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How Marketers Can Benefit from Video Ad Engagement

Engagement crucial in this high-cost medium

 

Marketers value engagement because its presence indicates that a campaign has connected in some way with the target audience. However, while engagement is compelling, 10 marketers might define it in 10 different ways.

But engagement is more than a buzzword. As the interactive ad format that most attracts brand marketers, much is riding on internet video advertising—mainly money and audience attention. As spending on online video rises and takes a bigger slice of the display ad pie, marketers must be confident that they are spending wisely. Engagement may be difficult to quantify abstractly, but is key to the worth of video ads.

“All effective advertising today—not just video—requires some degree of audience engagement,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report “7 Trends for Video Advertising Engagement.” “However, unlike some metrics that provide real-time insight into ad performance, much audience engagement does not happen in the moment with the ad. Nor can it be measured automatically. Instead, it’s a process over time.”

The most likely campaign objective for online video advertising is brand awareness, a baseline component of engagement, according to advertisers and agencies surveyed by Tremor Media and DM2PRO. Close behind brand awareness is brand engagement itself (which some define separately, as in this survey—further indication that the definition of engagement can be fuzzy).

For video ads, marketers use various concepts to identify engagement, including server- and survey-based metrics, traditional brand health metrics, social video-sharing, interaction rates and more. They can use several strategies to increase or influence engagement, like which websites to advertise on, how to target campaigns, and the length and creative of marketing videos.

“Before deciding which types of engagement to focus on, marketers first should examine what they want to achieve for their brand, who might best respond to their message and how comfortable they are with relaxing control over the ways consumers relate to their brand,” said Hallerman.

How Well Is Social Media Fitting into the Marketing Mix?

Budgets are rising, but integrating social media into overall strategies is still a challenge

 

Over the next several years, social media spending will become a bigger percentage of companies’ overall marketing budgets. Yet CMOs report there are still challenges when it comes to integrating social media into their overall business strategies.

The American Marketing Association and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business surveyed more than 400 top marketers for the February 2011 CMO Survey. They reported that over the next 12 months, social media spending will jump to 9.8% of marketing budgets, up from the current level of 5.6%. In the next five years, that percentage will increase to 18.1%.

Service companies are planning the biggest increases, as both B2B and B2C service companies have a higher percentage of their budgets set aside for social media than their product-focused counterparts. They also plan to have bigger percentages looking ahead both 12 months and five years.

This is a remarkable difference from the August 2010 CMO Survey, when service companies were decreasing spending and future projections of spending, while product companies were seeing increases. In this survey, the results are flipped, with service companies seeing increases and product companies seeing decreases.

Social media is no longer brand new, and many product companies have been experimenting in the space for some time. The current challenge for companies is to figure out the balance of marketing that works for them, and that includes a focus on product development and traditional advertising. Service companies are also realizing they must be on the cutting edge to gain clients, which includes being savvy when it comes to social media.

Yet while these CMOs are setting aside more of their budgets for social media, they are still working on integrating this newer form of communication into overall business and marketing strategies.

CMOs are more confident in the integration of social media into marketing strategies, as 10.5% feel social media is very effectively integrated into those efforts. But when it comes to companies’ overall business strategies, 25% of CMO respondents said social media is not effectively integrated at all.

As social media becomes a bigger budget line item, CMOs and their companies must face the challenge of integrating it into overall business and marketing strategies. Not only is it more cost-effective to incorporate social media into marketing and overall strategies, but it also makes marketing more effective overall.

'Hacked' boy's Facebook page: 4000 respond to open house party

Queensland Police have issued a warning about social network security after a teenager's Facebook site was hacked and thousands of people responded to an open house party.

Police were told about the situation by Twitter and contacted the South Brisbane family who said they were not holding a party this weekend and were unaware their teenage son's Facebook site had been tampered with.

The boy's father said it was a warning to them about internet security.

He said his son panicked and told him his Facebook site had been hacked when the number of people saying they were coming to the party started to climb, eventually reaching around 4,000.

"The first thing I thought of was, 'how am I going to be able to control this', because the numbers of people coming just kept climbing, it was crazy," the father said in a statement.

"I told my son that he better tell everyone that the party wasn't happening and no-one was coming in the front gate."

"This is a real eye-opener for us. We immediately posted online that the party has been cancelled and the account had been hacked," the father said.

Police said they would be on hand at the weekend to make sure would-be partygoers did not disturb the people living at the address.

Story source: www.smh.com.au

Mobile SocNet Use Grows

Social networking is among the fastest-growing US mobile categories by total audience, according to a new report from comScore. Data from “The 2010 Mobile Year in Review” indicates social networking reached 57.9 million US mobile users in December 2010, up 56% from a little less than 40 million in December 2009.

