.

January 14, 2010 comScore Releases December 2009 Ranking of Top Ad Networks comScore has reported the top 15 ad networks based on their reach among US Internet users in December 2009. The ranking showed that AOL Advertising remains the top ad network, reaching 187 million US Internet users, or 91% of the total audience.

January 14, 2010 comScore Releases December 2009 Ranking of Top Ad Networks comScore has reported the top 15 ad networks based on their reach among US Internet users in December 2009. The ranking showed that AOL Advertising remains the top ad network, reaching 187 million US Internet users, or 91% of the total audience.

January 13, 2010 After Holidays, Americans Slightly More Likely to Spend Money, Harris Poll Finds According to results of a recent Harris Poll, after the holidays, spending may slow as people pay off holiday bills, but in looking ahead for the next six months, it appears that spending on most things is likely to increase, but not by a lot.

January 12, 2010 Retailers Succeed with Mix of In-Store, Online & Catalog Shopping, Allen & Gerritsen Survey Finds Retail stores still trump online stores as the go-to holiday destination, but online retailers are delivering higher customer satisfaction, according to a post-holiday surveyconducted by advertising agency Allen & Gerritsen.

January 12, 2010 Super Bowl Spending Reached $2.17 Billion Over The Past 20 Years, According to TNS According to TNS Media Intelligence, from 1990 thru 2009, the Super Bowl game has generated $2.17 billion of network sales from a total of 210 different advertisers and more than 1,400 commercial messages.

January 12, 2010 Online shopping shows strong growth for the 2009 holiday season, According to Chase Paymentech For 2009, the number of online shopping transactions soared 30 percent over 2008, while total sales volume increased 17.3%, according to Chase Paymentech. The difference in these two numbers can be attributed to the decline in average ticket value, which dropped 9.8%.

January 12, 2010 Shoppers Want Enhanced Personalization, More Choices from Retailers' Social Media Programs, NCR Survey Finds Shoppers are looking for enhanced personalization and more choices in how they interact with retailers through social media, according to a recent survey conducted by NCR Corporation. The NCR survey polled more than 400,000 consumers regarding their experiences with social media and how retailers can better serve their needs.

January 11, 2010 Zinio Launches Iphone App as Key Element of 'Unity' Reading Platform Zinio has announced the launch of its iPhone app as the cornerstone of its ubiquitous “Unity” reading platform. Currently offering its digital content to be read on PC, Mac, netbook, touch-screen, and tablet devices, Zinio now adds another reading access point to its multi-platform-enabled portfolio.

January 11, 2010 Northern Lights Creates Lavalife DRTV Campaign to Connect Singles Lavalife has announced that it launching a new direct response television (DRTV) campaign created by Northern Lights Direct Response. The dynamic, 30-second DRTV commercial promotes Lavalife’s popular phone service, Lavalife Voice, and will air in both Canada and the US starting January 11.

January 11, 2010 NextMark Releases 4Q09 Data Card Quality Report NextMark has published its fourth quarter 2009 Data Card Quality Report. The report categorizes list management firms based on the number of titles managed, and provides an average data card quality score across each company's list management portfolio.

January 8, 2010 Free Standing Insert Coupon Activity Increased 8% During 2009, Accordint to TNS Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupon activity increased 8% during 2009 versus the previous year to more than 272 billion Coupons Dropped, according to Marx Promotion Intelligence, a division of TNS Media Intelligence.

January 8, 2010 Free Standing Insert Coupon Activity Increased 8% During 2009, Accordint to TNS Free Standing Insert (FSI) coupon activity increased 8% during 2009 versus the previous year to more than 272 billion Coupons Dropped, according to Marx Promotion Intelligence, a division of TNS Media Intelligence.

January 7, 2010 Return Path Identifies Top 10 Email Trends in 2009 Return Path, a leading email deliverability and reputation management company, has released its Top Email Trends in 2009 report. While 2010 promises even more changes in the email industry, Return Path has identified the top trends in email in the past year.

January 7, 2010 Customers Reward Marketing and Advertising that Employs 'Green' Messages, According to Report from Environmental Leader A newly study by Environmental Leader shows that customers reward companies that use "green" marketing messages, with 82% of respondents saying that their companies intend to increase spending on green marketing.

January 7, 2010 comScore Reports $29.1 Billion in US Retail E-Commerce Spending for Full November-December Holiday Season comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, has reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the entirety of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the full holiday online shopping season, $29.1 billion was spent online, marking a 4-percent increase versus the same period last year. The season featured distinct periods of strong spending growth surrounding the Thanksgiving-Black Friday timeframe and the final shopping week leading up to Christmas

January 6, 2010 Boomer Women Are Savvy and Profitable Media and Technology Consumers, According to Vibrantnation Recent insights garnered from a media/technology survey conducted by VibrantNation.com, a leading online community for smart, successful women over 50, suggest these women represent a larger and more important consumer segment than most media and consumer electronics marketers recognize.

January 6, 2010 November Sees Number of US Videos Viewed Online Surpass 30 Billion for First Time on Record, comScore Finds comScore has released November 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that more than 170 million US Internet users watched online video during the month.

January 5, 2010 FTC Approves Two Reports to Congress on the National Do Not Call Registry The FTC, as required by The Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007, has approved two reports to Congress: a biennial report focusing on the use of the Do Not Call Registry by both consumers and businesses, as well as the impact that new technologies have had on the Registry, and a one-time report on enforcement efforts and consumers’ perceptions of the Registry’s effectiveness.

January 5, 2010 US Job Satisfaction at Lowest Level in Two Decades, Conference Board Finds Americans of all ages and income brackets continue to grow increasingly unhappy at work-a long-term trend that should be a red flag to employers, according to a report released today by The Conference Board.

January 5, 2010 Mobile Augmented Reality App Downloads to Pass 400 Million a Year by 2014, Juniper Finds The annual number of mobile downloads featuring augmented reality (AR) content is expected to rise from less than 1 million in 2009 to more than 400 million by 2014, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

January 4, 2010 Customer Satisfaction with E-Retail Rebounds, According to ForeSee Results Customers of the largest online retailers are more satisfied than ever according to ForeSee Results' annual report on holiday shoppers.

December 23, 2009 Internet Users Now Spending an Average of 13 Hours a Week Online, According to Harris Poll A new Harris Poll finds that adult Internet users are now spending an average of 13 hours a week online. Of course, people’s usage varies greatly; 20% of adult Internet users are online for only two hours or less a week while 14% are spending 24 or more hours a week online.

December 22, 2009 Wintry Weekend Boosts Online Holiday Sales in Final Shopping Weekend of the Season, comScore Reports comScore has reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 50 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $25.5 billion has been spent online, marking a 4% increase versus the corresponding days last year.

December 22, 2009 No Light at the End of the Tunnel for Retailers in Early 2010, According to ForecastIQ Coming out of a sluggish holiday season, the new year doesn't hold much promise for retailers when it comes to their same store sales, according to the December ForecastIQ. Same store sales growth will likely be off over the next 75 days, although a repeat of last January's plunge isn't expected.

December 21, 2009 Mobile Application Downloads to Hit Five Billion in 2014, According to ABI Research ABI Research expects application downloads to reach five billion by 2014. That is an increase from an estimated 2.3 billion applications downloaded in 2009. The growing adoption of smartphones which saw sales rise 20% in 2009, according to ABI.

December 17, 2009 Americans Aim to Curb Spending and Cut Debt in 2010, First Command Reports According to survey by First Command, Americans are increasingly concerned that economic conditions will continue to deteriorate and they are aiming to modify their financial habits accordingly. The survey reveals that 32% of middle-class consumers think the US economy will continue to fall deeper into a recession.

December 17, 2009 Amazon Associates and Google Blogger Expand Monetization Opportunities for Bloggers Amazon and Google have announced a new collaboration that enables Bloggers to monetize their content by adding relevant Amazon products to their blog posts without interrupting the blog editing process.

December 16, 2009 Most Shoppers Have Completed Less than Half of Shopping, NRF Survey Finds According to NRF’s 2009 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average person had completed 46.7% percent of their holiday shopping by the second week of December, less than the 47.1% completed by this time last year.

December 15, 2009 More Than a Quarter of US Small Businesses to Spend More on Online Video, Social Media Marketing, Ad-ology Research Finds According to Ad-ology Research, 28% of small business owners say they plan to spend more on online video in 2010, up 75% over last year’s plans. Twenty five percent say the same about social networking, while 21 percent plan to commit more resources to mobile advertising.

December 15, 2009 Consumer Spending Outlook is Brightening According to Market Force Survey The upward tick in November retail sales is just the beginning of a spending rebound, if consumers follow through with their intentions expressed in a consumer survey conducted this month by Market Force Information. A full 65% of respndents said they planned on splurging on an item in the next three months.

December 14, 2009 Consumers Plan to Shop Later, According to American Express Survey A new survey from American Express reveals that 66% of consumers have yet to finish their holiday shopping and that holiday festivities will spur spending among partygoers in a variety of ways, from party primping expenses to purchasing hostess gifts.

December 14, 2009 Word of Mouth Influences Most Electronics, Apparel Purchases, According to RAMA Survey According to a Retail Advertising and Marketing Association survey conducted by BIGresearch, word of mouth remains the biggest influence in people’s electronics and apparel purchases, though advertising inserts, articles, and in-store promotions also sway buying decisions.

December 14, 2009 Majority of Credit Card Consumers Modify Spending Habits or Change Providers in Response to Issuer Changes, comScore Finds A new report by comScore reveals that more than two-thirds of consumers have responded to changes in their credit card terms and conditions by reducing spending behavior, terminating the account or switching brands.

December 14, 2009 Online Holiday Spending Approaches $20 Billion for the Season According to comScore, for the holiday season-to-date, $19.9 billion has been spent online, marking a 3% increase versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week saw above average online spending growth of 4% versus year ago.

December 10, 2009 Hudson Valley DMA Holiday Party Hits High Note The Hudson Valley DMA (HVDMA) celebrated the holidays at the Tamarack Country Club in Greenwich, CT on Dec. 4th. Margaret O'Halloran of Staywell Communications, was appointed HVDMA President, and The Founders Award was presented to Rich Mercado, who was instrumental in building HVDMA membership.

December 9, 2009 Medicare Direct Mail to Increase, Mintel Comperemedia Forecasts Mintel Comperemedia predicts insurance companies will increase Medicare direct mail during this year’s Annual Election Period (Nov. 15-Dec. 31, 2009). Observing a 13% rise in Medicare acquisition mailings for October 2009 versus October 2008, Mintel Comperemedia forecasts this year's fourth quarter mail will top Q4 2008 by 20%.

December 9, 2009 Christmas Shopping Season Sparks Increased Visitation to European Online Retailers, comScore Finds Offering signs of tempered optimism that the consumer economy might be beginning to rebound after a tumultuous year, the European online Christmas shopping season got off to a solid start this year in the UK, France, and Germany, according to a new report by comScore.

December 8, 2009 Online Shopper Satisfaction Holds Steady, But Still Disappoints, According to ForeSee Results Customer satisfaction with retail websites for the week following the Thanksgiving weekend is on par with satisfaction on Cyber Monday, according to ForeSee Results’ weekly holiday benchmark. The satisfaction score is 3% lower than at the same time last year and does not bode well for a retail industry hoping to regain its footing during the holiday shopping season.

December 8, 2009 Yahoo Introduces Ad Interest Manager Yahoo has released a beta version of a new consumer tool called Ad Interest Manager, where Yahoo visitors can see a concise summary of their online activity and make choices about their exposure to interest-based advertising served from the Yahoo Ad Network.

December 8, 2009 US Online Holiday Spending Reaches $16 Billion for First 36 Days of Shopping Season, comScore Finds comScore has reported holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 36 days of the November – December 2009 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, nearly $16 billion has been spent online, marking a three-percent increase versus the corresponding days last year.

December 4, 2009 Geotargeted Display Ad Revenues to Grow to $1.9B in 2013, BIA/Kelsey Predicts The geotargeted display (or banner) ad market will grow from $897 million in 2008 to $1.9 billion in 2013, representing a compound annual growth rate of 16 percent, according to BIA/Kelsey.

December 4, 2009 Security Concerns Hinder Cloud Computing Adoption, According to Forrester Concerns about the security of cloud computing environments top the list of reasons for firms not being interested in the pay-per-use hosting model of virtual servers, according to the latest Enterprise And SMB Hardware Survey, North America And Europe, Q3 2009, by Forrester Research, Inc.

December 3, 2009 Cyber Monday Online Sales Up 5% vs. Year Ago to Match Heaviest Online Spending Day in History, comScore Finds A new report by comScore shows that, for the holiday season-to-date, $12.26 billion has been spent online, marking a 3% increase versus the corresponding days last year. Cyber Monday reached $887 million in online spending, up 5% versus a year ago, and matching the heaviest online spending day on record.

December 3, 2009 Shift in US Spending Habits Revealed by Coinstar Poll A new Coinstar Currency Poll on economic trends reveals that more than three in five Americans plan to alter their financial plans due to economic uncertainty in the months ahead. In addition, more women than men plan to change their financial plans.

December 2, 2009 Email and Social Media Marketing Are Top Areas of Investment in 2010, StrongMail Finds The majority of businesses plan to increase marketing spend in email marketing and social media in 2010, making them the top two areas of investment according to a new survey today by StrongMail.

December 2, 2009 Online Shopper Satisfaction Down on Cyber Monday, According to ForeSee Results Cyber Monday shoppers were less satisfied this year than they were at the same time last year, according to ForeSee Results’ annual benchmark of satisfaction with online holiday shopping.

December 1, 2009 Online Holiday Giving to Exceed $4 Billion, Convio Predicts Convio, Inc. estimates that US online giving to nonprofit organization will be more than $4 billion during the holiday season of 2009 as more than 111 million say they plan to give via the Internet this year.

December 1, 2009 Cyber Monday Spending Shifts to Early Mornings and Evenings, According to Shop.org According to Shop.org, this year, many retailers saw Cyber Monday traffic and sales shift this year from mid-day hours to the early morning and evening hours as more Americans shopped for deals from home.

December 1, 2009 Optimizing Web App Performance Drives Revenues, Aberdeen Report Finds Companies with best-in-class Web application performance saw a 25% increase in Web-related profitability compared to an industry-average 5% decrease from 2008 to 2009, according to a new report from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company.

December 1, 2009 Majority of Retailers Say Holiday Advertising and Marketing Budgets Flat According to BDO Seidman According to a study conducted by BDO Seidman, LLP, one of the nation's leading accounting and consulting organizations, more than half (55%) of retailers say that their 2009 advertising budget is flat this holiday season, up from 43% in 2008.

December 1, 2009 RetailMeNot.com Releases Black Friday Special Report RetailMeNot.com has released the Black Friday 2009 Special Report on traffic, retail sales and consumer coupon usage on RetailMeNot.com. "Despite signs that the economy is rebounding, we’re seeing enormous gains both in traffic and the quantity of coupons being offered by retailers this holiday season," said Guy King, co-founder, RetailMeNot.com.

November 12, 2009 Half of Americans Will Buy Toys This Holiday Season, According to Harris Interactive According to Harris Interactive, half of Americans (54%) will be buying toys as gifts this year, up from 47% who said they would be buying toys last year. Among those who have children in their household, seven in ten (69%) will be buying toys this year and just under half of those in household without children will be buying toys this year (46%).

November 9, 2009 US Retailers Face $191 Billion in Fraud Losses Each Year, LexisNexis Reports US merchants are incurring $191 billion in fraud losses each year, according to a new report by LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Among the findings, the study discovered that merchants must absorb nearly 10 times the identity fraud cost incurred by financial institutions

November 9, 2009 Internet Top for Sports Content, Burst Media Survey Shows According to a new survey by Burst Media, although people turn the TV on to watch the actual game, the Internet tops the charts for both men and women as their primary source to get sports news and information.

November 9, 2009 TFC Inc. Completes Corporate Name Change to VeraCentra TFC Inc. has announced the immediate change of its company name from TFC Inc. to VeraCentra. This new corporate identity reflects the company’s ability to provide intelligent software and marketing services to help marketers succeed in highly competitive environments.

November 5, 2009 US Postal Service Announces 2010 Shipping Prices; Price of First-Class Postage Will Not Change The USPS has announced that, in addition to an average price increase of 3.3%, on average, for Priority Mail, there will be new prices for Express Mail, Global Express Guaranteed, Express Mail International, Priority Mail International, Parcel Select and Parcel Return Service, effective Jan. 4. Prices for First-Class Mail, Standard Mail, Parcel Post and other mailing services products will not change in 2010.

