Smartplanet.com is the latest online attempt to tap into the ‘green’ movement. Coming from CNET Networks, the site focuses on comparing ethical and sustainable products.
The site is well laid out and looks like the people behind it certainly know what they’re talking about. It’s not just limited to comparing products – be it organic foods or environmentally friendly cars – but is essentially a portal containing a variety of useful information on ethical living.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
Over the last year YouTube replaced Wikipedia as the UKs most popular social media website. Over 10.4 million Britons visited YouTube in January, or, one in every three Britons online. However, most telling was that half of the ten fastest growing social media sites during the last year were video-related. Whilst the majority of the most popular social media sites are the networks, such as Facebook, the fastest movers point to video being the biggest star of the 2008 social media scene.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
How all UK Internet time is spent provides an excellent overall picture from which to develop a more focused strategy in regards to targeting consumers online.
Despite the current fixation with how to advertise successfully in social networking and video media, together they still only account for around as much time as the most engaging UK Internet sector – Instant Messaging. IM accounts for 12% of all UK Internet time or, if one condensed all UK Internet time into one hour, seven minutes of it would be spent instant messaging.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
If it goes ahead, the Microsoft and Yahoo merger would be one of the major events in the history of the Internet and a credible attempt to challenge the domination of Google.
Whilst the Google suite of websites (visited by 274 million people globally – 80% of people online) is marginally more popular than Microsoft’s (262 million – 76%) and significantly more than Yahoo!’s (191 million – 56%) it is increasing the gap. From December 2006 to December 2007, Google’s global audience grew by 18%, double that of Microsoft (9%) and almost three times that of Yahoo!’s growth (7%).
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
Over 85 percent of the world’s online population has used the Internet at some point to make a purchase. Globally, more than half of Internet users have made at least one purchase online in the past month.
When Nielsen conducted its first global survey into Internet shopping trends two years ago, approximately one in ten of the world’s population (627 million people) had shopped online. Within two years, this number has increased by approximately 40 percent (to 875 million).
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
Between them, the thirty leading video and TV streaming websites attracted almost 13 million Britons in December 2007 – almost 40% of the UK Internet population. This is a 70% growth in audience numbers since December 2006 and highlights how well the online video sector is doing; the Internet audience itself grew by ‘just’ 14% across the same period.
So what types of video are proving popular; what are people watching and what are they linking to? The latter part points to the issue of ‘virality’ and measures the most popular videos in terms of links – as opposed to straightforward views. This is a key point for advertisers and publishers when it comes to understanding the holy grail of marketing – what makes people actually generate word-of-mouth.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
Public Relations should already own word-of-mouth. PR people were the first ones to really understand the value in measuring consumer-generated media online and the impact person-to-person conversations could have on a brand or issue. Word-of-mouth (WOM) also fitted nicely into the PR discipline, being based on trust, mutual relationships and, often, influential people.
However, PR didn’t end up dominating WOM. A few cutting-edge PR firms took it seriously but, overall, the industry coasted and other marketing disciplines caught up. However, it’s not too late for PR to claim the growing budgets now materialising but it is dependent on a shift in thinking and approach.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
‘Social’ content, as a rival to ‘professional’ content, has two key implications for media and advertisers. Not only does it provide competition for the eyes and ears of consumers but it also provides an alternative and unadulterated, point of view.
It’s not just how much is being said, but what is actually being said – and the degree to which socially created content is starting to overshadow the professional version is probably bigger than most think. The last year has seen the twenty most popular social media sites triple their share of web pages viewed in the UK.
By Alex Burmaster, European Internet Analyst, Nielsen Online