SocNet Category Has 2nd Largest Mobile Audience

This year-over-year growth rate compares favorably with the growth rates of other leading mobile categories such as classifieds (55%), mobile retail (53%) and general reference (47%). It is also worth noting that social networking had the third-largest audience of leading mobile categories in December 2010, slightly trailing weather and approximately 10% less than personal email, which had an audience of more than 60 million and a 39% growth rate.

SocNet Smartphone Usage More Pronounced

Among smartphone users, social networking usage was even more pronounced. In December 2010, 57.3% of smartphone users in the U.S. (36.2 million users) accessed social networking sites or blogs at least once during the month, an increase of about 24% from 46.1% the previous year.

European usage of social networking via smartphone also showed impressive growth, with 37.8% of smartphone users accessing social networking sites or blogs in the month (27.5 million users), up 91% from 14.4% the previous year.

Facebook Drives Mobile Social Networking

The growth of social networking via mobile devices is mainly driven by Facebook, which reached 90% of US social media users and 85% of European users, and grew more than 120% during the past year in both regions.

YouTube and Twitter hold second and third position in the US as well as Europe, but the European market shows much stronger growth. In Europe, YouTube grew 95% between December 2009 and December 2010, and the number of mobile Twitter users grew 195%.

The most significant continental difference in 2010 is the trend for MySpace, which declined 20% in the US but gained 32% in Europe.

Close to Half of US Mobile Subscribers Use Mobile Media

In December 2010, nearly 47% of mobile subscribers in the US were mobile media users (browsed the mobile web, accessed applications, downloaded content or accessed the mobile Internet via SMS), up about 17% from the previous year, according to other report data. Data from “The 2010 Mobile Year in Review” indicates the growth in mobile media usage is largely attributable to the growth in smartphone adoption, 3G/4G device ownership and the increasing ubiquity of unlimited data plans, all of which facilitate the consumption of mobile media.

Google, Facebook Users Skew Young, Affluent, and Educated

 

Both Google and Facebook attract young, affluent, and educated Americans in large numbers, according to results of a new USA Today/Gallup poll. Each counts more than half of those under 50, those with college degrees, and those making more than $90,000 a year among their users.

Men, Women Use Facebook Equally, Men Use Google More

 

Gallup data indicates men (42%) are about as likely as women (45%) to have a Facebook page. However, men (63%) are 12.5% more likely than women (56%) to say they visit Google in a given week. Overall, 40% more US adults say they use Google in a typical week (60%) than have a Facebook page (43%).

However, as mentioned above, both sites have substantially higher usage rates with younger, wealthier and educated Americans. For example, among 18-to-29-year-olds, 83% use Google in a typical week and 73% have a Facebook page. Those respective figures drop to 34% and 17% among Americans age 65 and older.

Similar trends can be observed when looking at disparities in income and education. Among Americans earning $90,000 or more annually, 85% use Google in a typical week and 55% have a Facebook page. Those respective figures are 56% and 41% for Americans earning less than $90,000 annually.

 

Usage rates among postgraduates (87% for Google and 53% for Facebook) and college graduates (85% and 58%, respectively) do not greatly differ. However, among those with a high school degree or less, the respective figures drop to 35% and 28%.

All Demographics More Likely to Use Google

Currently, US adults in all key demographic groups are more likely to visit Google in a given week than to say they have a Facebook page. Google attracts a significantly larger share of college graduates, postgraduates, and those making at least $90,000 per year. Both sites have yet to reach a majority of those with a high school education or less, or those who are at least 65 years old.

Facebook Users More Concerned about Privacy

The majority of users of both sites say they are very or somewhat concerned about invasion of privacy and internet viruses, and about half are concerned about spam e-mail. Facebook users about 20% more likely than Google users to say they are concerned about invasion of privacy and internet viruses, and about 10% more likely to say they are concerned about spam.

Gallup data indicates older and less affluent users of these sites are in some cases more concerned about these issues than other groups, but Gallup says the patterns are not uniform and because of small sample sizes, the results by group are too small to report.

Facebook Surges in 2010

Social networking category leader Facebook continued its momentum as it amassed millions of new users and people spent more and more of their time on the site, according to a new white paper from comScore. “The 2010 US Digital Year in Review” indicates that Facebook accounted for 10% of US page views in 2010, while three out of every 10 US internet sessions included a visit to the site.

Targeting Boosts Low Facebook Click Rates

How much do low average clickthroughs matter for marketers?