November 5, 2009 US Consumers Turning to Social Networking for Entertainment Options, According to The NPD Group According to the latest update to a study conducted by The NPD Group, many consumers expect to be spending the same amount on traditional entertainment categories during the coming holiday season, even as their participation in newer forms of entertainment continues to rise. The most notable increases occurred in social networking and text messaging.

November 4, 2009 Touchscreen Mobile Phone Adoption Grows at Blistering Pace in US During Past Year, comScore Finds comScore, Inc. has released a study of touchscreen mobile phone adoption in the US, which showed a significant 159% growth rate during the past year to 23.8 million users in August 2009. The growth in touchscreen device adoption substantially outpaced the already strong 63% growth in US adoption of smartphones.

November 4, 2009 Amazon.com Acquires Zappos.com Amazon.com, Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of Zappos.com

November 3, 2009 Top 10 Words That Matter Most to Consumers, According to Tagline Guru Tagline Guru has released the results of a content analysis of more than 150 corporate taglines that debuted in 2009. According to the study, some of the most commonly used words or concepts include “believe,” “together,” and “you.”

November 2, 2009 US Retailers Forecast a 1.4% Increase in Comparable Store Sales, BDO Seidman Finds According to BDO Seidman, LLP, CMOs at leading US retailers expect both overall sales and comparable store sales to increase by 2.6% and 1.4%, respectively, for the 2009 holiday season.

November 2, 2009 Shoppers Planning to Use More Cash, Less Credit for Holiday Purchases, USAA Survey Finds Many holiday shoppers are embracing healthier money management habits to help keep debt at bay, according to a new USAA survey.

October 30, 2009 Swine Flu Drives Over-the-Counter Medicine Sales Across Borders, According to Mintel Autumn has arrived in the northern hemisphere and with shades of yellow and orange comes a less-welcome visitor: cold and flu season. Made worse this year by the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic, people around the world are flocking to drugstores and supermarkets to stock up on over-the-counter (OTC) medicine, says market research firm Mintel.

October 30, 2009 People Prefer Branches over Internet for Bank Communication, Mintel Finds According to Mintel Comperemedia, people would still rather contact their bank at a branch than online or through email. Two in three adults say they prefer to get up close and personal at a bank branch to communicate, according to a new Mintel survey.

October 30, 2009 'Retailers Should Be Where Customers Hang Out Online,' Says eMarketer According to eMarketer, forward-thinking retailers want to bring their Web stores to the environments where their customers like to spend time. That’s why almost three-quarters of the merchants in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide have a presence on at least one of the major social networks or social shopping sites.

October 29, 2009 36 Million German Internet Users Viewed More Than 6 Billion Videos Online in August 2009 comScore has released data from the comScore Video Metrix service, indicating that 35.7 million German Internet users viewed at least one video online in August 2009, up 38% versus the previous year.

October 26, 2009 Social Networking Sites Account for More than 25% of UK Online Display Ad Impressions, According to comScore Ad Metrix A new study by comScore showes that social networking sites accounted for 13.8 billion display ad impressions in August 2009, representing more than 25% of all display ads viewed online.

October 26, 2009 Holiday Shopping Season to Start Early but Discounts May Disappoint, Accenture Study Finds The newly-released Accenture Holiday Shopping Survey released finds that, although consumers intend to shop early this holiday season, a problem may be in store for retailers as shoppers fail to find the discounts that they expect.

October 26, 2009 Nonprofits Struggle with Email Customization, Return Path Study Finds Most nonprofit organizations have mastered the basics of email marketing, yet room for improvement remains, according to a new Return Path study.

October 26, 2009 Online Retailers to Emphasize Free Shipping, Social Media this Holiday Season, Shop.org Study Forecasts The economy is not only impacting shoppers, it’s affecting online retailers, too. According to results of Shop.org’s eHoliday Study, conducted by BIGresearch, shoppers will see changes in retail marketing and promotions this holiday season in response to economic uncertainty.

October 26, 2009 Telematch Launches Multiple-Source Validated Email Database for Appending and Verifying Customer Files Telematch, Inc., has annoucned the release of its first and unique Email Database, for use by US consumer marketers to validate, match, and append customer records, as well as to forward and reverse append postal and telephone information associated with email data.

October 19, 2009 DMA09 in San Diego: Ford's Scott Monty Puts the 'Car In Karma' During Keynote In today’s increasingly digital world, the importance of social media is becoming more and more apparent. On Sunday, Scott Monty, global digital & multimedia communications manager for Ford Motor Company, explored this topic, drawing from years of personal experience with the leading American auto maker, and sharing examples of how to use social media wisely. His luncheon keynote address took place during the DMA09 Conference & Exhibition at the San Diego Convention Center.

October 19, 2009 DMA Announces Winners for New DMA Future Innovators Awards DMA has announced winners for the inaugural DMA Future Innovators Awards (FIA), which recognize the innovative advances being made in the field of marketing.

October 14, 2009 Digital and Direct Marketing Employment Outlook Shows Improvement for Q4, According to Bernhart Survey The latest Bernhart Associates Quarterly Digital and Direct Marketing Employment Report shows digital and direct marketers are poised in the current fourth quarter (Q4) to add to payrolls for the third consecutive quarter.

October 12, 2009 Paid Search Spend Increases in Q3, Supported by Strong Retail Growth, SearchIgnite Reports According to a new report by SearchIgnite, US paid search spend was flat year-over-year, yet up 10% quarter-over-quarter on a sequential quarterly basis, a solid increase heading into Q4.

October 1, 2009 M&A Transactions Worth $16.4 Billion Announced Across the Media in First Three Quarters, JEGI Reports The first three quarters of 2009 saw 466 M&A transactions worth $16.4 billion announced across the media, information, marketing services and technology sectors, as tracked by The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI). Two markets actually saw growth in M&A activity in 2009 over 2008 – the Mobile and Education sectors.

September 22, 2009 Cellular M-to-M Connections to Triple by 2014, Says ABI Research Cellular M-to-M connections – which enable wireless data calls between machines – will approximately triple their current number of about 75 million by 2014, according to a new study from ABI Research. These connections are split almost equally between telemetry and telematics applications, with the former growing at a slightly faster rate.

September 22, 2009 Ballantine Releases New Direct Marketing Tip Sheet The Ballantine Corporation, a family-owned direct mail company, has announced the release of a free direct marketing white paper that provides clear and insightful direct marketing how-to information that will positively influence any business's bottom line.

September 14, 2009 Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Unveils Digital Collector's Edition For Fans of the 61st Primetime Emmy Awards The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced the global launch of Celebrating…Emmy. This digital-only issue is a customized, interactive publication that provides fans worldwide with immediate access to this year's event that can be enjoyed on multiple devices.

September 8, 2009 Retail Hiring Shows Signs of Recovery, According to Kronos The Kronos Retail Labor Index decreased fairly steadily from 7.1% in October 2006 to a three-year low of 2.75 percent in January 2009. According to Kronos, the Kronos Retail Labor Index provides a distinct and early indicator of the overall state of the retail sector.

September 8, 2009 Mobile Cloud Computing Subscribers to Total Nearly One Billion by 2014, According to ABI Research ABI Research forecasts that the number of mobile cloud computing subscribers worldwide will grow rapidly over the next five years, rising from 42.8 million subscribers in 2008, (approximately 1.1% of all mobile subscribers) to just over 998 million in 2014 (nearly 19%).

September 2, 2009 Americans Continue to Adopt Digital Lifestyle, According to Forrester Americans of all ages continue to adopt a digital lifestyle according to an annual survey of consumers’ technology adoption and attitudes by Forrester Research. According to the report, HDTVs and home networks were two of the fastest-growing consumer technologies in 2008.

August 31, 2009 New Rule Prohibiting Unwanted 'Robocalls' to Take Effect Sept. 1 The FTC has announced that, beginning Sept. 1, 2009, pre-recorded commercial telemarketing calls to consumers – commonly known as robocalls – will be prohibited, unless the telemarketer has obtained permission in writing from consumers who want to receive such calls.

August 27, 2009 Travelers Survey Explores Trends in Social Media A survey released by Travelers reveals how the use of social media can expose businesses to risk. As the Travelers Global Technology business unit commemorates its 25-year anniversary, it conducted a national online survey of more than 2,000 adults to explore trends in social media and the potential risks to businesses.

August 27, 2009 Burst Media Survey Reveals Content Sites Still Rule with Consumers A new Burst Media survey has found that although a majority of respondents belong to at least one social networking site, the amount of time spent on the sites is somewhat short, compared to overall time spent online.

August 26, 2009 Postal Service Continues Cost-Cutting Actions In a decision to save hundreds of millions of dollars in labor-related costs, the US Postal Service has announced that it has negotiated an agreement with two of its employee unions to offer select employees a financial incentive to retire or resign before the end of the fiscal year.

August 26, 2009 Social Networking Users More Vulnerable Than Ever, AVG and CMO Council Find The results of a new survey conducted by AVG and the CMO Council reveals that while the social networking community has serious concerns about the overall security of public spaces, few are taking the most basic of steps to protect themselves against online crimes.

August 26, 2009 Video Rental Kiosks Receive Increased Consumer Attention, According to NPD Group According to The NPD Group, a leading market research company, video-rental kiosks are receiving increasing attention from consumers, which is leading to more competition for consumers among traditional video rental stores and subscription rental services.

August 25, 2009 Mums Control the Online Purse Strings in UK, comScore Study Finds comScore has released the results of a study, showing that 4.6 million mothers in the UK went online in June, spending an average of 26.7 hours and making an average of 52.6 visits per visitor during the month.

August 25, 2009 Online Media Penetrations Surpasses Traditional Media for Small-Business Advertisers, Kelsey Group Finds For the first time, the penetration of digital/online media has exceeded that of traditional media among small and medium-sized business advertisers, according to The Kelsey Group, a division of BIA Advisory Services.

August 24, 2009 Ad Position and Shape May Play be More Important than Size, Says Dynamic Logic Research by Research released by Dynamic Logic reveals ads that are integrated into the content of the page, such as half banners and rectangles, are the most effective in driving online ad awareness and purchase intent.

August 24, 2009 Canadian Consumer Membership in Loyalty Programs Reaches 93.6%, COLLOQUY Finds Finding Canadian consumers that don;'t participate in loyalty programs is getting tougher. A near universal 93.6% said they belong to at least one program, according to new COLLOQUY research. The number reflects a 9% participation growth by the general population since 2007.

August 19, 2009 US Ad Market to Decline by More Than $1.6 Billion in 2009, Yankee Group Forecasts Consumers now choose from an average of 119 TV channels, more than ever before in history, but those channels are competing for attention with a trillion internet links and more than a million mobile Web sites. According to Yankee Group, this oversupply of media is driving a more than $2 billion decline in TV advertising, which, combined with the economic recession, will pull down the US ad market by more than $1.6 billion in 2009.

August 18, 2009 Google Still King of Customer Satisfaction, According to ACSI Google maintains its position on top of the search engine and portal industry, according to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI). Google scores 86 on the ACSI’s 100-point scale for a second year in a row, nine points higher than its nearest competitor, Yahoo! (77).

August 18, 2009 Marketing Execs Say Their Teams Exert Greater Business Influence, The Creative Group Finds According to a study by The Creative Group, 61% of marketing and adv executives interviewed said marketing teams have greater influence on business decisions than they did three years ago.

August 18, 2009 Online Advertising on Par with TV for Consumer Packaged Goods Brands, comScore/dunnhumbyUSA Research Shows New studies by comScore, Inc., in partnership with dunnhumbyUSA reveal that the Internet can be as effective as TV advertising in building retail sales of consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands.

August 17, 2009 Mobile Advertising to Become More Collaborative, According to Acision And OgilvyOne According to a new white paper by Acision and OgilvyOne, in 2020 mobile advertising will have become mobile directed advertising. It will be about more collaboration with the individual and individual's control.

August 17, 2009 Consumers Want Person-to-Person Payments Services From Banks, According to CashEdge CashEdge Inc. has announced the results from its fourth annual Consumer Online Banking Survey, which demonstrated an increasing demand for simple, secure person-to-person (P-to-P) payment services and the preference by consumers to get these services from their financial institution, rather than an independent service such as PayPal.

August 14, 2009 Atmosphere Proximity launches The Big Ad Gig in Conjunction with Advertising Week The Big Ad Gig, a first-ever event, will be held at The New York Times Building on Thursday, Sept. 24 in conjunction with Advertising Week 09. A panel of Creative Directors, CEOs, and marketing leaders from Atmosphere Proximity, Ogilvy, Crispin, Saatchi & Saatchi Wellness, the Ad Council, and Microsoft Advertising, will be judging presentations from eight contestants, all vying for the chance to work a 30-day paid freelance gig at one of these top ad agencies.

August 13, 2009 Social Media Users Are Not all Created Equal, BIGresearch Finds According to a new analysis of BIGresearch's Simultaneous Media Usage Survey, social media impacts consumers, which in turn directly impacts marketers, but not all options are the same. Social media users are likely to use more than one platform, some at a higher rate than others.

August 13, 2009 Despite Hope of Economic Rebound, Nervous Shoppers Send July Sales South, According to NRF The economy may be showing slight signs of improvement in certain areas, but consumer spending isn’t one of them. As the critical back-to-school season heads into August, retail industry sales for July decreased 5.0% unadjusted year-over-year and also declined 0.6% seasonally adjusted month-to-month, according to the National Retail Federation.

August 12, 2009 Convergence Is Needed Between TV and Internet Video, eMarketer Says According to eMarketer, online video ad spending is dwarfed in terms of absolute dollars compared with TV. For every $1 marketers spend on Internet video ads in 2009, they will spend nearly $65 on TV commercials, eMarketer says.

August 12, 2009 Economy Still a Concern Leading to Restrained Spending, Shows New ANA Survey Marketers are still being pressured to reduce their costs and spending in light of the economy, according to a new survey by the ANA. 87% of respondents indicated they are identifying cost savings and reductions, the same as one year ago, and only slightly improved from 93% six months ago.

August 11, 2009 Consumers Expected to Slow Spending Again This Year, According to NPD Group The NPD Group, Inc., a leading market research company, sees that for back-to-school 2009 consumers will continue to slow their spending but that the decrease won’t be as big as the one seen in 2008.

August 11, 2009 Mobile Banking Poised for Rapid Growth, IDC Survey Reveals A new report from IDC Financial Insights emphasizes that banks need to prepare themselves today for the imminent wave of mobile adoption to avoid being left behind by competitors. The study indicates that while current economic conditions may have curtailed both consumers' demand for mobile banking, things are still moving forward.

August 10, 2009 Lack of Growth Continues in US Retail E-Commerce Sales, comScore Reports comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its Q2 2009 retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that US online retail spending totaled $30.2 billion, down 1% versus a year ago.

August 6, 2009 DMA Announces Call for Entries for New DMA Future Innovators Awards DMA has announced a call for entries for its brand new DMA Future Innovators Awards (FIA) recognizing the innovative advances being made in the field of marketing. The inaugural honors will be presented at an Awards Party on Sunday, October 18, at 5 p.m. during the DMA09 Conference & Exhibition, the Global Event for Integrated Marketing, taking place October 17-22 in San Diego.

August 5, 2009 Worldwide Online Ad Spending Contracts 5% in Q2, According to IDC According to a new report by IDC, Worldwide spending on Internet advertising contracted for the second consecutive quarter, by 5%, to $13.9 billion from $14.7 billion in the same quarter a year ago.

August 5, 2009 Discover US Spending Monitor Falls for Second Consecutive Month The Discover US Spending Monitor fell for the second consecutive month from 85.6 to 83.5 (based out of 100), as consumer attitudes towards the economy and the current state of their personal finances continued to deteriorate.

August 5, 2009 Postal Service Ends Third Quarter with $2.4 Billion Loss The US Postal Service ended its third quarter with a net loss of $2.4 billion, including a non-cash adjustment that increased workers' compensation expense by $807 million. Ongoing electronic diversion and the widespread economic recession continued to reduce mail volume, resulting in a $1.6 billion decrease in revenue for the quarter.

August 5, 2009 Major Shifts in Communications Industry Growth Shown in New VSS Ten-Year Report Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) predicts that total communications spending will decline 1% in 2009 to $882.6 billion, but that it will grow 3.6% per year over the next five years to over $1 trillion, making communications the third fastest-growing sector of the US economy over that period.

