According to a recent report from Nielsen//NetRatings, US households making annual salaries of between $100,000 and $150,000 represent the fastest growing income group online, rising by 20% between September 2001 and September 2002. Following close behind, reports Nielsen, is the income group of those making between $150,000 and $999,999, increasing by 14% over the same period of time.

The income group with the largest unique audience online is that with annual household salaries between $50,000 and $74,999, with roughly 37.3 million people as of September 2002. The income bracket of between $100,000 and $149,999 has 14.9 million unique at-home and at-work users as of September.

Posted by Reid

10:55 AM 0 comments

XBRL? XBRL. Defined by use-case.

Posted by Reid

5:55 PM 0 comments

According to comScore, total consumer online sales for the third quarter of 2002 reached $17.9 billion, up 35% versus the third quarter of 2001 and up 2% versus the second quarter of 2002. Year-to-date sales through Sept. 30 totaled $52.5 billion, up 41% versus the same period in 2001, and nearly equal to the $53.1 billion in spending posted in all of 2001. The fourth quarter opened strongly, with sales of non-travel goods totaling $918 million during the week ending October 6, the highest level posted in the year to date.

Posted by Reid

9:24 AM 0 comments

Show a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Many Fortune 100 Web sites don't show respect to customers, according to a new study by International Ventures Research Ltd. in Bellevue, Wash. The findings, available at customerrespect.com, include the following:

• Despite offering an online form or e-mail contact for general inquiries, 37% of companies offered no reply.
• 45% of sites force customers to opt out if they don't want to receive e-mails.
• 15% of sites sell customer data without seeking permission.

Posted by Reid

6:48 PM 0 comments

Verizon Introduces Innovative Mapping Tool on SuperPages.com

by PRNewswire
Anyone trying to find a new or unfamiliar business knows how difficult it can be without directions or a map. Verizon SuperPages.com now offers a unique mapping feature that allows users to customize an online map and plot the location of several businesses in a few simple steps.

read more here:
http://www.designinteract.com/news/11000.html

or test it out here:
http://www.superpages.com/

Posted by jeannie fratoni

6:44 PM 0 comments

Keeping Up With Email Addresses

According to a report from Return Path and NFO WorldGroup, 49% of US adults changed at least one of their e-mail addresses. In fact, the companies report that the annual churn rate for e-mail addresses is 39%. The two main reasons that people say they change their personal e-mail address are to get away from SPAM (16%) and because they have changed internet service providers (48%). Most people who change their work e-mail address do so because of a job change.

NFO determined that nearly all respondents say they notify friends (88%) and family (87%) when they change e-mail addresses. Less than one-half notify business contacts, whereas over one-half notify service websites or e-newsletters with an e-mail address change.

Places Notified of Change (% of Respondents)
* Friends 88%
* Family 87%
* Business Associates 46%
* Online Service Sites 36%
* Frequently Shopped Sites 35%
* Relevant Offline Companies 19%
* Chat Sites 11%
Source: NFO WorldGroup 2002

The study also found that 76% of adults register at websites with their primary personal e-mail address, whereas just 8% register with their work e-mail address.

An eMarketer E-Mail Marketing Report indicates that Opt-in news estimated in May 2002 that 37% had three e-mail addresses, whereas a Valentine Radford survey of 18,000 people pegged the number of people with three e-mail addresses at 22%. An IMT Strategies 2001 survey determined that only 11% had three e-mail addresses. The 2002 NFO survey, however, finds that just 10% of respondents have three personal e-mail addresses and a mere 1% have three work e-mail addresses. Discrepancies in the findings are likely due to the varying survey methodologies used by the research firms.

Number of Email Address Held by US Internet Users (% of Respondents)
* One 22%
* Two 33%
* Three 22%
* Four 10%
* Five 5%
* Six+ 8%
Source: Valentine Radford, April 2002

While consumers, on average, registered their e-mail address with more than twelve Web sites, according to the study, e-mail address changers only notified about six Web sites of the change. And, twenty-two percent of those who changed an e-mail address did not notify any Web site about the change. According to Matt Blumberg, chief executive officer of Return Path, "there is a real and significant subsequent financial impact on reputable businesses that rely on e-mail to communicate with their customers."

(c) MediaPost Communications 2002

Posted by Reid

6:05 PM 0 comments

SNIPER CRISIS BOOSTS ONLINE SHOPPING

WASHINGTON (CBS.MWS) -- From vendors of vests to veal, online retailers reported an increase in orders from D.C.-area residents in the past week.