 

eMarketer estimates marketers around the world will spend $6 billion advertising on social networks this year, and the return on that investment will be a bigger question than ever.

Many ad performance metrics have long been low on social networking sites, suggesting internet users simply do not want to click on ads while they’re socializing with friends and family. But how useful are measures of average performance to real-world marketers when so many variables can affect ad performance?

According to a widely reported Webtrends study, Facebook ad performance metrics are dismally low—and getting worse. Between 2009 and 2010, worldwide clickthrough rates dropped while costs per click and per thousand increased. What that means is that Facebook users are clicking less, and costing marketers more money to put ads in front of them.

Clickthrough rates for ads targeted to the US were lower than for other countries: Webtrends reported US-targeted ads were clicked on just 0.065% of the time, compared to 0.087% for ads targeted to other countries. Both rates are higher than the overall average, which includes ads not targeted by geography.

A Chitika study compared clicks on Facebook to those on Google and found the social network’s rates were significantly lower. The ad network reported clickthrough rates of 0.08% on Facebook for January 2011, substantially higher than those reported by Webtrends for the US.

That difference points to one significant problem when discussing clickthrough rates and similar performance metrics for ads on any site: The idea of an “average” clickthrough rate might be meaningless. Marketers crave this type of statistic, but the confounding variables are numerous.

For example, different advertisers can have vastly different click rates and costs per click. The Webtrends study found that ads for tabloids and blogs had an average click rate of 0.165%, the highest of any industry, vs. 0.011% for healthcare ads—the worst-performing industry. But even within a single industry, not all brands are created equal. Within the travel category, which had an average click rate of 0.086%, the performance of ads for name-brand airlines would be averaged against those for lesser-known travel search affiliates.

In addition, the different advertisers would likely have different objectives and different measures for success in their campaigns.

”The airline would most likely want to generate new Facebook ‘likes’; the travel search affiliate would want to refer people to buy travel from a third-party site,” said eMarketer principal analyst Debra Aho Williamson. “There's no way an average clickthrough rate for the travel industry would be meaningful to all players in that industry.”

Just as not all advertisers are created equal, neither are all ads. Facebook’s self-serve ad targeting platform provides marketers with a wide variety of options for narrowing down the audience for their campaigns and targeting them appropriately. And according to data from BLiNQ Media, targeting can provide a dramatic increase in ad effectiveness. Clickthrough rates for campaigns run through the company’s platform were 7.5 times higher for ads targeted with demographic characteristics or interest information gleaned from profiles than for ads that were not targeted.

“Ads that have social features, such as the names or pictures of friends that like a brand, can also perform well,” Williamson said. “Marketers can add this kind of targeting on top of other targeting tactics on Facebook.”

Who Gives the Most Trusted Recommendations?

Social media has put power in the hands of the consumer, giving everyone a publishing platform to push out their thoughts and feelings to the world at large. This has given great power to word-of-mouth, typically considered the most trustworthy form of marketing. But social behavior is changing as it matures.

The GlobalWebIndex “Annual Report 2011,” which includes data from Trendstream and Lightspeed Research, outlines a shift in consumer behavior on social media. As usage of social sites increases around the world, the landscape is maturing.

According to the report, usage is shifting to focus on distributing content rather than creating it. Social media users disseminate and share professionally created content more often on microblogs, social networks and video-sharing platforms.

But the human element remains key to engendering trust. Internet users worldwide reported a nearly 50% increase in their trust of social network contacts giving product recommendations, and a 21% increase for microblog contacts.

Even though many of those contacts are likely sharing some professional content with or alongside their personal recommendations, professional sources of information like newspapers and TV barely gained any trust over the same period.

But Edelman’s “Trust Barometer” report for 2011 shows, for the second year in a row, an apparent decline in trust of a “person like me” (from 47% in 2009 to 43% in 2011) and a concomitant rise in trust for experts.

That survey polled college-educated consumers ages 25 to 64 who are in the top 25% of household income relative to age group in their home country and who follow business news and public policy. The opinions of such an affluent, highly educated, highly informed group cannot be extended to the general population.

Further, Edelman asked about trust in “information about a company,” a different query than product or brand recommendations. The inclusion of answer choices like “a financial or industry analyst” or “government official” orients the question more toward investor than consumer issues.

Other research tends to support the traditional view that word-of-mouth from friends, family and other peers is still the most trustworthy way of getting information about products and services. Teen influencers told Ketchum in May that friends with their top source of information. The importance and trustworthiness of customer reviews has grown, especially when shoppers feel they are authentic peer opinions. And social media users say dialogue and comment quality are key to trust on social sites.

They’re also even more likely than the average consumer to place trust in friend and family product recommendations.