August 4, 2009 More Consumers Paying Bills Online with Banks Than at Individual (Biller) Websites, According to Javelin A new Javelin Strategy & Research report finds that more individuals are paying bills at bank or credit union websites than at individual biller websites. The report also indicates financial institutions need to be aware that consumers sensitive to fees are prone to switching banks.

August 4, 2009 In 2014, Monthly Mobile Data Traffic Will Exceed 2008 Total, Says ABI Research In 2014, the volume of mobile data sent and received every month by users around the world will exceed by a significant amount the total data traffic for all of 2008, according to a new study from ABI Research.

August 3, 2009 Even Savvy Users Are Unprepared for Online Threats, BPM/AVG Study Shows A recent poll by the BPM Forum and AVG Technologies found that 80% of media staff rarely or never inform their network administrator of online security concerns they encounter.

July 31, 2009 Twitter is Most Linked-to Social Media Outlet in Email Marketing, According to Email Data Source According to Email Data Source, Twitter has officially passed Facebook to become the most linked-to social media outlet in March of 2009.

July 31, 2009 More Than 20% of Commercial, Permissioned Emails Are Not Delivered to Inboxes, Return Path Finds Commercial, permissioned emails reached only 79.3% of inboxes in the US and Canada during the first half of 2009, according to the new Return Path Deliverability Benchmark Report.

July 30, 2009 Consumers Value Online Banking Features that Address Communication and Personalization, Gartner Finds Consumers most value online banking features that address communication and personalization, according to recent surveys by Gartner, Inc. However, financial institutions could be failing to capitalize on online banking by not providing the features that consumers really want.

July 29, 2009 Younger Generations Ignored by Insurance Industry, According to Mintel Your age may determine how much insurance companies spend trying to get you onboard. New research from Mintel Comperemedia shows health and life insurers pay much more attention to Baby Boomers than they do to Generation X and Generation Y.

July 23, 2009 Advertisers More Likely Than Consumers to Have Faith in Twitter According to a new LinkedIn Research Network/Harris say that Twitter is something is in its infancy and its use will grow exponentially over the next few years, while one in five believe Twitter will not move into the mainstream and is something mostly young people and the media will use.

July 23, 2009 Hispanic and 18- to 24-Year-Old Consumers More Likely to Shop Online for Back to School, eBillme Finds According to eBillme, Eighteen- to 24-year-old consumers are twice as likely to do their back-to-school shopping online as compared to the overall consumer average. Hispanic consumers also responded above average, indicating they will shop online this year for back-to-school purchases.

July 16, 2009 comScore Releases June 2009 US Search Engine Rankings comScore has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. In June 2009, Americans conducted more than 14 billion core searches, with Google Sites accounting for 65.0 percent search market share. Microsoft Sites grabbed 8.4 percent market share, a 0.4 percentage point gain versus May, after introducing its new search engine, Bing.

July 16, 2009 Gartner Says Worldwide CRM Market Grew 12.5% in 2008 Worldwide CRM market revenue totalled $9.15 billion in 2008, a 12.5% increase from 2007 revenue of $8.13 billion, according to Gartner Inc. Analysts said that market growth was driven by enterprise investments in technologies focused on customer retention, analytics and on-demand solutions.

July 14, 2009 Hispanic and Non-Hispanic Consumers Weather Economic Storm Differently, Mintel Finds Most Americans are cutting back because of the recession, but in Hispanic households across the country, these cutbacks have a unique tone. New information from market research firm Mintel shows US Hispanics skirting some of the major lifestyle shifts being endured by non-Hispanics.

July 14, 2009 Online Banking Growing, Now Used by Four of Five Online Households, Fiserv Survey Shows According to research by Fiserv, Inc., more than two million US households adopted online banking and bill payment during the last year. Findings show that 69.7 million households, representing four out of five households with Internet access, now use online banking services.

July 14, 2009 GES and Exhibitgroup/Giltspur Will Integrate Offerings; John Jastrem to Serve as President & CEO As part of an overall reorganization taking place through its parent company Viad Corp, the GES Exposition Services, and Exhibitgroup/Giltspur organizations are joining forces to create a greater depth and breadth of comprehensive services for clients. The business unit will be led by John Jastrem, currently serving as president and CEO of EG.

July 13, 2009 Search Engine Marketing Sector Shows Signs of Stabilization, According to Efficient Frontier The Search Engine Marketing (SEM) sector appears to have stabilized, according to a new report by Efficient. Additionally, Bing captured attention and momentum for Microsoft, increasing its paid click share by 5% month over month since its launch in June.

July 9, 2009 Perceived Risk Drives Consumer Decisions, Finds Epsilon Frugal American consumers have jilted their favorite national brands for food, household, health, and personal care products, but are far more reluctant to switch to store brands on purchases for children and pets, according to the latest research from ICOM, a division Epsilon Targeting.

July 9, 2009 Lack of Online Focus Affects Companies' Bottom Line, According to Diamond Management A new report from Diamond Management & Technology Consultants, Ltd. confirms that businesses are failing to take full advantage of online assets and that organisational investment rarely matches online’s economic potential.

July 7, 2009 Consumer Awareness Is a Key to Curbing Identity Theft, Report by Identy Theft 911 Finds As social media use continues to grow, the threat of identity theft rises along with it. A new report by Identity Theft 911 concludes that consumer awareness is one key to helping to curb the crime.

July 7, 2009 NPD Reports Market for Healthful Foods to Grow Significantly Over Next Decade In a new report, The NPD Group forecasts that "better for you" foods, such as organic and light or low-calorie foods and beverages, will be among the fastest growing food trends over the next decade.

July 7, 2009 New Consumer Equilibrium Emerging, According to IRI The latest research from Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) identifies key consumer segments that are leading the change and helps retailers and manufacturers connect with their most important consumers.

July 6, 2009 Number of UK Online Videos Viewed Approaches Five Billion in April 2009 comScore has released data from the comScore Video Metrix service, indicating that the total number of videos viewed online in the UK in April 2009 grew 47% versus year ago to 4.7 billion videos. The report also found that 21.8 million UK Internet users viewed a total of 971 million online display ads on multimedia sites during the month.

July 6, 2009 The Race to Dominate the Future of TV Is Underway, Gartner Says The battle for the future of TV is underway in the US with an overabundance of stakeholders pushing for greater influence as TV and computing converge, according to Gartner, Inc. Gontent providers, device makers, cloud providers and communications firms will need to come together to secure the future of next-generation TV, Gartner says.

July 6, 2009 Time Spent Online Among Kids Increases 63% in Last Five Years, According to Nielsen According to Nielsen, the growth-rate of kids online outpaces the overall Internet Population. In May 2009, children aged 2-11 comprised nearly 16 million, or 9.5%, of the active online universe.

July 1, 2009 Bing Gains 1% of Search Market for Microsoft, Finds StatCounter Bing has increased Microsoft's share of the search market by 1 percent in the US according to analysis for June conducted by Web analytics firm StatCounter. Microsoft had 8.23% market share in June, behind Yahoo at 11.04%.

July 1, 2009 Television Ads Most Helpful; Internet Banner Ads Most Ignored, According to Harris According to Harris Interactive, over one-third of Americanssay that TV ads are most helpful in making their purchase decision while 17% say newspaper ads are most helpful and 14% say the same about Internet search engine ads.

June 30, 2009 Over 100 Million Consumers Worldwide are Word of Mouth Advocates, Zuberance Finds More than 100 million consumers worldwide are word-of-mouth advocates, a massive, highly influential, yet under-leveraged sales and marketing force, according to research by Zuberance, a leading online word-of-mouth marketing company.

June 30, 2009 Only 25% Americans Say Banks are Honest and Trustworthy, According to Harris Poll According to a new Harris poll, almost three in five Americans (58%) say they do not consider any of nine financial institutions and insurance companies to be honest and trustworthy; that is, they would not believe a statement by someone who works for one of these companies.

June 30, 2009 Consumers Are Confused and Skeptical About 'Green' Products, Shelton Group Finds New results from a national survey conducted by the Shelton Group, show most Americans are trying to buy more green products, but many don’t have enough knowledge to make meaningful choices.

June 29, 2009 Online Security Fears Affect Consumer Online Purchasing Behavior More Than the Economic Downturn, McAfee Reveals The economic downturn has not affected the way consumers shop online, according to a new study released by McAfee, Inc., and conducted by Harris Interactive. 72% of consumers said the economy has not changed the way they shop online.

June 26, 2009 Consumers Are Saving More and Spending and Borrowing Less, According to Harris Interactive According to Harris Interactive, Americans are continuing to tighten their belts with almost two-thirds of Americans saying they are spending less overall and two-thirds saying they are less likely to take out a loan. They are also weaning themselves from plastic with one-third saying they are using their credit card less often than before.

June 25, 2009 AdMob Report Examines the Distribution of Usage of iPhone Applications AdMob has examined the distribution of consumer usage of iPhone applications in its May 2009 Mobile Metrics Report. The report finds that, as is true with many other forms of media, the most popular applications generated the majority of usage by consumers.

June 24, 2009 Mortgage, Home Equity Direct Mail Volume Flattens Out, According To Mintel After months of plummeting, mortgage and home equity marketing direct mail is finally leveling off. Mintel Comperemedia reports that for the past six months,the number of home loan offers sent to Americans has been flat.

June 24, 2009 New Report Values America's 100 Leading Nonprofit Brands, According to Cone According to new research by Cone, the YMCA of the USA's brand is worth almost $6.4 billion, making it the nation's most valuable nonprofit brand. Brands were valued based on five years of consolidated financial data and a nationally representative consumer perception survey, among several other metrics.

June 24, 2009 Consumer Confidence Holds Steady in June, According to CEA-CNET Indexes Consumer confidence in the overall economy held steady in June, according to the latest data from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CNET. The CEA-CNET Indexes also show that consumer confidence in technology and consumer electronics (CE) continues to improve.

June 23, 2009 Why Do Online Shoppers Abandon Purchases? High Shipping Costs Top the List, According to PayPal Survey A new PayPal survey reveals that nearly half (45 percent) of online shoppers have abandoned their carts multiple times in the past three weeks due to high shipping costs, security concerns, and lack of convenience. The average cost of abandoned goods in US shopping carts is $109.

June 23, 2009 Consumers Fed Up with Electronics Shopping, Gadgetology Survey Finds Shopping for electronic products such as digital cameras, camcorders, TVs, and other popular gadgets is no fun anymore, and consumers are fed up, according to the latest Retrevo Gadgetology study that reveals how people feel about the process of figuring out what product to buy.

June 23, 2009 Alternative Online Consumer Payments: Javelin Study Evaluates How Well Emerging Vendors Solve Online Transaction Needs Javelin Strategy & Research has released a report that evaluates providers of alternative payment solutions for online retail transactions. The report reveals that emerging payment methods from traditional payment providers have the advantage of trusted brands and established networks for issuance, acceptance, and processing.

June 19, 2009 Consumers Exposed to Display Advertising Are More Engaged and Spend More Money Online, OPA Study Shows The Online Publisher's Association (OPA) has released a new research study, assessing 80 of the biggest branding campaigns across 200 of the most trafficked sites over a month’s time analyzing consumer behaviors of those Internet users who were exposed to display advertising.

June 19, 2009 NextMark Select Introduces First Live Connection Between Data Cards and Data NextMark, a leading provider of direct marketing tools and resources, has announced a new service called NextMark Select which provides the first live connection between data cards and mailing list data. Cross Country Computer is the first service bureau to automate data card updates using NextMark Select.

June 17, 2009 Bing Continues to Show Growth in Search Activity, According to comScore comScore has released a follow up study on the performance of Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, during the second week of its public launch. The results show that Microsoft has continued to increase its position in the search market following the initial week of Bing’s debut.

June 15, 2009 New StrongMail Survey Shows Social Media is Emerging as a Direct Marketing Channel StrongMail Systems, Inc. has announced new survey data that points to the emergence of social media as a direct marketing channel and significant planned investment in email marketing and social media programs in the second half of 2009.

June 15, 2009 NEDMA announces Winners at the 28th Annual Award Show The New England Direct Marketing Association's (NEDMA)2009 Annual Awards event honored creative excellence and innovation in eight categories that include print ads, direct mail, catalog, interactive, integrated media campaigns and DM on a shoestring. Bruce McMeekin, founder of BKM Marketing and NEDMA VP, shared the honor of announcing this year’s winners with Bob Rotchford, past NEDMA president.

June 12, 2009 Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) Honors Direct Marketer of the Year and 'Benny' Award Winners The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association has honored its 2009 Direct Marketer of the Year and made presentations to winners of the “Benjamin Franklin Award for Direct Marketing Excellence” (also known as the “Benny”). This year’s Direct Marketer of the Year award went to Scott Schultz, president of Schultz & Williams.

June 12, 2009 Even in Economic Turmoil, Historically Solid Brands Hold Steady in Consumers' Minds, Harris Finds Harris Interactive has released the 2009 results from EquiTrend, renowned annual brand equity study, showing that Consumers continue to turn to strong, trusted brands, particularly during periods of uncertainty.

June 12, 2009 Sales of Low-Cost Mobile Phones to Reach 700 Million by 2014, Juniper Predicts A new report from Juniper Research forecasts that, between 2009 and 2014, annual sales of low-cost mobile handsets will rise by 22% to over 700 million.

June 11, 2009 US Charitable Giving Estimated at $307.65 Billion for 2008, According to Giving USA Charitable giving in the US exceeded $300 billion for the second year in a row in 2008, according to Giving USA 2009. Donations to charitable causes in the United States reached an estimated $307.65 billion in 2008, a 2% drop in current dollars over 2007.

June 11, 2009 Local Search Brands Move Towards Mobile, comScore Finds comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has reported that the number of people who sought local information on a mobile device grew 51% from March 2008 to March 2009.

June 11, 2009 Online Interest in Prepaid Wireless Services Increases During Economic Downturn, According to comScore A new study by comScore, Inc., showed strong gains in online activity to prepaid wireless sites, as consumers increasingly turn to cost-effective wireless service alternatives during the economic downturn.

June 11, 2009 Online Moms More Influential than Ever, According to eMarketer Online moms are more influential than ever, according to eMarketer. Maria Bailey, author of "Trillion Dollar Moms," wrote that US moms spend $1.7 trillion annually and, according to the Marketing to Moms Coalition, they control 85% of household spending.

June 11, 2009 Gay Adults More Likely to Read Blogs and Use Social Networking Tools, Harris Finds According to a recent national survey conducted by Harris Interactive, a small majority of gay and lesbian adults online today are reading blogs. More than half (55%) of gay and lesbian respondents reported reading some type of blog, compared with only 38% of heterosexuals.

June 9, 2009 Email is Replacing Other Channels of Communication, Epsilon Global Study Reveals According to Epsilon’s Global Consumer Email Study, consumers around the world are using online communication tools and responding to permission-based email (PBE) in varying ways based on their country of origin. The study conducted is based on an April 2009 survey of over 4000 consumers in 13 countries.

June 9, 2009 Growth In Charitable Giving Outpaced Volunteering Prior to Economic Downturn, Canada Survey of Giving Finds Findings from the 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating reveal that there has been modest growth in the total value of donations, the average size of donations, and total volunteer hours.

June 9, 2009 FCC Issues Consumer Advisory on Digital Transition Ignorance is bliss in some situations, but not when it comes to understanding the facts about the transition to digital television (DTV). With only four days to go until the switch, the FCC has issued an advisory to inform consumers about what it takes to get ready for the switch on June 12.

June 8, 2009 Locally Placed Search Advertising to Grow 30% in Next Five Years, According to Borrell Locally placed search advertising in the US is projected to grow 30% over the next five years, from $4.1 billion in 2008 to $5.3 billion in 2013. According to new research by Borrell Associates, this growth will be led primarily by advertising service providers that adopt scalable technology infrastructure.

June 8, 2009 Microsoft's Bing Overtakes Yahoo in Search, According to StatCounter Microsoft’s Bing overtook Yahoo! as the number two search engine in the US and worldwide on June 4, according to data from StatCounter Global Stats. StatCounter says that Bing grabbed market share from Google.

June 8, 2009 Weddings in Recession Have Fewer Bells, But Plenty of Bliss, Mintel Finds According to a new focus group presentation by Mintel, couples today are reacting to the challenging economy by planning weddings that are more frugal, while still experiencing plenty of wedding bliss.

June 8, 2009 Aero Fulfillment Names New Business Development Director Aero Fulfillment Services, a national provider of outsourced fulfillment services, has hired Christo Nikoloff as Business Development Director. Nikoloff is charged with developing new business along the East Coast corridor.