Peapod, the online grocery service, said its 73 delivery drivers were overwhelmed by business. "We are currently sold out a day or two in advance," explained a message on the Peapod Web site. "Additionally, we have experienced occasional delivery delays during unexpected road closures," the notice continued. Roads in suburban areas around the District of Columbia were closed several times following sniper incidents. By Friday morning, however, the e-shopping subsidiary of Royal Ahold (AHO) was indicating that next-day delivery was again available.

Posted by Reid

12:26 PM 0 comments

Jupiter Research reports that online bill viewing and payment will be among the fastest growing consumer applications over the next three years in a recent release. By 2006, more than 50 million households will view bills online and 52 million households will pay at least one bill online. This represents a compound annual growth rate of 23% over 2001's figure of 18 million U.S. households who viewed at least one bill online.

The Jupiter Research report, "Payments & Transactions: Online Bill Viewing & Payment Forecast, 2001 - 2006," finds that in 2001, consumers viewed 643 million bills online, representing 6% of total U.S. consumer bills. This figure will grow to 3.5 billion bills in 2006, accounting for 32% of all U.S. consumer bills.

Center for Media Research

Posted by Reid

1:50 PM 0 comments

Google sued over site ranking
Stefanie Olsen, CNET News.com 
Search King claims that it has been deliberately demoted in Google's page rankings

Top billing in Google search results has become so coveted that one Web hosting company is suing for it.

Search King, an Oklahoma City-based Web site network and advertising seller, filed a lawsuit on Friday against Google, alleging the search giant unfairly bumped down its Web addresses from top rankings in search results. The complaint was filed in the US Western District Court of Oklahoma.

Posted by Reid

5:20 PM 0 comments

AOL 8.0 CDS FETCH $77 ON EBAY
DULLES, Va. (CBS.MW) -- Believe it or not. CDs loaded with America Online's new software are being sold on EBay.

A Donna Karan-designed packaging version -- one of eight limited editions that AOL (AOL) distributed last week in commemorative tin containers, was auctioned on EBay (EBAY) for $77. The Tom Cruise version went for $52.51.

Sick.

Posted by Reid

3:18 PM 0 comments

Wired News: An E-Mayor for Virtual L.A. City

Posted by Kelly Abbott

2:00 PM 0 comments

Media Unspun Weblog Media Unspun Weblog

Collective blog from the readers of Media Unspun.

Posted by Kelly Abbott

8:44 AM 0 comments

Results of a new survey conducted by market-research firm NFO WorldGroup about email and privacy:

Keep on surfing
Spam, privacy concerns don't stop online users
By Andrea Coombes, CBS MarketWatch.com

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- With Internet users nervous about privacy and overwhelmed by spam, one might think they'd be running and hiding. Not so.

Posted by Reid

3:44 PM 0 comments

Not to despair about the advertising industry as a whole when Interpublic earnings come in less-than-stellar:

Clipped from the front-page of the Wall Street Journal today:

For Interpublic, Going Beyond Ads Proves Wrong Turn
Giant Dabbles in Car Racing, Soccer, Even Go-Carts; The Price Is Now Clear
by Vanessa O'Connell in New York and Erin White in London.

"The New York-based holding company owns some of the world's most renowned advertising agencies, including McCann-Erickson WorldGroup, FCB Group and Lowe & Partners. But the persistent advertising recession confronting these agencies isn't what's giving Interpublic management and Wall Street white knuckles at the moment. Investors are focused on Interpublic's nonadvertising holdings, including Brands Hatch, several other affiliated racetracks, a losing German soccer team and a recently shuttered go-cart facility in Hong Kong."

See Monday, October 21, 2002 - VOL. CCXL NO.79 or WSJ.com for the rest of the article.

Posted by Reid

11:03 AM 0 comments

Bittersweet news for the Internet pioneer, Netflix.com
Both Walmart and Blockbuster have announced plans to compete with Netflix.com on their online DVD rental service. This, on one side, is a welcome validation of the business model, however, on the other side, these are two formidable brick-and-mortar Goliaths that may serve to trounce the Internet David.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is that Netflix.com is not relying solely on its pre-existing, Amazon-like Internet presence, but also on its strategic distribution centers and streamlined operational efficiency. Good luck, Netflix, I am still with you!

Posted by Reid

10:52 AM 0 comments

AFFLUENT AMERICANS DRIVE GROWTH ON WEB
Affluent Americans are the fastest growing income group online, according to the latest report from Nielsen/NetRatings.

Individuals with yearly household incomes of $100,000-150,000 accounted for nearly 15 million Web surfers, or 12 percent of the Web population, the research firm reported. That is a 20-percent increase over last year.