Social Networking Accounts for 1 of Every 5 Minutes Spent Online in Australia

comScore, today released The State of the Internet in Australia, which looks at the latest trends in digital consumer behavior in the market.

The findings of the report were also recently presented at a comScore-hosted industry event in Sydney. Among the report’s key findings was that Social Networking now accounts for the largest amount of total time spent online at 22 percent, an increase of 5.3 percentage points from the previous year, as social media plays an increasingly prominent role in Australians’ digital lives.

A complimentary copy of The State of the Internet in Australia can be downloaded at the following link: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2011/State_of_the_Internet_in_Australia

“2010 was dynamic year for the digital media industry in Australia,” said Will Hodgman, comScore executive vice president for the Asia Pacific region. “Consumers are turning to the Internet with increasing frequency for a vast array of activities including entertainment, commerce, news & information and communication, as digital media becomes embedded in the daily lives of Australians. Look for 2011 to be another year of continued innovation and increased competition as brands vie for consumers’ attention in this rapidly fragmenting digital environment.”

Social Networking Accounts for Nearly 22 Percent of Time Spent

Social Networking accounted for 21.9 percent of Australians’ time online in December 2010, up 5.3 percentage points versus the previous year, and leading as the top online activity. Portals accounted for 19.7 percent, down nearly 10 percentage points from the previous year, while Instant Messengers accounted for 11.6 percent of time, down 7.7 percentage points, as both categories lost share to Social Networking throughout the year. Entertainment which accounted for 9.1 percent of time in 2009, increased 2 percentage points to 11.1 percent.

Additional key insights from the report include:

• In December 2010, Microsoft Sites led as the most-visited Internet property in Australia, followed by Google Sites and Facebook.com. When looking at the top sites by total minutes spent, Facebook.com assumed the #1 spot followed by Microsoft Sites and Google Sites.
• More Australians visited Retail sites compared to last year, outpacing increases in the global average. Amazon and Apple led as the most-visited retail destinations.
• Group-buying sites continued to gain traction over the past year. Cudo, an MSN property, currently leads the space with 418,000 unique visitors in December 2010.
• 3 out of 4 online users in Australia watched online video in December 2010, with an average viewer watching more than 7 hours of video during the month.
• Nearly 12 million Australians conducted an online search query in December, with an average searcher performing 115 queries. Google Sites accounted for 80 percent of searches in December.

Facebook Surges, Other SocNets Gain Traction

Social networking category leader Facebook continued its momentum as it amassed millions of new users and people spent more and more of their time on the site, according to a new white paper from comScore. “The 2010 US Digital Year in Review” indicates that Facebook accounted for 10% of US page views in 2010, while three out of every 10 US internet sessions included a visit to the site.

 

MySpace Weakens Hold on Second Place

 

Although MySpace currently maintains its hold on the number two ranking in the social networking category with 50 million visitors in December 2010, its audience declined 27% and total time spent on the site declined 50%.

Business-oriented social networking site LinkedIn emerged as the third-largest site in the category with 26.6 million visitors in December 2010 Meanwhile, number four Twitter climbed to 18% to 23.6 million visitors in December 2010 (not counting third-party app or mobile usage).

In addition, a couple of surprise sites emerged as players in the social networking space this year, as Tumblr.com surged 168% to 6.7 million monthly visitors, while Formspring.me rose in popularity among younger social networkers and grew more than 1,000% year-over-year.

Facebook Gains Across Dimensions

In addition to its snowballing user base, Facebook grew significantly across nearly every performance metric in 2010. Facebook’s US audience grew to 153.9 million in December 2010, an increase of 38%, as it became the fourth-most visited web property, reaching nearly three out of every four US web users each month. Engagement metrics fared even better, with Facebook’s total time spent surging 79% year-over-year to 49.4 billion minutes and total page views growing 71% to 76.8 billion.

comScore analysis indicates Facebook’s overall growth in 2010 can be attributed to a growing number of people using Facebook, visiting more frequently, and viewing more content on each visit.

Facebook Gains Younger, Older Users

comScore analysis of the composition of visitors to Facebook and Twitter revealed shifting user demographics during the past year. Facebook saw its 35-54 year old share of visitors decline 9% from 39% to 35.4%, while the younger than 18 segment increased 12% from 9.9% to 11.1%, while users 55 and older about 17% from 11.3% to 13.2%.

Twitter.com, meanwhile, saw a roughly 24% gain in the share of 18-34 year olds visiting the site, but those younger than 18 declined 46% from 17.5% to 9.5%. comScore analysis suggests this shifting composition may partially reflect a shift among younger Twitter users towards other communication vehicles and third-party Twitter apps.