June 5, 2009 Mobile Content Consumption Grows on Social Networks, Frost & Sullivan Finds The past year has seen a steady rise in the consumption of [mobile] premium content on social networks and communities, as well as other new applications such as location-based services and mobile advertising. Ringback tones and mobile music, however, still remain the top revenue earners, accounting for about 21.4 percent (US$6.2 billion) of the region's mobile content revenues in 2008, and are expected to continue to top mobile operators' and content providers' billings in the next five to six years.

June 4, 2009 Coffee Wars, Starbucks Still #1, McDonald s #2 and Rising, Dunkin Donuts #3, Finds BIGresearch McDonald’s is waging an all-out assault on the coffee industry, and they seem to be gaining ground in the battle of the baristas. Although Starbucks is still #1 (9.2 percent of consumers frequent the coffee house most often for their java fix), McDonald’s has consistently grown since May of 2007, according to an analysis of BIGresearch’s May 2009 Consumer Intentions & Actions (CIA) Survey www.bigresearch.com. With the roll out of a multiplatform ad campaign estimated at more than $100 million, the Golden Arches will likely continue to build momentum.

June 3, 2009 Consumers Cope with Economy Through a Do-It-Yourself Mindset, Packaged Facts Reports After decades of extravagant spending, 2009 became the year many American consumers finally began to confront their fundamentally changed financial circumstances and sought to empower themselves by asserting more control over their lives. One increasingly popular strategy to survive the recession was to adopt a do-it-yourself (DIY) mindset by personally taking on routine chores and tackling major projects rather than paying others to do them.

June 2, 2009 Google Receives 80% of Canadian Searches in April 2009, According to Hitwise Hitwise, an Experian company, announced today that Google[1] search properties accounted for 80.17 percent of all Canadian searches conducted in the 12 weeks ending April 25, 2009. MSN search properties, Yahoo! search properties and Ask search properties received 8.84 percent, 7.34 percent and 2.75 percent, respectively. The remaining 41 search engines in the Hitwise Search Engine Analysis Tool accounted for 1 percent of Canadian searches.

June 1, 2009 ShopperTrak Reports a Decrease of 3.0% Year-Over-Year Retail Sales for Week Ending May 23 ShopperTrak released its NRSE GAFO Retail Sales estimates, showing a year over year decrease of -3.0 percent compared to the same week in May '08. The May month to date estimated run rate for NRSE GAFO Retail Sales decreased -3.6 percent compared to the same weeks in May '08. However, ShopperTrak did report an increase in sales of +1.5 percent as compared to the previous week.

May 29, 2009 Microsoft Unveils New 'Decision Engine,' Bing.com Microsoft Corp. has unveiled Bing, which it says is a new "Decision Engine" and consumer brand, providing customers with a first step in moving beyond search to help make faster, more informed decisions.

May 28, 2009 Searches for Free Items Among the Most Dangerous, According to McAfee Some of the riskiest searches on the Internet today are associated either with finding items for free, such as music or screensavers, or looking for work that can be done from home, according to Internet security company McAfee, Inc.

May 28, 2009 US Web Analytics Market to Reach Nearly $1 Billion by 2014, Forrester Forecasts Fueled by a need for marketing organizations to be more accountable to the business and a shift in marketing budgets' allocation for interactive channels, in order to match consumers’ migration online, the US Web analytics market will grow to $953 million by 2014, an impressive 17 percent compound annual growth rate, according to a new report by Forrester Research, Inc.

May 26, 2009 Top Search Positions Are Not Always the Most Profitable, NYU Stern Study Finds In their new research paper entitled, "An Empirical Analysis of Search Engine Advertising: Sponsored Search in Electronic Markets," NYU Stern professors Anindya Ghose and Sha Yang challenge the prevailing viewpoint that the topmost positions are always the most profitable ones for advertisers in search engine auctions.

May 26, 2009 Advocacy Study Ranks Banks on Small Firm Lending, Hints at Current Financial Trends According to a new report by the Office of Advocacy, the growth of small and microbusiness lending remained positive during the first half of 2008. The study finds that for the year that ended in June 2008, the total value of small business loans outstanding increased 4% and the value of microbusiness loans outstanding increased 6.8%.

May 26, 2009 Financial Services Firms Sink to Their Lowest Rating Ever, According to Forrester US financial services firms fell to their lowest rating ever in the sixth annual Customer Advocacy ranking by Forrester Research, Inc. Perennial standouts USAA and State Farm Insurance remain the highest-rated companies.

May 26, 2009 Streamed Mobile Music Revenue to Approach $5.5 Billion by 2013, Says Juniper Research According to a new report by Juniper Research, revenues from streamed mobile music services and full-track downloads are expected to exhibit strong growth over the next five years. The report found that the combined revenues from these services are expected to increase from $2.5bn in 2009 to nearly $5.5bn in 2013.

May 22, 2009 Health Insurers Prepare for Government Reform, Direct Marketing Campaigns Seek Public's Appeal, Says Mintel Comperemedia Congress is crafting health insurance reform proposals now, but insurance companies have already been getting ready for change. Mintel Comperemedia, a service that provides direct marketing competitive intelligence, saw health insurers increase marketing direct mail offers to individuals by 18% in the past 12 months.

May 21, 2009 Mobile Consumers Prepared to Support Green Initiatives, According to ABI Research Survey The results of a recent consumer survey conducted in North America by ABI Research suggest that nearly half of those mobile consumers surveyed are somewhat likely or very likely to be influenced by suppliers’ green credentials when purchasing services or devices.

May 21, 2009 Worldwide Mobile Sales Down 8.6%, Smartphones Up 12.7% in Q1 2009, Gartner Says Worldwide mobile phone sales totaled 269.1 million units in the first quarter of 2009, a 8.6% decrease from the first quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, Inc. Smartphone sales surpassed 36.4 million units, a 12.7% increase from the same period last year.

May 20, 2009 Internet is Only Retail Channel to Post Slight Increase in Beauty Product Purchases, NPD Reports According to a new study from The NPD Group, Inc., the Internet gained one percentage point, and was the only retail channel to experience an increase in the number of women who reported mentions for beauty products.

May 20, 2009 Web Users Use Social Media to Seek One Another, Not Brands Or Products, Knowledge Networks Reports A new report by Knowledge Networks gives showed that, while 83% of the Internet population (ages 13 to 54) participates in social media, 47% on a weekly basis, fewer than 5% of social media users regularly turn to these sites for guidance on purchase decisions in any of nine product/service categories.

May 19, 2009 Customer Satisfaction Rises Again, According to ACSI The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) continues to climb, registering a second straight quarterly improvement after a period of decline preceding the recession. For the first quarter of 2009 the Index jumps 0.4% to 76.0 on ACSI’s 100-point scale, according to the report released by the University of Michigan.

May 19, 2009 comScore Releases April 2009 US Search Engine Rankings comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. In April 2009, Americans conducted 14.8 billion core searches, a 3% gain versus March.

May 19, 2009 Dataline Announces a New Database Service, Dataline Reactivation Dataline, Inc., a leading compiler of consumer information and modeling services, has announced a new database service, Dataline Reactivation, a data solution aimed at reviving and rejuvenating expires, lapsed donors, inactive catalog buyers and customers lost to competition.

May 15, 2009 USPS Provides Update on Standard Mail Summer Sale Program Details The USPS has released updated details on its Standard Mail Summer Sale. The basic ‘Summer Sale’ idea is to give eligible companies a 30% reduction on postage for all non-parcel Standard Mail volume sent through a company’s Permit Account(s) between July 1 and September 30 this year (2009) that is above the base volume a company’s mailing patterns suggest they would have otherwise sent.

May 15, 2009 Google Closing in on 73% of US Searches in April 2009, According to Hitwise Hitwise has announced that Google accounted for 72.39% of all US searches conducted in the four weeks ending April 25, 2009. Yahoo Search, MSN Search, and Ask.com received 16.27%, 5.68%, and 3.95%, respectively.

May 15, 2009 10 Most Heavily Used Web Brands Account for 45% of Total UK Internet Time: Nielsen Nielsen Online has revealed the staggering share of time accounted for by the ten most heavily used Web brands in the UK. This share is increasing. In April 2009, the ten Web brands on which Britons spent the most time accounted for 45% of all UK Internet time, compared to less than 42% in April 2008.

May 15, 2009 Graduates to Receive More Cash, Fewer Gift Cards This Year, According to NRF Survey Family and friends of graduates this year are choosing to be a little more practical with their gift giving, opting for the versatility of cash instead of gift cards. According a new NRF survey, 58.9% of Americans who will buy for graduates will fill envelopes with cash, up from 56.8% percent last year. Just 29.4% will give gift cards, down from 32.2% last year.

May 14, 2009 YouTube Maintains Top Ranking by Total Streams, According to Nielsen Nielsen Online has announced that YouTube continued to rank as the No. 1 video Web brand with 5.5 billion total streams in April. Meanwhile, Hulu continued its explosive growth trajectory, increasing 490% in total streams year-over-year, making it the fastest growing brand among the top 10.

May 14, 2009 Mobile Ad Growth Fueled by New Ad Formats on Smartphones, Report Brightkite and Gfk Brightkite and GfK Technology have released their latest Mobile Advertising Report (MAR), finding that 38% of US mobile phone owners recall seeing advertising on their cell phones in the first quarter of 2009, although for Smartphone users, 59% recalled seeing mobile advertising.

May 14, 2009 Online Media Generated Less Response in Q1 2009, According to Fournaise Group According to the Fournaise Marketing Group, marketing and advertising campaigns it tracked in offline and online media around the world generated 21% less response from the target audience during the first quarter of 2009 compared to the first quarter of 2008.

May 14, 2009 AOL and Philanthropy Project Launch Philanthropy Feature on AOL News MediaGlow, AOL's publishing unit, has announced a new feature on AOL News that provides information and news about philanthropic efforts across America, as well as the latest scientific information and advice about the benefits of living a philanthropic lifestyle.

May 14, 2009 eMarketer Forecasts Social Network Ad Spend to Fall According to eMarketer, Social networks continue to draw in millions of users, but advertising has not kept pace. eMarketer forecasts that total social network ad spending in the US will fall 3% to $1.1 billion in 2009, from $1.2 billion in 2008.

May 13, 2009 In Recession, Reduced Advertising Negatively Affects Consumer Perception, Ad-ology Study Finds More than 48% of US adults believe that a lack of advertising by a retail store, bank, or auto dealership during a recession indicates the business must be struggling. Likewise, a vast majority perceives businesses that continue to advertise as being competitive or committed to doing business.

May 13, 2009 M&A Activity to Pick Up in Second Half of 2009, According to ACG-Thomson Reuters According to a survey by ACG and Thomson Reuters, most middle market merger professionals anticipate that the M&A market will improve in the second half of 2009, led by distressed sales and by mergers in healthcare and life sciences, manufacturing and distribution, and financial services.

May 13, 2009 UK Online Newspapers Draw International Audiences comScore has released the results of a study examining domestic and worldwide visitation to leading UK newspaper sites. While online UK newspapers draw substantial domestic audiences, most attract even larger international audiences.

May 12, 2009 'Power Moms' Represent Nearly 20% of Online Population, According to Nielsen 'Power Moms,' or women age 25-54 with at least one child, today represent 19.2% of the active online population, and they wield more influence than ever before, according to Nielsen Online, a service of The Nielsen Company.

May 12, 2009 High and Middle Income Shoppers Spending More in Dollar Stores, Nielsen Finds The recession has been a boon to dollar stores, which attracted increased consumer spending in 2008, including spending among high and middle income shoppers, according to The Nielsen Company. Nielsen’s analysis of consumer shopping habits shows consumers at all income levels shopping more at dollar stores, with high income shoppers spending 18% more at dollar stores in the second half of 2008 compared to the prior year

May 12, 2009 NPD Finds Pockets of Opportunity in the US Fashion Accessories Market Despite the economic downturn, the US accessories market has displayed some areas of growth according to new information released by leading market research company The NPD Group, Inc. Watches and segments in the sunglasses category are areas that are showing signs of life.

May 12, 2009 Alliant Introduces 'Cognito,' a Precision High-Risk Address Suppression File for Direct Marketers Alliant Cooperative Data Solutions has developed 'Cognito,' a high-risk postal address file that lets marketers instantly identify the “riskiest“ addresses in the US, derived from the actual direct marketing behaviors of over 120 million consumers tracked in Alliant’s performance database.

May 11, 2009 Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) to Recognize Regional Direct Marketing Excellence and Direct Marketer of the Year at Annual Awards Event On Thursday, June 4, 2009, the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) will host its annual celebration of the region’s best direct marketing efforts and practitioners. The evening will feature a presentation of the Direct Marketer of the Year award, plus the winners of the 2009 Benjamin Franklin Awards for Direct Marketing Excellence. The PMDA has chosen this year to recognize Scott Schultz, president of Schultz & Williams, as its 2009 Direct Marketer of the Year.

May 11, 2009 AOL Launches New Customized Site for Pop Culture Enthusiasts AOL’s MediaGlow publishing division announced the launch of Where It’s At, a new website that serves as a guided tour of iconic pop culture landmarks from music, film and TV. Where It’s At is powered by MapQuest, and it’s one of 30 new sites MediaGlow plans to launch in 2009.

May 11, 2009 Q1 US Retail E-Commerce Spending Growth Flat Versus Year Ago, comScore Reports comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its Q1 2009 retail e-commerce sales estimates, which showed that online retail spending remained flat versus year ago.

May 6, 2009 Postal Service Ends Second Quarter with $1.9 Billion Loss The US Postal Service ended its second quarter with a net loss of $1.9 billion, as the economic recession and longer-term financial pressures, such as the diversion of letter mail to electronic alternatives, continued to reduce mail volume and revenue.

May 4, 2009 Increasing Number of Mobile Internet Users to Drive US Mobile Search Ad Revenues to $2.3B by 2013, According to Kelsey comScore has released a study of US consumer search activity related to the recent swine flu outbreak based on data from the comScore Marketer search intelligence service. The data revealed that 501,000 people conducted 929,000 searches related to the swine flu during the week ending April 26, 2009, representing a nearly twenty-fold increase versus the previous week for both metrics.

April 30, 2009 Financial Sites Popular Among Older European Mobile Web Users, comScore Finds comScore has revealed that financial services sites, such as those offering banking and stock trading services, are the most popular among European mobile subscribers older than 55, while teenagers are more likely to visit social networking, entertainment and even comic sites on their mobile devices.

April 30, 2009 UK Web Users Keen on Social Networks, According to eMarketer People in the UK are embracing social media. eMarketer estimates that 395 of UK Internet users—more than 15.4 million people—will use social networks at least once per month in 2009. By 2013, that figure is expected to rise to 21.9 million, or 50% of UK Web users.

April 28, 2009 Recession Slows Tide of New Products to Marketplace, According to Mintel Fewer new products are showing up on supermarket shelves this year as companies cope with the changing economy. New data from the Mintel Global New Products Database shows total food and drink product launches have been cut in half since last year (a 51 percent decline from Q1 2008 to Q1 2009).

April 28, 2009 Majority of Americans Give Corporations Low Marks for Reputation, Harris Survey Shows According to the Harris Interactive RQ survey, bailouts, bonuses, and bad business behavior all combined to erode the overall reputation of corporate

April 28, 2009 Hulu Continues Ascent in US Online Video Market, comScore Finds comScore has released March 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, showing that US Internet users viewed 14.5 billion online videos during the month, representing an increase of 11% versus February.

April 28, 2009 Mobile Application Revenues to Reach $25 Billion by 2014, Juniper Predicts Direct and indirect revenues from mobile applications are expected to exceed $25 billion by 2014, with growth fuelled by a raft of store launches targeting both high-end and mass market handsets, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

April 27, 2009 Customer Satisfaction with Nonprofit Websites Increases Donations, ForeSee Study Shows Visitors to nonprofit websites are more likely to donate money, volunteer time, and recommend the nonprofit to others if they are satisfied with their online experience, according to a new study from ForeSee Results.

April 27, 2009 comScore Study Highlights Rapid Emergence of Vertical Ad Networks A new study by comScore comScore, Inc. showed that the collective reach of vertical ad networks tracked by comScore has increased substantially in the past year, from 21.5% of the total US Internet audience in March 2008 to 57.1% in March 2009.