Those earning $150,000 and higher recorded a 14-percent year-over-year jump. That income bracket made up 5.3 percent of the Web population, or 6.4 million surfers. Households with earnings between $75,000-100,000 posted a 12-percent rise, comprising 17 percent of all Web surfers, or 21 million people.

The average household income in the U.S. is $55,000, according to the U.S. Census.

By comparison, those individuals belonging to households earning less than $25,000 or $25,000-50,000 grew two percent and five percent, respectively. Still, those falling in the income brackets of $50,000-75,000 and $25,000-50,000 represent a large portion of the Internet population, 31 percent and 27 percent, respectively.

ADWEEK

Posted by Reid

3:26 PM 0 comments

JUPITER RESEARCH STUDY ON BROADBAND ADOPTION
According to a new study from Jupiter Research, U.S. broadband service providers added approximately 1.3 million net new households in the second quarter of 2002. About 13.1 million households across the country currently use broadband services to connect to the Internet.

The growth of broadband uptake in the U.S. is on pace to meet Jupiter's forecast of 15.4 million households by the end of this year. However, quarterly growth rates have fallen significantly between 2001 and 2002. Joe Laszlo, Jupiter Research lead broadband analyst, said this is due in part to price sensitivity among would-be users. For the full article visit http://www.internetnews.com/isp-news/article.php/1483471

Posted by Amy

11:50 PM 0 comments

CONSUMERS CHANGE E-MAIL ADDRESSES TO COMBAT SPAM
E-mail addresses are changing at the rate of 31 percent annually, driven in part by consumer efforts to avoid spam, or unsolicited marketing messages, according to a recent study from Interpublic Group's NFO WorldGroup.

The survey found that 43 percent of the 1,015 respondents changed their personal e-mail addresses at some point in the past. Of that group, more than 16 percent made the change in an attempt to combat spam. As a result, however, consumers indicated that they had lost touch with personal contacts and "valued Web sites and e-newsletters."

Other reasons respondents switched their e-mail addresses included a change in ISP (more than half), a change in residence (12 percent) and the desire for a more attractive e-mail address (8 percent).

The study was conducted by NFO WorldGroup on behalf of Return Path, an New York-based e-mail address change service, and Global Name Registry, Limited, a London-based licensed operator of the .name domain.

While the average consumer registers their e-mail address with more than a dozen Web sites, the study found that e-mail address changers only notified six Web sites of the change, in addition to any personal or professional contacts. And 22 percent of those who changed their e-mail address did not notify any Web site about the change.

The survey also revealed that consumers on average now own 3.1 e-mail addresses, up from 2.6 in 2000. Despite the additional accounts, the rate of e-mail address changes remained steady (31 percent in 2002 versus 32 percent in 2000).

ADWEEK

Posted by Reid

4:36 PM 0 comments

AOL BANS THIRD-PARTY POP-UPS

America Online said Tuesday that it will no longer accept third-party pop-up advertising or merchandise sales on its flagship AOL service. The Dulles, Va.-based AOL Time Warner Internet unit also said that it will make it easier for consumers to find and change their marketing preferences, and opt-outs will no longer expire on an annual basis.

"By ending third-party pop-ups and merchandise sales we are giving our members what they want, which in turn will make AOL an even better vehicle for our advertising partners," said AOL chairman and CEO Jon Miller.

The new policy will take effect as the company works through its inventory of ads and merchandise promotions it is already committed to run. AOL said it will continue to use pop-ups on a limited basis to notify customers about key features on the service and special offers from AOL Time Warner.

AOL is not the first Web property to ban pop-ups. This past summer, iVillage announced plans to eliminate pop-up ads from its sites, including iVillage.com and Women.com. The New York-based online women's network made the decision after a survey revealed that 92.5 percent of visitors to iVillage found pop-up advertising to be the most frustrating feature of the Web. The study also indicated that while pop-ups can generate high brand awareness, it is not always in a positive way.

Posted by Reid

9:02 PM 0 comments

WEB CUTS USE OF MAIL, LONG DISTANCE
More than half of consumers in the U.S. use postal mail less now than they did before the Internet. A third told researchers at GartnerG2 they placed fewer long distance telephone calls. The Stamford, Conn., analysts also heard 20 percent of Web users say they are watching less television and reading newspapers less frequently.

CBS.MW

Posted by Reid

1:47 PM 0 comments

Shares of Yahoo and TicketMaster posted double-digit percentage gains Thursday morning, recalling those bygone days when Net stocks were all the rage.