9 in 10 Web Users Visit SocNet Sites

 

comScore data indicates nine of 10 US online users visited a social networking site each month in 2010. Social networking sites accounted for 12% of all time spent online in 2010, with the average internet user spending more than 4.5 hours on social networking sites each month.

Globally, social networking accounts for 15.6% of online time among those age 15 and older. Among this same age population, social networking accounts for 14.4% of Americans’ online time.

Women Lead Men in SocNet Use

One demographic trend that continued in 2010 was women extending their lead on men in the share of their online time spent on social networking sites. Specifically, women spent 16.8% of their online time on social networking sites, up 36.5% from 12.3% of their online time a a year earlier.

By comparison, men spent 12% of their time on social networking sites in December 2010, up 32% from 9.1% a year earlier. So comScore data shows women not only use these sites more than men, but they are also accelerating their usage at a faster rate.

Facebook Only Top 5 Site to Boost Engagement

 

Facebook is the only one of the top five US internet sites by audience to significantly increase its share of total US internet time between December 2009 and December 2010, according to other comScore analysis. Microsoft remained roughly flat at around 6%, while AOL slightly dropped from a little more than 4% to a little less than 4%.

Meanwhile, Google Sites slightly increased its internet time share to wind up accounting for close to 10%, and Yahoo went from a little more to a little less than the 10% mark.

Skies Brighten for Cloud Storage

Access to mobile devices and broadband have made the average consumer more connected to the internet than ever and new cloud computing-based online storage models have become real options for the mass market, according to a new study from Deloitte. Data from “State of the Media Democracy” indicates that most Americans own a device that allows them to easily connect to the Web; 85% of US consumers own a desktop computer, 68% own a laptop/netbook computer and 41% access the internet on their mobile phone.

 

In addition, 44% of US households subscribe to cable broadband internet access and 39% subscribe to broadband DSL.

Consumers Need, Want Accessible Online Storage

The survey further reveals that 51% of Americans have experienced a computer or hard drive failure that caused them to lose photos, movies, or other digital content. Moreover, Deloitte data indicates that 32% of respondents stated a desire to have an online media storage service they could access from any device. In addition, 43% of respondents said they want the ability to move content to any device and platform easily and effectively.

Cloud Storage May Hold Answer

 

Deloitte analysis indicates that given these statistics, cloud storage, which stores data in a web-based “cloud” that does not rely on any physical hardware or software, could provide an avenue for greater consumer access to content and greater portability. Cloud computing has been recently growing in popularity among business users but is still relatively rare for consumer use.

“With the majority of consumers aware of the risk of permanently losing their content due to hard drive failures, new methods to both store and gain greater access to digital content are beginning to take shape,” said Phil Asmundson, vice chairman and technology, media and telecommunications industry leader, Deloitte LLP.

“And, while consumers may not fully understand cloud computing, their concern about storing digital content on their PCs is raising awareness and opening up new opportunities for cloud-based storage models aimed at the consumer.”

Millennials More Likely to Own Portable Gadgets

 

Millennial consumers (age 18-34) are more likely to own laptop computers and other portable gadgets than older consumers, according to a recent study from Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Data from “Generations and Their Gadgets” indicates that Millennials in particular have driven recent overall growth in laptop ownership.

Apple developing cheaper iPhones

Apple is developing a new line of smaller, cheaper iPhones and overhauling its software to facilitate users' access to entertainment, photos and video.

The new device -- code-named 'N97' -- will be about half the size of the iPhone4 and cost about half as much as Apple's main line of iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said on Sunday, citing a person who saw a prototype of the new gadget several months ago.

Meanwhile, the computer and electronics giant is also revamping its MobileMe online storage service, which currently requires users to pay between $US99 ($A98.73) and $US149 ($A148.60) per year, and possibly making it a free service so users could upload photos and videos there instead of on devices, according to the report.

The move would free up memory space on the smartphones and MobileMe could also serve as a platform for a new online music service which has been in the works for over a year.

Despite taking medical leave in January, Apple's chief executive Steve Jobs has been closely involved in the developments, one of his top priorities, the newspaper said.

The new devices and software are due out this summer, but the Journal noted that those plans may change.

Wireless a threat to NBN, government's own consultant warns

WIRELESS internet technologies present a major threat to Labor's $35.9 billion national broadband network, a government-appointed consultant has warned.

An assessment of the NBN Co's corporate plan by Greenhill Caliburn said the project's revenue assumptions "appear to be in line with a range of domestic and international benchmarks".

But the success of the network would rely heavily on the network's ability to achieve wide-scale usage.