April 24, 2009 Marketers Integrating Social Media, Email at Record Pace, ExactTarget Study Finds A record number of email marketers plan to bridge the gap between online social networks and their email marketing campaigns in 2009, according to new research from Ball State University, the Email Marketer’s Club, and ExactTarget.

April 24, 2009 Customer Satisfaction with Online Financial Servcies Improves, ForeSee and Forbes Find Customer satisfaction with online financial services improved over the last year even as the financial sector of the economy deteriorated, according to a new report from ForeSee Results and Forbes.com.

April 23, 2009 Credit Card Direct Mail More Robust in Canada Than in US, Finds Mintel Comperemedia Our neighbors to the north still get their mailboxes filled with credit card offers, even as space opens up in ours. New data from Mintel Comperemedia shows credit card issuers haven't reduced mail solicitations in Canada as rapidly as they have in the US.

April 23, 2009 comScore Ranks Top 50 US Web Properties for March 2009 comScore has released its monthly analysis of US consumer activity at the top online properties for March 2009. Americans turned to the Web to plan spring and summer travel, and to manage their personal finances during the economic downturn. Twitter.com more than doubled its visitor base.

April 23, 2009 Chris DeWolfe to Step Down as CEO of MySpace MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe and News Corporation’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Miller, have announced that, by mutual agreement, DeWolfe will not be renewing his contract and will be stepping down in the near future. DeWolfe will continue to serve on the board of MySpace China and will be a strategic advisor to the Company.

April 23, 2009 Winterberry Group's Jonathan Margulies Explores the Future of Direct Marketing at PMDA Meeting On April 15, 20090, Jonathan Margulies, director, Winterberry Group addressed a room full of regional marketers gathered at the meeting of the Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA). Margulies shared a great deal of data related to the impact of the bleak economy on marketing and advertising – both above- and below-the-line advertising spending.

April 21, 2009 US Women Signal Shifts in Gift Giving, According to VoiceQuilt Study VoiceQuilt has announced the findings of the 2009 National Trends in Gift Giving study, a nationwide online survey of adult women about their motivations and attitudes behind gift giving. In response to today’s economy, 75% say they will spend less on gifts and 74% will focus on more sentimental or inspirational gifts.

April 21, 2009 Bumpy Road Ahead for Retailers as Consumers Intend to Keep Wallets Shut, According to ForecastIQ Analysis According to the latest ForecastIQ analysis, retailers targeting young consumers and discounters are predicted to see same store sales growth through the end of June. But the overall average for predicted same store sales growth for retailers across the board is down over last month.

April 21, 2009 Number of Online Banking Customers Grows, In Spite of Economy, comScore Finds comScore has released its annual review of the online banking industry. The study found that the number of online banking customers continued to grow strongly in 2008 despite the turbulent financial environment.

April 21, 2009 Canada Ranks as a Global Leader in Online Video Viewing, According to comScore A new comScore report showed that 21 million Canadians viewed more than 3.1 billion videos online during the month. The average Canadian online video viewer spent 10 hours viewing videos in February, up 53% from their average viewing time last year.

April 14, 2009 Advertisers in Europe to Compensate Agencies for Pitches than in US, Worldwide Partners Reports Advertising agency executives who want to be compensated for the ideas they present in new-business contests should be pitching clients in Europe, where over half of the agencies responding to a Worldwide Partners, Inc. survey say they are likely to receive some remuneration for their efforts.

April 14, 2009 Yahoo Shows 10% Increase in Active First Page Advertisers, AdGooroo Finds AdGooroo, a leading provider of online marketing competitive intelligence and keyword tools, has released its latest quarterly Search Engine Advertiser Update. The new report documents several trends that emerged during the first quarter, including the annual arrival of larger search budgets from travel companies, the surprising addition of Bank of America and several used car resellers to AdGooroo’s ranking of Top 25 US Advertisers by Search Engine, and a ten percent increase in active first page advertisers for Yahoo!.

April 14, 2009 Search Engines Compensate for Changing Consumer Behavior to Increase Profitability, Efficient Frontier Finds Advertisers and search engines begun to successfully adjust their strategies by mapping to recent changes in consumer behavior, according to the Efficient Frontier US Search Engine Performance Report: Q1 2009.

April 13, 2009 Recession to Cut Mobile Entertainment Growth By Nearly $13 Billion Over Next Five Years, Warns Juniper Research Growth in user spend on mobile entertainment services will slow dramatically over the next two years unless key markets emerge from recession, according to a new report from Juniper Research.

April 13, 2009 Slight Decrease in Paid Search Spending in Q1 '09, Covario Analysis Shows Covario, Inc., a leader in interactive marketing analytics, has announced the release of the Q1 2009 edition of its Global Search Spending Analysis series. Paid search spending contracted slightly, -1.4%, from Q4 2008, and is down from the same period last year when paid search advertising spending grew 2.4% from Q4’07 to Q1’08.

April 13, 2009 Mobile Advertising Figures Defy Economic Slide, BuzzCity Finds BuzzCity, a global provider of wireless communities and consumer services, has announced the results of its quarterly Global Mobile Advertising Index, which shows the global recession is having little to no effect on mobile advertisers or user habits. The Index documents the growth of mobile internet advertising and represents inventory sold across the BuzzCity Mobile Advertising Network in more than 200 countries globally.

April 13, 2009 Major Marketers Continue to Move Online to Reach Small And Medium Businesses, Reports BBI Major marketers targeting small and medium businesses (SMBs) are relying less on traditional marketing tactics because of the economic downturn, but that's one of the top ways SMBs like to receive product and service information, according to a new study released by Bredin Business Information (BBI).

April 9, 2009 Gartner Says 20% of Commercial Email Market Use a SaaS Platform by End of 2012 According to Gartner, the Software as a Service (SaaS) model for email solutions is proving attractive for many customers and will represent 20% of the commercial email market by the end of 2012.

April 9, 2009 Japanese Internet Users Glued to Entertainment Sites, Nicovideo Finds comScore, Inc. has released a report on the top entertainment sites in Japan based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. In February 2009, nearly 74% of Japan’s online population visited a site in the Entertainment category.

April 8, 2009 Internet Integration is Key for Automotive Sales, Foresight Research Shows A new survey by Foresight Research shows that 80% of vehicle buyersare influenced to some degree by the Internet during the consideration, shopping or purchase process. 49% indicate that the Web was a “primary” or “secondary” influence.

April 8, 2009 Challenging Economy Lead to 14% Drop in Teen Spending, Finds Piper Jaffray A challenging economy and low consumer confidence has led to a dramatic 14% decline in fashion spending, according to a new survey by Piper Jaffray. The survey results indicate that spending in the junior apparel category has decreased 19%, but increased 9% for footwear and 8% for accessories.

April 7, 2009 Instant Messaging Most Popular Online Activity in France, comScore Finds

April 7, 2009 Classifieds Traffic Soars in Recession, According to Hitwise US online traffic to Classifieds websites increased 84% in February 2009 compared with last year, according to a new report from Hitwise. The report found that the industry has experienced positive month-to-month growth in share of US visits in all but one month in the past three years.

April 2, 2009 Burst Media Study Reveals Increase in Consumer Coupon Usage Burst Media has released the results of a survey that found that 34% of respondents are using coupons more frequently today than they were six months ago. The survey also uncovered that nearly 70% of respondents would print and redeem an Internet coupon for a product they would be interested in purchasing.

April 2, 2009 TV and Magazine Ads More Effective Than Ads on Internet, According to McPheters & Co. McPheters & Co. has released results of a study that explored the relative effectiveness of ads on television, in magazines, and on the Internet. The study showed that, though TV doesn’t deliver as many ads per half hour as do magazines, net recall of TV ads was almost twice that of magazine ads. Magazines in turn had ad recall almost three times that of Internet banner ads.

April 2, 2009 Image Direct and The Latino Coalition Launch ExitoUSA, Targeting Hispanic Small Businesses Image Direct, a marketing service provider, and The Latino Coalition, a nonprofit organization established to advocate and enhance the business development of Hispanic small businesses, have announced the launch of ExitoUSA, a multichannel outreach targeting one millon Hispanic small business owners.

March 24, 2009 Consumer Confidence Highest in 13 Months, According to CEA-CNET Research Consumer confidence in the overall economy increased in March to its highest level in more than a year, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CNET. Although consumers reported improved expectations for the broader economy, the CEA-CNET Indexes also show that technology spending continues to fall.

March 23, 2009 Consumers Willing to Go Green If it Saves them Money, Shelton Group Survey Finds Consumers are willing to buy energy-efficient products and services, if they see immediate savings, according to a survey conducted by The Shelton Group, which found that 71% of consumers cited saving money as a reason to buy energy-efficient products.

March 23, 2009 mSnap Has Been Sold to SmartReply, Creating 'Mobile Marketing Powerhouse' mSnap, one of the largest SMS mobile advertising networks in the US, has been sold to SmartReply, a leader in mobile marketing for top retail brands. The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment banking services, represented mSnap in this transaction and acted as its exclusive financial advisor.

March 23, 2009 NPD Group Reports on the Sagging State of the US Prestige Beauty Industry According to The NPD Group, 2008 was the first year each beauty category truly struggled and total prestige beauty sales declined 3% versus 2007

March 23, 2009 comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 US Web Properties for February 2009 comScore, Inc., a leader in measuring the digital world, has released its monthly analysis of US consumer activity at the top online properties for February 2009 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. Among the gaining categories were Flowers/Gifts/Greetings and E-cards, and travel and tax preparation sites.

March 23, 2009 Yahoo Appoints Elisa Steele CMO Yahoo has announced that Elisa Steele has joined the company as CMO. Steele is responsible for Yahoo's brand, its global marketing strategy and its marketing functions including brand marketing, audience marketing, corporate communications, insights, policy and privacy, community affairs, and related central teams. She reports to Yahoo! CEO Carol Bartz.

March 20, 2009 Consumer Technology Sales Fall Nearly 4% in 2008, According to NPD Group Consumer technology revenue declined 4% in 2008 to $112.3 billion, according to leading market research company The NPD Group's consumer tracking service. The decline follows a 4.5% gain in 2007.

March 20, 2009 Worried US Consumers Likely to Hang Up on High Cell Phone Costs, NMRC Finds Two out of five Americans with contract-based cell phones are likely to cut back on their cell phones to save money if, as is widely expected, the economy gets worse over the next six months, according to new survey by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) for the New Millennium Research Council (NMRC).

March 20, 2009 Hispanic Web-Users Are Avid Downloaders, Scarborough Research Reports Hispanic Internet Users are avid downloaders of digital content, according to consumer and media research firm Scarborough Research. Scarborough's analysis finds that Hispanic Internet Users are 21% more likely to download digital content than the average adult online.

March 19, 2009 Advertising Builds Confidence for Financial Brands in Crisis, Nielsen IAG Study Finds At a time when financial institutions are pulling back on their advertising, a new study from Nielsen IAG shows that consumer confidence in the long-term health of these companies is dramatically influenced by advertising and marketing efforts.

March 19, 2009 Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) Presents 'Direct and Digital Marketing 2009 And Beyond' The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) will explore the future of direct and digital marketing at a luncheon meeting on Wednesday, April 15, 2009 at the River Crest Golf Club in Phoenixville, PA.

March 18, 2009 Only 50% of Donors Confident about Contributing to Not-for-Profits, Finds Cygnus More than half of individual charitable donors plan to give the same amount or more to philanthropic causes in 2009 despite the recession, according to a recent survey conducted by Cygnus Applied Research. However, nearly half will either give less or are unsure about their giving threshold in 2009.

March 18, 2009 Users Paid to Receive Direct Mail Through Incentive-Based Social Network PeopleString An incentive-based social network that pays users to receive regular direct mail as well as for performing a host of internet activities has been launched by BigString Corporation.

March 18, 2009 UK Online Video Audience Grows 10% During Past Year, comScore Reports comScore has released January 2009 data from the comScore Video Metrix service, indicating that the total UK online video viewing audience has grown 10% during the past year to 29.6 million unique viewers age 15 and older.

March 17, 2009 PRC Verifies Rate Cap Compliance for Market Dominant Products The PRC has issued its review of the USPS's price adjustments for market dominant products. Chairman Dan G. Blair announced the Commissioners’ decision that the increases for market dominant products are, on average, within the applicable 3.8% price cap for each class of mail. The rate adjustment includes a 2 cent increase in the price of the First-Class stamp, from 42 to 44 cents.

March 13, 2009 comScore Releases February 2009 US Search Engine Rankings comScore has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. Americans conducted 13.1 billion core searches in February 2009, down 3% versus January – a decline that is primarily the result of the shortened month.

March 13, 2009 Tim Armstrong Named Chairman and CEO of AOL Tim Armstrong, Google senior VP, has been named chairman and CEO of AOL, LLC, Time Warner Inc. Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes has announced. Current AOL Chairman and CEO Randy Falco and President and COO Ron Grant plan to leave the company after a transition period.

March 12, 2009 'Buy Local' Message Has Global Appeal, Needs More Local Support, According to Mintel According to a new survey by Mintel, just one in six adults (17 percent) buy local products and services as often as possible. These "True Locals" are willing to pay a higher price and they'll even buy local if competitive products are better.

March 12, 2009 Yahoo Sites Leads Search Market in Japan in Jan. '09, comScore Reports comScore has released its ranking of the top search properties in Japan based on data from the comScore qSearch service. In January, 6.8 billion searches were conducted in Japan, representing a 9% increase versus year ago and the highest monthly search volume on record.

March 10, 2009 US Mobile TV and Video Poised For Continued Growth, QuickPlay Survey Reveals QuickPlay Media, a leading provider of mobile TV and video solutions, has revealed the results of a new survey that shows that consumers are confident in the uptake of mobile TV and video, with 78% expecting an increase in usage by 2010.

March 10, 2009 Yahoo Sites Leads Search Market in Japan in Jan. '09, comScore Reports comScore has released its ranking of the top search properties in Japan based on data from the comScore qSearch service. In January, 6.8 billion searches were conducted in Japan, representing a 9% increase versus year ago and the highest monthly search volume on record.

March 9, 2009 AOL Latino Launches TecnoPadres.com AOL Latino has launched TecnoPadres.com, a Spanish-language resource for parents who want to learn, understand, and discuss technology as it relates to their children and their online safety. The new site is part of part of AOL Latino’s women's lifestyle network Tu Vida y Más.

March 9, 2009 ExactTarget Continues Record Growth with More Than 50% Increase in '08 Revenue ExactTarget, a leading provider of on-demand email and one-to-one marketing solutions, has announced it posted record-setting annual performance in 2008, boosting revenue by more than 50%.

March 9, 2009 Mobile, Broadband and Pay TV Could See $5 Billion Decrease, In-Stat Says According to In-State, about 15% of US consumers intend to cut on Subscription-TV, Broadband, and Mobile Services. As a result, In-Stat estimates that consumer spending across these segments could see nearly a $5 billion decrease during the next 12 months.

March 6, 2009 Mobile Web Trudges Forward, According to eMarketer According to eMarketer, the fact that mobile Web users in the UK visit so few sites is evidence that the mobile Web still offers a very limited range of useful content. There are not many worthwhile mobile Websites to visit, and the user experience is not yet compelling enough to support long sessions browsing via mobile.

March 6, 2009 eMarketer Revises E-Commerce Numbers eMarketer revised its US retail e-commerce forecast, estimating that US retail e-commerce sales (excluding travel) will shrink by 0.4% in 2009, falling to $133 billion. In 2011, eMarketer predicts that online sales will reach double-digit growth rates, similar to those seen prior to 2008.

March 5, 2009 YouTube Surpasses 100 Million US Viewers for the First Time, Finds ComScore comScore has released January 2009 data showing that US Internet users viewed 14.8 billion online videos during the month, an increase of 4% versus December 2008. YouTube led the growth charge, accounting for 91% of the incremental gain in the number of videos viewed versus December, surpassing 100 million viewers for the first time.

March 5, 2009 148 Million Mobile Data Roaming Subscribers This Year, Says ABI Research While the idea of mobile data roaming is not new, demand is clearly taking off, driven by the broadening rollout of 3G networks. This according to a new ABI Research Brief.

March 4, 2009 Amazon Introduces Kindle for iPhone Amazon.com, Inc. has introduced “Kindle for iPhone and iPod touch,” a new application available for free from Apple's App Store that lets customers enjoy over 240,000 books, including 104 of 112 New York Times Bestsellers, on the iPhone and iPod touch using Apple's Multi-Touch user interface.