Yahoo (YHOO) ran up $1.95 to $11.92 after the online media company late Wednesday said that third-quarter sales rose 50 percent from last year while its core online advertising revenue grew from the second quarter. The results showed that Yahoo was outperforming other online media companies. Yahoo CEO Terry Semel told analysts that, indeed, Yahoo was taking market share.

Overture (OVER) gained 9 percent to $26.10 after Yahoo's strong results revealed that paid-listings provided by Overture were driving the media company's online advertising revenue.

TicketMaster (TMCS) jumped 15 percent to $14.45 after it agreed to sell the remaining shares to majority owner USA Interactive (USAI) for $15.17 a share, a 20 percent premium above Wednesday's close.

Across the board, shares of other companies reliant on online advertising ran up.

DoubleClick (DCLK) rose 6 percent to $5.35; LookSmart (LOOK), which offers paid-listing searches, saw shares run up 9 percent.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com (AMZN) added 5 percent to $17.64.

CBS.MW

Posted by Reid

10:35 AM 0 comments

ONE-FOURTH OF WEB USERS CHECK OUT MUSIC SITES
Visits to Web sites that let users download music files for free soared over the summer. Nielsen/NetRatings (NTRT) reports 32 million surfers, or 27 percent of the active population, logged onto KaZaA.com, Launch.com, MTV.com and others in August. By comparison, traffic to music industry-endorsed subscription sites was miniscule. Pressplay.com had 640,000 visitors in August, and Listen.com logged on 139,000. KaZaA recorded 8.4 million visits, Launch.com had 5.9 million and MTV.com had 5.3 million. "With more than 32 million unique visitors surfing music sites in August, there's no question that there's an audience hungry for online music services," said Carolyn Clark, senior Internet analyst. "Converting surfers to paid subscribers will become even more important," she said.

CBS.MW

Posted by Reid

10:31 AM 0 comments

Law.com

When Robert Gumson logs on to the Internet, he uses a software program that converts Web site content into speech. But when he logged on to Southwest Airlines' Web site to make a reservation, Gumson, who is blind, found that the site was incompatible with his screen-reader program.

So Gumson and a Miami Beach, Fla.-based disability rights group, Access Now, filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Miami in June and July against Dallas-based Southwest and Dallas-based American Airlines under the Americans with Disabilities Act. They are doing so under an untested legal theory. Namely, that ADA provisions on the accessibility of public accommodations to the disabled apply to Internet Web sites just as they do to brick-and-mortar facilities like movie theaters and department stores.

Is a legal audit in your Internet Presence Management plan?

Posted by Kelly Abbott

6:46 PM 0 comments

From Masha E. Geller, editor-in-chief, Mediapost:

BURST! Media sent out the results of their recent survey of nearly 10,000 web users 18 years and older yesterday, which showed that two out of three (65.7%) web users used the Internet to either research or purchase travel. Additionally, according to their findings, of those respondents who have used the Internet as a travel resource, 60% have researched and conducted an online travel transaction - while 40% have used the web solely as an information resource.

BURST says that, not surprisingly, frequency of travel does impact web usage - generally, respondents who travel more frequently are most likely to conduct an online travel transaction.

Also, the survey found, Web users who conduct online travel transactions tend to have higher levels of education (77% attended/graduated college), and income (48.6 % with income of $50,000 and higher) than not only those who do not use the Internet as a travel resource, but also those who use the Internet solely as a research vehicle.

Posted by Reid

8:39 AM 0 comments

WEB ROYALTY VOTE COULD COME TUESDAY
A proposal to delay royalty payments for Webcasters may be considered in the House of Representatives on Tuesday while a group of Internet broadcasters begins an online lobbying effort against the fees. Democrats in the House oppose the royalty delay, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R.-Wis., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, introduced the proposal. "Unless there is a deal, we think this legislation will die," a source told the show business trade paper.

The International Webcasting Association launched a Webcast to generate support for the Sensenbrenner bill. "We are fighting for the business livelihood of all small Webcasters and hoping that some relief will be granted through passage of H.R. 5469," said Kevin Shively, chairman of the group's legislative committee. The broadcast will originate from Las Vegas and can be heard at SaveInternetRadio.net.

CBSMW

Posted by Reid

12:45 PM 0 comments

CNET'S DOWNLOAD.COM MOVES TO PAID LISTINGS
CNet Networks has announced a new program for software vendors who market their software on the company's Download.com web site. Previously free, listings will now cost from $99. But in return, CNet says, vendors will gain enhanced promotional opportunities. Here is the link to the full story: http://www.technologymarketing.com/mc/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1725139

Posted by Amy

7:44 AM 0 comments