The consultant said attractive pricing and strong competition between services providers should drive user uptake of the network.

"Key risks to NBN Co's uptake assumptions relate to competition from alternative technologies," the report said.

"Trends towards 'mobile centric' broadband networks could also have significant long-term implications for NBN Co's fibre offerings."

User uptake and retention, average revenue per user and management of building costs are identified as three key variables in the corporate plan.

The assessment, released by the government today, warned assumptions underpinning the NBN Co's corporate plan depended on the company's deal with Telstra being finalised.

The passage of government legislation allowing the rollout of overhead cables, mandating fibre at greenfields sites and delivering regulatory protection to NBN Co from competition in commercially attractive areas - as set out in the corporate plan - would also determine the success of the project.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy said Greenhill Caliburn's report confirmed NBN Co's key assumptions underlying revenue and cost projections.

"As with any infrastructure project, there are always risks, contingencies and external factors and the government will work closely with NBN Co to put in place agreed performance indicators to track its performance and adjust strategies or operations as needed," he said.

The consultancy stressed it had not conducted an in-depth analysis of the company's future funding requirement.

In a rebuff to predictions that NBN Co would struggle to obtain funding, the report said NBN Co was likely to obtain debt funding at planned levels.

Labor has consistently refused to conduct a thorough cost-benefit analysis on the NBN project.

Story by James Massola www.theaustralian.com.au

Overposting Drives Away Facebook Fans

The most-frequently cited reason Facebook users give for “unliking” a brand is that it posts too frequently, according to [pdf] a new report from Exact Target and CoTweet. Data from “The Social Break-up” indicates 44% of Facebook users list this as a top reason for unliking a brand they once liked on Facebook.

 

irtually tying overposting as a top reason for unliking a brand on Facebook is having an overcrowded wall (43%, more than one answer permitted). Other leading reasons include content becoming boring and/or repetitive (38%), and only liking a company to take advantage of a one-time offer (26%).

Unliking Top Negative Reaction

Report data indicates brands will often know when a Facebook fan changes their mind, as 43% of Facebook users will unlike a brand when they no longer want to see its posts. Another 38% click the “X” in their news feed so they don’t see the brand’s posts and 19% do nothing but ignore the posts.

More than Half of Facebook Users Have Changed Mind after Liking Brand

Fifty-five percent of Facebook users have liked a company and then decided they no longer wanted to see its posts. In addition, 51% say they rarely or never visit a brand once they have liked it. A full 71% of fans say they have become more selective about what brands they like.

Unliking Not the End of the World

Report data show that a consumer’s decision to “unlike” a company has surprisingly little impact on the perceived likelihood that they will buy from that company in the future. In total, 63% of consumers said they were as likely or more likely to purchase something from a company after ending their Facebook relationship. Another 18% said they only “unlike” a company if they never bought anything in the first place.

3/4 of Online Consumers Have Facebook Account

Almost three in four (73%) online US consumers have opened a Facebook account. Sixty-five percent are active Facebook users, and 42% are fans. The fan percentage rises to 64% among Facebook users.

comScore: Facebook Leads Top Website Engagement

Facebook represents the largest share of time spent by US internet users of the top five most-visited websites, according to a new white paper from comScore. “The 2010 US Digital Year in Review” indicates that Facebook increased its share of total US internet time 71% between December 2009 (7.2%) and December 2010 (12.3%).

Twitter privacy dispute for WikiLeaks

Three people associated with the website WikiLeaks are asking a US judge not to force the social networking site Twitter to turn over data about whom they communicate with online.

In court documents unsealed on Tuesday, the three challenged a court order forcing Twitter to tell the government the names of those they talk to privately and who follow their posts. Lawyers argued that violated their freedom of speech.

The documents capture the heart of the WikiLeaks debate because the United States is investigating whether WikiLeaks should be held responsible for leaking classified information, even though it was not the original leaker.

Defence lawyers say it is a question of political discussion, arguing that Twitter communication about WikiLeaks is protected speech.

'The First Amendment guarantees their right to speak up and freely associate with even unpopular people and cause,' lawyers wrote.

The documents were filed by a member of Iceland's parliament and a former WikiLeaks activist, Birgitta Jonsdottir, as well as two computer programmers, Rop Gonggrijp and Jacob Appelbaum.

Source: www.bigpond.com

Social Network Ad Revenues Rising Worldwide

Social network advertising increasing share of online advertising

Thanks to Facebook, social networks are steadily increasing their share of total online ad spending in the US.

In 2011, 10.8% of all US online ad spending will go to social networks. Next year, the share of spending going toward social destinations is expected to rise to 12.1%.