March 4, 2009 Consumers Cut Back on St. Patrick's Day Celebrations, According to NRF Survey According to NRF’s St. Patrick’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, people celebrating the Irish holiday will spend an average of $32.80 on decorations, food and beverage and festive attire, compared to an average of $35.04 in 2008. Total spending is expected to reach $3.29 billion.

March 4, 2009 7.5% of US Adults Lost Money as a Result Financial Fraud in 2008, Says Gartner Approximately 7.5% of US adults lost money as a result of some sort of financial fraud in 2008, in large part because of data breaches, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. Analysts said this is having an adverse effect on consumer victims who are significantly changing their financial transaction behaviors.

March 3, 2009 Despite Recession, US Smartphone Market is Growing, According to the NPD Group According to The NPD Group, consumer sales of smartphones to US consumers represented 23% of all handset sales in the fourth quarter (Q4) 2008 compared to just 12% in Q4 2007. Led by the release of Apple’s iPhone 3G at $199, the average price for a smartphone fell 23% from $216 in Q4 2007 to $167 last year.

March 3, 2009 Light PC Internet Users More Likely than Heavy PC Internet Users to Access Mobile Content, comScore Reports A new study by comScore finds that light PC Internet users are 30% more likely than heavy PC Internet users to use their mobile devices to access Internet content.

March 3, 2009 MapQuest Enhances Business Locator MapQuest announced the re-launch and enhancement of Business Locator, an integrated search tool featuring one click integration that lets users display retail locations directly on their maps or along their routes.

March 3, 2009 Search Engine Optimization Pays Off, eMarketer Finds In a recession, marketers need to increase website traffic and drive better conversions—and search marketing is the best customer acquisition tool in the online space, according to eMarketer. By 2013, when total US search marketing will reach nearly $23.4 billion, marketers will be spending more on search engine optimization (SEO) than on contextual advertising, eMarketer says.

March 2, 2009 Kadence Announces New Study Revealing Most Recession-Resistant Brands A major new Kadence study, which investigated consumer perceptions of 650 leading US brands has shown a strong link between the affection consumers hold for a brand and its stock performance.

February 27, 2009 M&A for Media and Information Industry Will be Stronger than Headlines Suggest, JEGI Predicts M&A for the media and information industry will be stronger in 2009 than recent headlines suggest, according to The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. (JEGI) of New York, NY.

February 27, 2009 Trust is Crucial Issue in 2009, According to Mintel Following President Obama's address to the nation Tuesday evening, Mintel expert Joan Holleran comments on the importance of recovering trust in America this year. Mintel expects trust-building to emerge as the paramount concern of 2009

February 24, 2009 More Than 16% of US Respondents Spent More Than $100 Last Year on Mobile Apps, Finds ABI A survey conducted by ABI Research in November reveals that a surprising 16.5% spent between $100 and $499. That level of spending is especially significant given the low cost of most mobile applications, ranging from as little as a dollar or two at Apple’s iPhone App Store, to at most about $25.

February 24, 2009 Consumer Use of Cash Declines, Card-Based Options Embraced, Finds Study Conducted by BAI and Hitachi Consumers’ use of cash is declining as they continue to embrace a range of card-based payment options, according a nationwide study conducted by BAI Research and Hitachi Consulting, and sponsored by First Data, MasterCard Worldwide, Metavante, and PULSE.

February 23, 2009 Homeowners Insurance Direct Mail Increases 19% in 2008, Reports Mintel Comperemedia While overall direct mail volume plummeted from most financial services companies during 2008, mail from homeowners insurance providers rose. Mintel Comperemedia reports a 19% increase in homeowners insurance direct mail sent to acquire new customers.

February 23, 2009 B-to-B Marketers Need to Keep Up with Business Technology Buyers on Social Media, Finds Forrester Despite the fact that 77% of business technology decision-makers engage with social media on the job, most B-to-B marketers are not effectively using social technologies to influence the purchasing decisions of their customers, according to new research from Forrester Research, Inc.

February 23, 2009 Economic Recession Gives Online Marketers Opportunity to Influence Purchase Decisions, According to JupiterResearch Nearly half of all online shoppers plan to spend less this year, but a majority of those reluctant to make certain purchases can be positively influenced by online shopping resources, according to a new study commissioned by Bazaarvoice and richrelevance, and conducted by JupiterResearch, a Forrester Research company.

February 20, 2009 comScore Releases January 2009 US Search Engine Rankings comScore has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. In January 2009, Americans conducted 13.5 billion core searches, a 7% gain versus December 2008.

February 20, 2009 comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 US Web Properties for January 2009 comScore has released its monthly analysis of US consumer activity at the top online properties for January 2009 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. The Tax category led as the top-gaining category as January marked the beginning of tax season, while Job Search, Government and travel-related sites also witnessed strong gains.

February 20, 2009 The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) Presents 'Getting and Keeping the Job You Love!' The Philadelphia Direct Marketing Association (PDMA) is offering a program for both professional direct marketers and students, entitiled “Getting and Keeping the Job You Love.” The program will be held on Wednesday, Mar. 25, at Arcadia University in Glenside, PA, and features two panels of regional experts.

February 19, 2009 Social Network Marketing Continues to Evolve, According to eMarketer According to eMarketer, the number of Internet users visiting social networks at least once per month increased an estimated 11% in 2008, to 79.5 million, and will rise another 11% in 2009, to 88.1 million. Between 2008 and 2013, the number of social network users in the US will increase by an estimated 44.2%, to nearly 115 million.

February 19, 2009 Yahoo Introduces Yahoo! Mobile Yahoo has announced the upcoming launch of its new Yahoo Mobile service, a highly-personalized mobile starting point to the Internet. Yahoo Mobile will be available on the mobile Web, as an app developed for the Apple iPhone, and as an app developed for smartphones from Nokia, RIM, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, and Motorola, as well as those powered by Windows Mobile.

February 19, 2009 80% of Web Users Are Concerned about Privacy Online, Burst Media Study Reveals Burst Media has released the results from a survey it conducted about online privacy. In addition to finding that privacy is a significant concern amongst Web users, the survey also revealed that concern increases with the age of the respondent.

February 19, 2009 Economic Downturn Will Create Opportunities for Mobile Advertising, Says Analysys Mason Prospects for mobile advertising in 2009 are promising despite the economic downturn, but realism is called for, says Analysys Mason, the global telecoms adviser during Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

February 19, 2009 Consumer Products Manufacturers Rank Consumer Centricity Among Top Keys to Success, According to DemandTec DemandTec, and Precima, Inc. have released the findings of a survey measuring how retailers and consumer products manufacturers use consumer-centric data and analysis to drive their businesses.

February 19, 2009 Pocket Tissue Marketing, Made Popular in Japan, Becomes Popular Among US Marketers, AdPack Reports Since the economic downturn, the popularity of direct mail has come roaring back, after a five-year decline, as consumers and marketers alike look for ways to save and as advertisers cut spending by 3% and higher. According to AdPack USA, a division of Japan's giant ITOCHU Corporation, consumers are looking for coupons and samples, and marketers are looking for the "biggest bang for their marketing buck."

February 18, 2009 India's Social Networking Market Sees Global Brands Gain Prominence in 2008, According to comScore comScore has released a report on the top social networking sites in India, finding that visitation to the site category increased 51% from the previous year to more than 19 million visitors in December 2008. The study also found that global social networking brands continued to gain prominence in India during the year.

February 18, 2009 Drop in E-Commerce Satisfaction Ends Three Year Climb in American Customer Satisfaction Index, ForeSee Finds Customer satisfaction with the e-commerce sector falls for the first time in three years, dropping 2% to a score of 80 on a 100-point scale, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).

February 18, 2009 Customers Predict Significant Rise in Mobile TV and Video Usage by 2010, According to QuickPlay Media QuickPlay Media has revealed the results of a survey focused on mobile TV and video consumption in the UK. On a positive note the research revealed consumers are confident in the uptake of mobile TV and video, with 74% of respondents expecting an increase in usage by 2010.

February 13, 2009 UK Men Forge Ahead Online, According to eMarketer Males accounted for 49.6% of the total UK population in 2008, but online, men take the lead. eMarketer estimates that there will be more than 20 million men online in the UK in 2009—51

February 13, 2009 Event Industry CEOs Provide a Mixed Outlook for 2009, According to JEGI Event industry CEOs provided a mixed outlook for 2009, according to the 2009 Exhibition and Conference Industry Outlook conducted by the Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc. The survey provides an in-depth look at event industry CEO's key strategic goals and growth drivers, challenges and opportunities, and their view of the M&A market for events.

February 12, 2009 Consumers Continue Cost Cutting and Saving in 2009, First Command Reports Amid continuing concerns about the economy, American families are moving into the new year with a newfound commitment to cutting household expenses and saving money, according to the First Command Financial Behaviors Index.

February 12, 2009 Walmart Tops in Health & Beauty; Walgreens Tops For Prescriptions, BIGresearch Finds A third of consumers shop Walmart most often for their health & beauty aid purchases, followed by Target and CVS, according to the January Retail Ratings Report from BIGresearch. Although Walgreens was edged out of the top 3 in January for HBA, they top the list in the Prescription Drug category.

February 12, 2009 US Retail E-Commerce Declines 3% in Q4 2008 Versus Year Ago; Sales for Full Year Grew 6%, comScore Reports According to comScore, Inc., online retail spending in Q4 2008 declined 3% versus year ago, the first recorded quarter of negative growth since comScore began tracking e-commerce spending in 2001. Nonetheless, for the full year 2008, retail e-commerce grew 6% to $130.1 billion.

February 12, 2009 North Shore Animal League Selects MBS to Provide Database Services MBS, a leading provider of advanced marketing services, has announced that it has been selected by North Shore Animal League to provide marketing database services for the not-for-profit’s marketing and fundraising programs. Founded in 1944, the North Shore Animal League is the world’s largest no-kill pet rescue and adoption organization. Since its founding, the League has placed close to one million pets into carefully selected homes.

February 11, 2009 Postal Service Mailing Services Prices to Change on May 11 The Governors of the USPS have approved new prices for mailing services, including a 2-cent increase in the price of a First-Class Mail stamp to 44 cents. Prices for mailing services are reviewed annually and adjusted each May. The new prices will go into effect Monday, May 11.

February 11, 2009 Black Women Say Advertisers Don't Know How to Talk to Them, According to Lattimer Communications Study According to a new Lattimer Communications study, 86% of African-American women say that advertisers need to do a better job of talking to them,. Advertisers need to re-evaluate their marketing campaigns targeting this important segment.

February 10, 2009 Charming Shoppes Announces Executive Appointments; Bill Bass Appointed Interim President of Company's Direct Division Charming Shoppes has announced the appointment of Anthony M. Romano as executive VP, Business Transformation. Bill Bass has been appointed interim president of the company's Charming Direct division. Rachel A. Ungaro has been promoted to senior VP, General Merchandising, and James A. Ferree has been appointed as senior VP, General Merchandising, both of the company's Fashion Bug brand.

February 9, 2009 Identity Fraud Increased 22%, According to Javelin The 2009 Identity Fraud Survey Report, released by Javelin Strategy & Research, confirms that the number of identity fraud victims has increased 225 to 9.9 million adults in the US, while the total annual fraud amount only increased slightly by 7% to $48 billion over the past year.

February 9, 2009 Mobile Revenue from European Mobile Business Customers to Grow, ABI Research Projects According to ABI Research, Europe as a region has the highest adoption of mobile services at 121% penetration, and this is expected to rise to 135% by 2012. At these high penetrations, overall service revenue growth through the handset is expected to decline.

February 9, 2009 Small Businesses Don't Expect Strong Valentine's Day Sales, Constant Contact Survey Shows According to responses from a recent survey by Constant Contact, Inc., the majority of respondents do not anticipate strong Valentine’s Day sales.

February 5, 2009 Card Issuers Send Lowest Volume of Credit Card Mail in Past Eight Years, Says Mintel Comperemedia New data from Mintel Comperemedia shows only 5.4 billion credit card direct mail offers were sent to Americans in 2008. This is the lowest annual total the firm has reported since 2000.

February 5, 2009 36% of Social Network Users Want to Access Social Media on Their TVs, According to ABI Research A new survey by ABI Research shows that today’s consumers are looking to extend their social networks to the TV, as 36% of those who currently use social media on a regular basis say they’d like to access their networks on the TV screen.

February 4, 2009 ALC Acquires Equity Stake in Empathy Lab ALC, a leading independent data marketing services provider, has announced that it has acquired an equity interest in Empathy Lab, a rapidly-growing, cutting-edge digital strategy and execution firm, located just outside of Philadelphia.

February 4, 2009 Economy Holds Little Sway on Valentine's Day Purchase Plans, Discover Survey Reveals Discover Card has released the results of its fourth annual Valentine's Day Shopping Survey, which highlights consumer shopping trends and intentions for the upcoming holiday. The poll also revealed insights as to why some consumers may spend differently this year.

February 4, 2009 On-Line Retailers Winning Internet Search Battle According to Internet-Engine Study A new study by Internet-Engine, a leading Internet marketing firm, has found that on-line retailers are winning the Internet search battle against traditional retailers.

February 4, 2009 Brooks Brothers Selects MBS as Marketing Database Services Partner MBS, a leading provider of advanced database and interactive marketing solutions, has announced that it has been selected by Brooks Brothers to provide marketing database services for the retailer’s multi-channel marketing programs.

February 3, 2009 Older Consumers Prefer Identifiable Photos, According to Creating Results Survey Creating Results has unveiled the results of a survey addressing what type of photography is most effective when advertising to the mature consumer. Researchers surveyed 414 Americans over 40 years old, and revealed, among other findings, that single image ads are significantly more effective than multi-image Collage style pieces.

February 3, 2009 Influent Is Finalist in Tech Columbus Innovation Awards, Outstanding Technology Team Influent, a leading provider of outsourced customer sales and service solutions with call center facilities in the US, Philippines, and Panama, is pleased to announce that they are a finalist in the 2008 Tech Columbus Innovation Awards for the Outstanding Technology Team category.

February 3, 2009 Consumers Won't Give Up Fast-Food, Discounted Apparel, or Cable TV, BIGresearch Reports While the economy is forcing many consumers to make sacrifices, a handful of must-have’s remain on the list. A recent survey conducted by BIGresearch found that Americans have redefined what’s “untouchable” and what is “expendable” in their lives to adjust to the current economic climate.

February 2, 2009 comScore 2008 Digital Year in Review Report Highlights Key US Digital Marketing Trends comScore has released a new report, The comScore 2008 Digital Year in Review, which recaps key trends in US digital marketing for the year. One of the trends that heavily affected US Internet usage in 2008 was the economic meltdown, with several of the top gaining site categories reflecting the current environment.

February 2, 2009 Bebo Launches 'Bebo Open Mobile' Bebo, a global social media network, has announced the launch of Bebo Open Mobile, a new global partnership program which offers a suite of tools to provide customers with access to the Bebo social networking experience.

February 2, 2009 Mobile Game Downloaders Increased 17%, comScore Finds comScore reports that the number of mobile game downloaders grew 17% from November 2007 to November 2008, when 8.5 million people, or 3.8% of mobile subscribers, downloaded a game to their mobile device.

February 2, 2009 Sales of Smartphones to Reach 300 Million by 2013, According to Juniper Research High-end mobile handsets (so-called "smartphones") are expected to account for a growing proportion of mobile phones sold each year. A new report from Juniper Research forecasts that, between 2008 and 2013, annual sales of smartphones will rise by 95% to over 300 million.

January 30, 2009 DMANF Honors Mal Warwick with Max L. Hart Nonprofit Achievement Award The Nonprofit Federation of the Direct Marketing Association (DMANF) has announced that Mal Warwick, founder & chairman, Mal Warwick Associates, has been selected as the 2009 recipient of its Max L. Hart Nonprofit Achievement Award, which recognizes outstanding achievement by an individual within the nonprofit community.

January 30, 2009 Valentine s Day Spending Is Down From Last Year, Finds BigResearch The National Retail Federation's 2009 Valentine's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions survey, conducted by BIGresearch, found that consumers plan to spend an average $102.50 on Valentine’s gifts and merchandise, down from last year’s $122.98 per person. Total Valentine’s Day spending is expected to reach $14.7 billion.

January 28, 2009 Online Gaming Surges, According to comScore comScore has released an analysis of Americans’ usage of online gaming sites, showing that the category has grown 27% during the past year to 86 million visitors in December 2008, while the total time spent playing online games has jumped 42%.

January 28, 2009 Gartner Reveals Eight Mobile Technologies to Watch in 2009 and 2010 Gartner, Inc. has identified eight mobile technologies that it predicts will evolve significantly through 2010, impacting short-term mobile strategies and policies, including Bluetooth 3.0, Mobile User Interfaces (UIs), and Location Sensing.

January 28, 2009 Nielsen Company Releases Guide to Super Bowl XLIII The Nielsen Company has released its annual Guide to the Super Bowl, which showcases a full range of consumer and media information about the most anticipated marketing event in the US. This year's matchup between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers is scheduled for Feb. 1 in Tampa, FL.

January 27, 2009 Consumer Confidence Continues Downward Slide in January, According CEA-CNET Indexes Consumer confidence in the overall economy continues to slide downward in January, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CNET. The CEA-CNET Indexes also show consumers are less likely to spend money on consumer electronics and technology products.

January 27, 2009 Increased Spam and Phishing Attacks Tops Email Marketer Challenges for 2009, JupiterResearch Finds Increased spam and phishing attacks along with further email and image blocking by ISPs top the lists of marketer’s concerns for 2009, this according to a recent Goodmail-sponsored survey conducted by JupiterResearch.

January 27, 2009 UK Retailers See Increase in December Online Traffic, comScore Reports The onset of the Christmas shopping season brought increased traffic to the UK's online retail sites, with the jewelry/luxury goods/accessories category experiencing the strongest growth, followed by the mall, music, and flowers/gifts/greetings categories. This according to According to comScore, Inc.'s December rankings of the Internet properties and site categories in the UK.

January 26, 2009 Harris Poll Finds Substantial Increase in Public Preference for Generic over Brand Name Drugs The Harris Poll finds a substantial change in the pharmaceutical drugs people buy, and how and where they buy them. Between October 2006 and December 2008, the proportion of adults who would choose generic drugs in preference to brand name prescription drugs has increased from 68% to 81%. And the number who would more often choose branded drugs has almost halved, down from 32% to only 19%.

January 26, 2009 Reprise Media Announces 5th Annual Super Bowl Search Marketing Scorecard Reprise Media will release its 5th annual Super Bowl Search Marketing Scorecard on Feb.2, 2009. The Scorecard ranks Super Bowl advertisers based on the level of integration between their TV commercials and presence in search and social media, measuring how prepared each brand is to handle online interest and buzz.

January 26, 2009 Global Internet Audience Surpasses 1 billion Visitors, According to comScore; Asia-Pacific Region Accounts for 41% of Internet Users comScore, Inc. has reported that total global Internet audience has surpassed 1 billion visitors in December 2008, based on data from the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service. The Asia-Pacific region accounted for the highest share of global Internet users at 41%.

January 23, 2009 Young Consumers Changing Competitive Landscape of Specialty Retailers, Finds ForecastIQ Although retail sales continue to slump, two specialty stores are almost certain to see same store sales growth over the next two months. According to ForecastIQ, forecasts bode well for both Aeropostale and Buckle. However, Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle are almost certain to see a decline.

January 23, 2009 AOL Launches New Version of Web Mail AOL's Products and Technologies Group have announced the launch of an enhanced version of AOL Web Mail that offers users one-click access to Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and a variety of third-party sites and destinations directly from the AOL Web Mail page.

January 22, 2009 New Administration Sparks Signs of Strengthening Consumer Confidence, According to eBillme According to the eBillme Online Spending Index, 50% of consumers reported they will have more confidence in the economy while more than 25% feel more comfortable increasing their everyday spending now that the new administration has taken over.

January 21, 2009 Consumers Spend 11% More Time Online Than Watching TV, Yankee Group Finds Yankee Group has unveiled US survey results that suggest the current economic crisis will make Internet video a champion in 2009. Consumers are spending 11% more time online than watching TV, and Internet video is emerging as the key platform for the delivery of on-demand video services.

January 21, 2009 US Electronics Retailers' Performance Jumps, According to Tech Channel Index The Tech Channel Index reports that after enduring a tough holiday shopping season, US electronics retailers had their first week of marked improvement finishing week of January 3, 2009, just 2% last year's sales of consumer IT and entertainment electronics products.

January 20, 2009 Distrust of Financial Services Companies Shown in Cohn & Wolfe Survey A study of 650 US consumers, conducted by Lightspeed Research, in conjunction with Cohn & Wolfe, reveals a lack of trust in financial advisors, insurers, and other financial services companies.

January 20, 2009 comScore Releases December 2008 US Search Engine Rankings comScore, Inc. has released its monthly comScore qSearch analysis of the US search marketplace. In December 2008, Americans conducted 12.7 billion core searches, a 3% increase versus November.

January 20, 2009 Numbers Show Newspapers Heading for Demise, According to eMarketer eMarketer estimates that newspaper advertising revenues dropped 16.4% to $37.9 billion in 2008. By 2012, those revenues will tumble to $28.4 billion, eMarketer says. That is a little more than one-half the industry’s revenue peak of $49.4 billion in 2005.

January 20, 2009 Singapore's Online Ad Revenues to Reach US$413 Million In 2013, Frost & Sullivan Finds New analysis from Frost & Sullivan Singapore Online Advertising Market, finds that the online market was worth US$142.1 million in 2007 and forecasts this to reach US$413.5 million by end-2013, growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 19.5 percent (2008-2013).

January 20, 2009 Toronto Humane Society Makes DRTV Donations Plea with Campaign by Northern Lights The Toronto Humane Society is urging people to help them save animals in need with a short-form direct response television (DRTV) campaign created by Northern Lights Direct Response.

January 15, 2009 Magazine Advertising Shows Effects of Soft Economy, PIB Reports Magazine ad revenue for 2008 posted a 7.8% decline against the previous year, according to Publishers Information Bureau (PIB). "Like other ad-supported media, magazines have been affected by the economic slump, which deepened as 2008 progressed," said Ellen Oppenheim, EVP and CMO, Magazine Publishers of America, which administers PIB.

January 15, 2009 Major Shift from Physical to Virtual Events in 2009, ON24 Survey Shows A recent survey by ON24 polled the anticipated use in 2009 of trade shows, conventions, and seminars against virtual events such as webinars and virtual shows. The survey results showed a significant shift from physical to virtual events.

January 15, 2009 DMW Worldwide Ranked with Top Winners in Prestigious DMA Analytics Challenge Warren Hunter, chairman and CEO of DMW Worldwide LLC, has announced that the agency has been named to the winner’s list of the third annual Analytics Challenge competition, sponsored by DMA's Analytics Council and the CAC Group, Inc.

January 14, 2009 BigResearch Releases Retail Ratings Report; Amazon Makes Strides in Electronics Category BIGresearch’s December 2008 Retail Ratings Report reveals that Best Buy continues to be the store shopped most often for almost one in three consumers for electronics with an overall share of 29.8%, while Amazon more than any other retailer in the electronics category.

January 13, 2009 Personalized Ads Attract High-Value Customers, According to ChoiceStream ChoiceStream, a leading recommendations service provider for retail and entertainment brands, has announced the findings of its 2008 Personalization Survey. According to the survey, retailers’ most attractive prospects, those who spend the most money and shop most frequently, are more likely to click on personalized ads than non-personalized ads.

January 13, 2009 Global IT Purchases Will Decline In 2009, Forrester Predicts Global purchases of IT goods and services by businesses and governments will decline by 3% in 2009 to $1.66 trillion, according to a new forecast from Forrester Research. The 2009 drop measured in US dollars is a distinct shift from 2008, when global IT purchases increased by 8%.

January 12, 2009 Search Still Online-Marketing Heavyweight, According to eMarketer According to eMarketer, search’s growth is projected at only 14.9% in 2009, and is not expected to see gains until 2012. Search ad spending growth in the mid-teens in 2009 is still impressive, especially compared with other ad formats and media.

January 12, 2009 AOL Centralizes Publishing Unit with Creation of MediaGlow AOL has announced a series of significant developments that it says will dramatically expand, reposition and monetize its digital publishing business in 2009. Anchoring this announcement is the creation of a new AOL business unit, MediaGlow, which will centralize AOL’s entire publishing efforts, with the goal of greatly expanding the unit’s global reach.

January 9, 2009 Transformation of Media Industry Exemplified by Types of Deals Completed in 2008, Finds JEGI According to The Jordan, Edmiston Group (JEGI), the projected shift in growth for the media industry over the next few years is stunning, with $.88 of every dollar of industry revenue growth flowing to four growth sectors: database & information; B-to-B online media; consumer online media; and interactive marketing services, and only $.12 flowing to traditional media.

January 9, 2009 DMW Worldwide Honored with PIMA Marketing Methods Awards Warren Hunter, chairman and CEO of DMW Worldwide LLC, has announced that the agency and two of its clients recently were honored in the 2008 Marketing Methods competition, held annually by the Professional Insurance Marketing Association (PIMA).

January 8, 2009 Outlook Optimistic for 2009, ICR Survey Finds Although 85% of US adults described the state of the US economy in 2008 as being worse than in 2007, Americans are optimistic for the new year, with 41% of adults surveyed believing that 2009 will turn out to be better than 2008. This according to a recent survey conducted by ICR / International Communications Research,

January 8, 2009 Older Americans Embrace Technology, According to TNS Compete and CEA TNS Compete and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) have announced a new joint study, revealing that the age segments of 50-somethings, 60-somethings and 70+ use many technologies at or near comparable rates as younger age segments. Consumers

January 7, 2009 Online Spending Outperforms Brick-and-Mortar in Key Retail Categories, Finds comScore comScore has released online spending data by category for the online holiday shopping season, which showed that trends in online spending outperformed offline in several key product categories. Findings showed that the top growing online product category for the season was Sport & Fitness, which grew 18% versus year ago.

January 7, 2009 Consumer Spending Intentions Reach Lows, According to Discover Spending Monitor The Discover US Spending Monitor fell for the fourth consecutive month in December, declining more than three points to a new low. Both components of the monthly spending index – consumer confidence in the US economy and consumer spending intent – reached new lows during the month, as concerns about the economy may be weighing on post-holiday spending plans.

January 7, 2009 Nearly Half of Mobile Phone Users Eschew Multimedia Features, Finds NPD Group According to a new report by The NPD Group, a leader in market research for the wireless industry, 45% of US mobile phone users prefer to use their mobile phones to make calls, and not for other available multimedia features.

January 5, 2009 Gaps Revealed in Web Security, Osterman Research - Purewire Survey Finds Purewire, Inc., a Web security SaaS vendor, has announced end-user survey results illustrating severe vulnerabilities to corporate networks due to malware-infected Web applications, remote workers, and shrinking IT budgets.

January 5, 2009 Retail Sales Increase 21.2% for Week Ending Dec. 27, ShopperTrak Reports ShopperTrak’s retail traffic index has reported that total US foot traffic for Christmas week (12/21 – 12/27) fell 4.9% as compared to the same period in 2007, while the company’s retail sales estimate reported a strong 21.2% retail sales increase for the week.

December 30, 2008 Credit Card Alter Terms to Stay Profitable, Mintel Comperemedia Reports Mintel Comperemedia, a service that provides direct marketing competitive intelligence, reports that many credit card issuers are communicating big changes in account terms, conditions and fees to their clients through direct mail.

December 29, 2008 Consumer Confidence Down Slightly in December, According CEA-CNET Indexes Consumer confidence in the overall economy decreased slightly in December, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CNET. The CEA-CNET Indexes also showed consumers are slightly less likely to spend on consumer electronics (CE) and technology products.

December 29, 2008 DMW Worldwide Ranked with Top Winners in Prestigious DMA Analytics Challenge Warren Hunter, Chairman and CEO of DMW Worldwide LLC, announced that under the leadership of Jeff Williams, director, Decision Support, the agency has been named to the winner’s list of the third annual Analytics Challenge competition, sponsored by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Analytics Council and the CAC Group, Inc.

December 23, 2008 Holiday Spending Down or Stagnant in US and Five Largest European Countries, Harris Interactive Finds As the holiday shopping season draws to a close, retailers in the US and some European countries are not that happy. Just over half of Italians (56%) and 48% of Americans as well as pluralities in France (45%), Spain (43%) and Great Britain (42%) all say they will be spending less than last year for the holiday season.

December 22, 2008 Four out of Five Consumers Plan to Cut Spending, According to NPD Group The NPD Group, Inc. released the results of its latest Consumer Spending Indicator study. According to the December survey, 81% of consumers say they plan to spend less money than usual.

December 22, 2008 Heavy Online Spending Continues Later into the Season, Finds comScore comScore has reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 49 days of the Nov.–Dec. 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season through December 19, $24.03 billion has been spent online, down 1% versus the corresponding days last year. The most recent week of the season has seen several strong online spending days.

December 19, 2008 Free Shipping an Important Stimulus of E-Commerce This Holiday Season, Finds comScore comScore has reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 44 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season through December 14, $20.17 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year.

December 19, 2008 Major Retailers Experience 161% Increase in Attempted Hacker Attacks, According to SecureWorks SecureWorks, a leading security as a service provider, reports they have seen a 161 percent increase in the number of attempted hacker attacks they are blocking for their retail clients. Attempted attacks increased from an average of 56,000 per client per month in the first six months of the year to 133,000 per client per month for the last five months. The attack statistics represent the attack activity for 36 major retail corporations located across the country.

December 19, 2008 Advenix VisualSubject Customized Email Previews Boost User Engagement by 125% Advenix, creator of the VisualSubject customized email preview, reports a 42% lift in email results among recipients who engaged with VisualSubject, a user-initiated graphic that complements the email subject line with a visual preview. Findings are based on a series of email campaigns Advenix ran September through November 2008.

December 18, 2008 More Consumers Plan to Resell Holiday Gifts Online This Year, eBay Research Reveals With financial concerns weighing on Americans' minds this holiday season, consumers are becoming more resourceful than ever. To cope, they are learning how to manage unwanted gifts. Over half of US adults who have resold gifts online plan to do so this year, a 10% increase from last year

December 18, 2008 Websites Play Tangible Role in Sales and Brand Loyalty, ForeSee Reports ForeSee Results has unveiled research showing that online customer satisfaction plays a critical role for consumer packaged good (CPG) companies that are using their website to engender loyalty and encourage purchase behavior online or offline.

December 18, 2008 NPD Group Introduces Monthly Report on Consumer Attitudes and Spending The NPD Group, a leading market research company, has launched a new monthly report, The Economy Tracker, to monitor how the economy is affecting consumer attitudes and shopping behavior.

December 17, 2008 41 Million People Have Not Started Holiday Shopping, Finds BIGresearch According to NRF’s 2008 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, the average person had completed 47.1% of their holiday shopping by the second week of December, about 10% less than the 52.6% average completed by this time last year.

December 17, 2008 Experts and Analysts Assess Future of Internet in New Pew Survey A survey of internet leaders, activists, and analysts shows they expect major tech advances as the phone becomes a primary device for online access, voice-recognition improves, artificial and virtual reality become more embedded in everyday life, and the architecture of the internet itself improves.

December 17, 2008 Economy Will Permanently Alter Communications Marketplace, Yankee Group Predicts Yankee Group Yankee Group has unveiled its top 10 predictions for 2009, projecting that the economy will drive profound changes to forever alter the communications marketplace.

December 17, 2008 comScore Media Metrix Ranks Top 50 US Web Properties for November 2008 comScore has released its monthly analysis of US consumer activity at the top online properties for November 2008 based on data from the comScore Media Metrix service. The official start to the holiday shopping season unleashed droves of Americans on retail sites, propelling several categories, including Toys, Consumer Electronics and Department Stores, to double-digit traffic gains in November.

December 16, 2008 Consumers Likely to Start Online But Purchase in the Store, Finds Harris Interactive According to a new study by Harris Interactive, shoppers consult an average of four resources on their path to purchase. Most consumers begin their research online, but ultimately make their purchase in a brick-and-mortar store.

December 16, 2008 Week After Cyber Monday Brings Slight Lull in E-Commerce Sales Growth, comScore Finds According to research by comScore, for the holiday season through December 12, $19.44 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year. For the twelve days beginning with Dec. 1 (Cyber Monday), the kick-off to the heaviest part of the online shopping season, sales were up 3% versus a year ago. However, the most recent work week (Dec. 8-12) saw e-commerce sales decline by a marginal 1%, although Dec. 9 emerged as the highest online spending day on record.

December 16, 2008 Late Black Friday, Shorter Holiday Season Impact November Retail Sales, According to NRF According to the National Retail Federation, retail industry sales for November (which exclude automobiles, gas stations, and restaurants) increased 0.6% seasonally adjusted from October and decreased 2.0% unadjusted year-over-year. Industry related month-to-month sales saw the first increase in four months.