“Major marketers are integrating social media into their overall marketing programs,” said Debra Aho Williamson, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report “Worldwide Social Network Ad Spending: 2011 Outlook.” “As they do so, advertising in social destinations is becoming a more logical part of their plan.”

On a worldwide basis, social networks are also increasing their representation. Of the nearly $69 billion marketers will spend on online advertising worldwide in 2011, 8.7% will land on social networks, rising to 10.2% of $79 billion in 2012.

By 2012, markets outside the US will account for more than half of social network ad spending. This shift will come as Facebook increases its global footprint and improves monetization in developing markets. Homegrown social networks in Russia, China and Japan—where Facebook has not yet penetrated—will also continue to see growth in usage and ad spending.

In addition, in some countries, such as Japan and China, mobile is the predominant way to access social networks. As mobile advertising becomes more sophisticated, eMarketer expects more ads to funnel into mobile versions of social networks.

“The skepticism of a few years ago has faded; large brands are allocating more marketing budget to social media than ever before, and their social network ad spending is also rising,” said Williamson. “Two categories of advertisers are emerging: major brand marketers that increase budgets gradually, and performance advertisers that spend heavily and bring extensive search marketing expertise.”

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The Impact of Cookie Deletion on Website Audience Measurement in Australia

comScore a leader in measuring the digital world, today released its white paper, The Impact of Cookie Deletion on Site-Server and Ad-Server Metrics in Australia: An Empirical comScore Study.

The study addresses the key sources of discrepancy between server-based and panel-based data and reveals that cookie deletion can lead to large overstatements in servers’ measurement of the size of online audiences. Without appropriate adjustments, site-server measurement of the size of website audiences in Australia can be inflated by up to 2.7 times the actual number of unique visitors.

The report revealed the following key findings for the Australian market:

• Approximately 28 percent of Internet users in Australia delete their first-party cookies in a month. Third-party cookie percentages are even higher, with nearly 37 percent of Internet users deleting their third-party cookies in a month.
• “Serial cookie deleters” have a profound impact on inflating site-server logs because they represent a small percentage of computers, but a very large share of observed cookies.
• Because of the high rate of cookie deletion, a server-centric measurement system which uses cookies to measure the size of a site’s visitor base will typically overstate the true number of unique visitors by a factor of up to 2.7x in Australia.
• Similarly, the study found that an ad-server system which uses cookies to track the reach and frequency of an online campaign will overstate reach by a factor of up to 5.7x and understate frequency to the same degree.
• Comparing cookie deletion in Australia with other markets across the globe including the U.S., U.K., Brazil, France, Germany and New Zealand found that each country saw third-party cookies being deleted by approximately 30-40 percent of Internet users, with first-party cookies deletion in excess of 20 percent in each country. Australia fell in the middle of the distribution among the included markets for both first-party and third-party cookie deletion percentages.

To download the full report, The Impact of Cookie Deletion on Site-Server and Ad-Server Metrics in Australia: An Empirical comScore Study, please visit: http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2011/The_Impact_of_Cookie_Deletion_on_Site-Server_and_Ad-Server_Metrics_in_Australia_An_Empirical_comScore_Study

CFOs Have Stagnant Financial Expectations

CFOs of large North American companies lowered their sales and earnings expectations in Q4 2010, according to a new study from Deloitte. The Deloitte CFO Signals quarterly survey for Q4 2010 indicates that after two quarters of rising expectations, CFOs now project lower year-over-year sales gains of 6.5% (down 40% from 11% in Q3 2010) and earnings gains of 12% (also down 405, from 20% the last quarter). Deloitte data indicates variability of expectations is high. Median sales growth is just 5%, and median earnings growth is just 8%. However, all surveyed industries are projecting sales improvements.

Benefit Costs Seen Exceeding 5% Growth

Built into CFO earnings expectations are cost projections that are fairly consistent with those from the previous two quarters. CFO expectations for employee benefits cost increases have been rising in each of the last three quarters, outpacing the other cost categories and surpassing 5% during Q4 2010.

Many CFOs Expect Flat Dividends, Spending

CFOs are expecting dividends to rise 4%, down more than 50% from 8.5% during Q3 2010, but Deloitte analysis reveals nearly three-quarters are predicting flat dividends. Energy/resources is the outlier, projecting nearly 11% dividend growth.

Capital spending is expected to rise 8.5% (up from 8% last quarter), but the median expectation is just 4%, with more than 40% of CFOs anticipating flat spending or cuts. All sectors expect increases on the whole, but healthcare/pharma expects only 1%.