December 16, 2008 A Few Bright Signs Uncovered in a Challenging Environment, SpendingPulse Find SpendingPulse has provided summary results for the holiday shopping season through the first week of December. Michael McNamara, VP of SpendingPulse, pointed to some good news: relative strength in eCommerce sales and the general merchandise sector, and a rise in gasoline pumping, responding to the dramatic fall in the price per gallon.

December 16, 2008 BZ Media Has Sold Software Test & Performance to Redwood Collaborative Media BZ Media LLC, a high-tech B-to-B media company, has sold its Software Test & Performance business unit to Redwood Collaborative Media, an integrated B-to-B media company. The Jordan, Edmiston Group, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment banking services, represented BZ Media in this transaction and acted as its exclusive financial advisor.

December 15, 2008 Businesses Plan to Increase Marketing Budgets in the New Year, StrongMail Survey Finds Despite economic concerns, businesses will continue to invest in key marketing programs in the coming year, according to new survey released by StrongMail Systems, Inc. Results show that more than half of the nearly 1,000 global business leaders polled plan to increase their marketing budgets in 2009 to focus on programs that yield a higher return on investment (ROI), such as email marketing and search.

December 15, 2008 Retailers and Hotels Top Forrester's Annual Customer Experience Ranking Only 11% of companies garnered a rating of “excellent” in this year’s Customer Experience Index of large US firms, released by Forrester Research, Inc. Forrester asked more than 4,500 consumers about their interactions with 114 companies across 12 different industries and developed its Customer Experience Index based on the usefulness, ease of use, and enjoyability of those experiences. Thirty-eight percent of firms were rated as “poor” or “very poor.”

December 15, 2008 New Research by OTX Supports Value of Brands Engaging Directly with Consumers Online A new research study conducted by OTX, a global consumer research and consulting firm, confirms the value of brands engaging directly with consumers online. The initial findings of the new study revealed that 54% of consumers agree that information from a brand representative would be more valuable than what is typically found on a company website.

December 12, 2008 Postal Regulatory Commission Verifies Competitive Products Price Changes for 2009 The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued its review of price adjustments sought by the USPS for competitive postal products. Chairman Dan G. Blair announced the Commissions’ unanimous decision that the increases sought for competitive products were not unlawful.

December 12, 2008 Online Video Viewers to Approach One Billion by 2013, According to ABI Research While today’s consumer is most likely to watch online video on the PC screen, over time, more and more consumers will watch over-the-top video delivered to the living room, according a new study from ABI Research.

December 12, 2008 BurrellesLuce Issues Rankings of Top Media Facebook, MySpace, and Hi5 were the three most utilized social networks, according to rankings made available by BurrellesLuce. The report lists the top 100 daily newspapers by circulation, the 25 biggest consumer magazines, the 25 most popular blogs, and the 25 busiest social networks.

December 12, 2008 Clicks-Per-Visitor Show Dramatic Increase on Cyber Monday, ClickStream Finds ClickStream Technologies' standing panel of US adult internet users showed that internet retail sites received a dramatic increase in average clicks per visitor on Cyber Monday. Activity increases ranged from 500% to 14,500 times the average daily clicks per site.

December 11, 2008 US Advertising Expenditures Declined 1.7% in First Nine Months of 2008, TNS Reports Total measured ad expenditures in the first nine months of 2008 declined by 1.7% as compared to the same period in 2007, according to data released by TNS Media Intelligence. Ad spending during the third quarter of 2008 was off 2.0% versus last year, despite a positive stimulus from the Summer Olympics and political elections.

December 11, 2008 90% of American Adults Concerned about the Safety of Personal Information Online, According to CA, Inc. A recent survey by CA, Inc. reveals a gap between online security awareness and safety precautions by teens, adults and seniors, with varying behaviors across regions. Survey results showed that 57% of American adults fear their identity might be stolen online within the next two years, and 90% worry about the security of their personal information.

December 11, 2008 Web Users Pay less Attention to Ads on Cluttered Sites, Burst Survey Finds Burst Media has released the results from a survey on the topic of ad clutter. Overwhelmingly, the findings reveal that websites cluttered with advertisements do a disservice to the publisher, the advertiser, and the visitor.

December 11, 2008 Consumers Likely to Become Less Passive with Mobile Social Networks, ABI Research Predicts Consumers using mobile social networks today are mainly checking messages, status updates, and comments of friends, rather than posting photos or comments themselves, according to a recent study by ABI Research. However, this pattern is changing as more consumers have access to better-equipped phones and social network applications that allow for easy uploading and communication.

December 9, 2008 Holiday E-Commerce Season Sales Finally Match Last Year, According to comScore comScore has reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 35 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season through December 5, $14.92 billion has been spent online, essentially the same level compared to the corresponding days last year.

December 9, 2008 Majority of American Families Spending Less for Holidays, First Command Reports More than half of American families expect to cut back on holiday spending this year, citing less money and uncertainty about the economy as motivating factors, according to the First Command Financial Behaviors Index.

December 8, 2008 Holiday Shoppers Plan to Spend Nearly 10% Less This Year, According to Discover Discover Card has released its annual Holiday Shopping Survey, which assesses consumer spending trends and gift intentions for the 2008 holiday season. On average, shoppers expect to spend nearly 10% less this year than in 2007, according to the survey.

December 8, 2008 One Third of Retailers Cut Holiday Marketing Budgets This Year, According to BDO Seidman According to a new study conducted after the financial market meltdown by BDO Seidman, LLP, one-third of CMOs at leading US retailers state that their holiday marketing and advertising budgets have been reduced this season.

December 5, 2008 Consumers Not Likely to Layaway Gifts This Season, Finds BIGresearch Over half (56.7%) of Americans say they will be spending less due to the economic environment, according to the American Pulse Survey of 4,348 respondents. In addition, 51.2% say they will be looking for sales more than last year while 31.8% are hoping to find deals online.

December 5, 2008 FedEx Helping Customers Gear Up for Holiday Season FedEx Corp. is offering solutions to help its customers save time and money as they prepare to ship millions of precious holiday packages this holiday season.

December 5, 2008 Mailers Technical Advisory Committee (MTAC) Offers Guidelines for Mailers Using Move Update Communicating Entry Requirements/In-Home Delivery Dates Solutions/Seasonality Impact

December 4, 2008 AOL Reveals Top Web, Mobile and Video Searches of 2008 The presidential elections dominated user searches this year, according to AOL’s annual lists of top Web, mobile and video searches across more than 40 categories for 2008. But celebrities continued to be hot topics for searchers as well.

December 4, 2008 Retailers Counting on Cyber Monday, Finds BIGresearch According to the eHoliday Survey, conducted for Shop.org this fall by Shopzilla, 83.7% of retailers will have a special promotion for Cyber Monday, up from 72.2 % last year. The most popular promotions are expected to be specific deals (38.8 percent), email campaigns (32.7 percent), and one-day sales (24.5 percent).

December 3, 2008 Consumers Cutting Back on Consumer Technology This Holiday Season, According to NPD Group Consumers plan to cut back this holiday season on consumer technology purchases, according to a new report by leading market research company The NPD Group. NPD’s Consumer Technology Holiday Snapshot Report examined consumer purchase intent for popular holiday gift categories including flat-panel TVs, desktop and notebook PCs, MP3 players, digital cameras, GPS devices, and digital picture frames.

December 3, 2008 NRF Survey Finds Black Friday Gets Holiday Season Off to Energetic Start According to the National Retail Federation's 2008 Black Friday Weekend survey, conducted by BIGresearch, more than 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites over Black Friday weekend, up from 147 million shoppers last year. Shoppers spent an average of $372.57 this weekend, up 7.2 % over last year’s $347.55. Total spending reached an estimated $41.0 billion.

December 2, 2008 Black Friday Sees $534 Million in E-Commerce Spending, Up 1% Versus Year Ago, comScore Finds ComScore has reported its tracking of holiday season retail e-commerce spending for the first 28 days of the November – December 2008 holiday season. For the holiday season-to-date, $10.41 billion has been spent online, marking a 4-percent decline versus the corresponding days last year, while Black Friday saw $534 million in online spending, up 1%. For the combination of Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday, online sales were up 2% relative to last year.

December 2, 2008 eMarketer Revises Online Ad Spending Predictions eMarketer has revised its Internet ad spending projections, estimating that advertisers will spend $23.6 billion online this year in the US. That estimate is slightly lower than the one eMarketer put out in August 2008, which said that US online advertising spending would reach $24.9 billion in 2008.

December 1, 2008 Online Video, TV, and Magazines Influence Video Game Purchases, Find Ad-Ology Survey A surprising 70% of recent video game/game systems buyers reported some or significant influence from television and 54% reported influence from online video, according to the Fall 2008 Ad-ology Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey.

December 1, 2008 Consumers Plan to Spend Less This Holiday Season, MyPoints Survey Shows MyPoints, Inc., a leading online loyalty program, has announced that 82% of consumers plan to spend less this holiday season than they did last year according to a new survey. The survey found that 87% of those surveyed have set a budget for this year's holiday shopping to help achieve the goal.

December 1, 2008 USPS Revises Move Update Mailer Advisement Policy; Provides FAQs The USPS has revised the Move Update standards, which provide ways for mailers to reduce the number of mailpieces that require forwarding, return, or are undeliverable-as-addressed by the periodic matching of a mailer’s address records with customer-filed change-of-address orders. The USPS has also issued Move Update Verification Frequently Asked Questions.

December 1, 2008 Northern Lights Selected as DRTV Media Agency for Unirush UniRush, LLC has announced it has selected Northern Lights Direct Response as its DRTV media buying agency for its RushCard pre-paid debit card campaign.

November 26, 2008 PRC Approves Service Measurement Systems The Postal Regulatory Commission has issued Order No. 140 granting formal approval for the USPS to utilize both external and internal service measurement systems – including the Intelligent Mail Barcode (IMb) – to report on service performance for market dominant postal products.

November 26, 2008 Discovery, Differentiation, and Discounts Drive Holiday Shoppers to Search, According to Performics Performics, a leading performance marketing agency, has released data illustrating purchasing behaviors specific to search engine utilization, across seven consumer segments and ten product categories. In collaboration with ROI Research, Performics surveyed 7,043 consumers on the role of search engines in their purchasing decisions.

November 26, 2008 Forecast is Mixed for Consumer Technology and Media Holiday Sales, Finds Oilver Wyman As the holiday shopping season approaches, six out of ten US consumers intend to cut their spending in at least one area of communications and media entertainment, according to a new survey by international management consulting firm Oliver Wyman.

November 26, 2008 DMW Worldwide Adds Mark Fink DMW Worldwide LLC has announced that the agency has added T. Mark Fink as Database Manager/Administrator in the Decision Support team.

November 25, 2008 Many Consumers Expect to Spend Same or More This Holiday Season, ABI Research Finds But a recent survey conducted by ABI Research has shown that not all consumers intend to cut back on spending, and some are even thinking of spending more than last year.

November 25, 2008 Consumer Confidence up Slightly in November, According to Latest CEA-CNET Indexes Consumer confidence in the overall economy increased slightly in November following a record low October level, according to figures released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CNET. The CEA-CNET Indexes also showed consumers are slightly more likely to spend on consumer electronics (CE) and technology products.

November 25, 2008 Conner Strong Customer Data Integration Case Study Published Business Development Solutions, Inc. ("BDS") has announced the publication of a customer data integration case study outlining its implementation of SingleVision software for Conner Strong.

November 24, 2008 One in Every Five ID Fraud Victims Leaves Their Bank, Reports Javelin Javelin research shows that the average identity fraud case costs the industry $5,574 per victim and takes 26 hours to resolve. One in every five ID fraud victims leaves their bank, and one in every six changes card issuer.

November 21, 2008 Retailers Brace for Increased Shoplifting This Holiday Season, According to NRF According to a recent NRF conducted by the University of Florida, with a funding grant from ADT Security Services, retailers lost almost $12 billion to the 27 million shoplifters who stole merchandise from them in 2007.

November 21, 2008 Mobile Websites Don't Make the Grade According to Yankee Group Yankee Group has released a new report that shows mobile Web sites struggle to deliver an effective experience to the millions of consumers they serve. Based on a new Yankee Group methodology, the report scores 32 mobile websites on a scale of 1 to 100 and finds not one Web site with a passing grade of 70.

November 21, 2008 Internet Advertising Revenues in Q3 '08 at Nearly $5.9 Billion, Reports IAB The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) have announced that Internet advertising revenues reached almost $5.9 billion for the third quarter of 2008, representing an 11 percent increase over the same period in 2007.

November 21, 2008 DMW Worldwide Promotes Jeff Williams DMW Worldwide LLC, has announced that Jeff Williams has been promoted to Director, Decision Support.

November 19, 2008 Consumer Outlook Bleak for Holiday Season, Worse for 2009, Credit.com Survey Finds According to a new national survey from Credit.com, consumers are very concerned about the upcoming holiday shopping season and don’t think 2009 will be any better. While the survey found people were generally worried about their personal finances during this time of economic turmoil, more than half of respondents think their situation will improve in 2009.

November 18, 2008 Customer Service, Not Price, Remains Top Cause of Customer Churn, Accenture Study Finds Service again ranked above price as a global driver of customer churn, according to Accenture's fourth annual study on customer service satisfaction, titled "High Performance in the Age of Customer Centricity."

November 17, 2008 Four Out of Five Adults Now Use the Internet, According to Harris Poll In 1995, when The Harris Poll began measuring online activity, less than 18 million adults used the Internet in their homes, offices, schools, libraries or other locations. Now, thirteen years later, fully 184 million adults are online.

November 17, 2008 Black Friday to Grow 2.4% This Year, According to BDO Seidman According to a new study conducted after the financial market meltdown by BDO Seidman, LLP, CMOs at leading US retailers expect "Black Friday" (November 28 this year) sales will grow 1.2% this holiday season, while "Cyber Monday," the first Monday after Thanksgiving, will grow by 2.4% this year.

November 17, 2008 Majority of Mobile Users Would View Ads for Discount on Bill, Finds iGR Survey Transverse, a pioneer of open source business solutions, has released the results of a survey that provides insight into mobile customers' phone use and their willingness to view advertisements in exchange for discounts to their monthly service bill.

November 17, 2008 Boomer Women Generate Better Word-of-Mouth Than Younger Women, Prevention Finds Findings from a new report by Prevention, partnering with Keller Fay Group, show thatBaby Boomer women (43-62) have higher quality WOM than younger women (18-39).

November 14, 2008 Earth911.com, USPS Provide Green Holiday Tips As people across the country prepare to celebrate the 11th annual America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, Earth911.com and the USPS are presenting the "Green Your Holidays" channel with simple, practical tips to stay environmentally responsible during the holidays.

November 14, 2008 Yahoo is Top Destination for Major Events According to comScore Media Metrix Yahoo has released new comScore Media Metrix figures showing that Yahoo! News attracted 7.6 million unique users on Election Day, Nov. 4, the largest single-day audience in online news history.

November 13, 2008 Economy-Driven Mail Volume Decline Contributes to USPS $2.8 Billion Year-End Loss; FY 2008 Marked by Record On-Time Mail Delivery The USPS concluded the 2008 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2007-Sept. 30, 2008) with a net loss of $2.8 billion as the national economic slowdown lowered mail volume and as the Postal Service bore additional costs mandated by the Postal Act of 2006. The Postal Service continued to improve national on-time First-Class Mail delivery performance, reaching record highs in FY 2008.

November 12, 2008 Nearly 80% of US Adult Online Consumers Made Internet Purchases in Last Six Months, According to Nielsen Online Nielsen Online, a service of the Nielsen Company, today announced that 78% of adult online consumers made a purchase over the Web in the previous six months, according to @Plan, Winter 2008/2009 Release.

November 12, 2008 Global Theft Costs Retailers, Consumers $104 Billion Annually, According to Checkpoint The level of global retail theft reached $104.5 billion in the past year, leading to increased costs for both retailers and consumers alike. The second annual Global Retail Theft Barometer found that while global retail shrink as a percentage of total sales has declined slightly in the past 12 months, the overall cost of retail crime has increased substantially.

November 12, 2008 RSVP Publications is First to Receive Third Party License from Forestry Stewardship Council for Environmental Responsibility RSVP Publications, a direct mail marketing company specializing in reaching affluent homeowners, has become the first in the direct marketing field to receive a third-party license fro