Research and development spending, a new metric for this quarter, is expected to rise 4%, with technology and healthcare/pharma companies higher at roughly 7.5%.

Domestic Hiring Growth Seen Slow

Domestic hiring growth expectations of 1.8% for Q4 2010 are slightly below those from the third quarter, and the median expectation is just 1%. On the plus side, no industries are projecting decreases, and energy/resources is projecting increases of 4.5%.

The outlook for offshore and outsourced employment is better with an expected 3.6% increase in offshore personnel (2.8% the previous quarter) and a 2.8% increase in outsourced staffing (1% during Q3 2010). Technology companies expect increases in both offshore and outsourced hiring of nearly 7.5% (and no increases in domestic hiring).

Hiring Challenges Remain

Despite high and persisting unemployment, almost half of the CFOs say their companies are finding it more difficult to acquire sufficiently-skilled people than they did five years ago and 32% indicate no change. Roughly half of CFOs citing difficulties blame changes in staffing needs, and the other half say their regular staffing profiles are getting harder to find. Energy/resources CFOs indicate the highest difficulty filling open positions with nearly 65% citing hiring concerns.

Only 21% of CFOs are finding it less difficult to acquire skilled talent -half because their staffing needs are changing and half because their regular staffing profiles are getting easier to find. More than one-third of retail/wholesale CFOs say hiring is getting easier because their staffing needs are changing; one fifth of technology CFOs agree. Financial services CFOs are unique in answering that their regular staffing profiles are getting easier to find (28% make this claim). If you remove the effects of financial services, only 6% of CFOs are saying their regular staffing profiles are getting easier to find.

Despite the common perception that manufacturing layoffs have created a glut of manufacturing staff, only 5% of manufacturing CFOs say their regular staffing profiles are getting easier to find (roughly one quarter say their regular staffing profiles are getting harder to find).

North American CFOs Remain Optimistic

CFOs of large North American companies were more likely to be optimistic than pessimistic in Q4 2010, although job stresses have reduced CFO optimism since Q2 2010, according to other study results. The Deloitte CFO Signals quarterly survey for Q4 2010 indicates that overall, 53% of surveyed CFOs at North America’s largest companies are more optimistic than they were in the previous quarter.

Android Conquers World

Google Android has become the leading global smartphone platform, according to new data from Canalys. Shipments of Android-based smart phones during Q4 2010 reached 32.9 million (32.6% share), while devices running Nokia’s Symbian platform trailed almost 6% at 31 million (30.6% share) worldwide.

Apple iPhone came in a distant third with 16.2 million devices running the iPhone platform shipping globally in Q4 2010, trailing Android by more than 50% with 16% share. In total 101.2 million smartphones shipped worldwide during Q4 2010, an almost 89% jump from 53.7 million in Q4 2009.

Google Smartphone Volume Grows 615% YOY

In terms of smartphone volume growth rate, shipments of Google smartphones, including the OMS and Tapas platform variants as well as Android, grew 615% between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010, from 4.7 million to 33.3 million.

Apple iPhone had the second-highest year-over-year volume growth rate of 85.9%, from 8.7 million to 16.2 million. RIM, which came in fourth overall, had the third-highest year-over-year volume rate of 36%, from 10.7 million to 14.6 million. Nokia Symbian slightly trailed with 305 growth, from 23.9 million to 31 million.

Microsoft Loses Volume

Microsoft was the only smartphone platform vendor individually examined by Canalys to post negative volume growth between Q4 2009 and Q4 2010. Microsoft lost 20.3% of its global smartphone shipment volume, dropping from 3.9 million to 3.1 million.

US Smartphone Market More than Doubles China

Canalys data indicates the US continued its reign as the largest country market in terms of shipments, at more than double the size of the Chinese smart phone market. RIM recaptured first place from Apple, as the latter experienced its usual US seasonal dip, and RIM benefited from the first full quarter of shipments for the BlackBerry Torch. HTC successfully maintained its third-place ranking in the US for the third consecutive quarter, driven by its speed to market with the latest Android updates and new Windows Phone 7 devices.

EMEA Largest Regional Market

At a regional level, Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) remained the largest market, with shipments totalling 38.8 million (about 38% of total shipments) and a year-on-year growth rate of 90%. Nokia continued to lead in EMEA and Asia Pacific, but in 2010 it was overtaken by RIM in Latin America, which shipped more than a million more units than Nokia in Q4 2010. Canalys analysis shows the vendor was particularly helped by the popularity of its mid-range smart phones, such as its Curve family of devices.

Mobile Mix: Android Passes iOS

Android surpassed iOS as the most popular US smartphone platform for the first time in December 2010, according to the latest Mobile Mix report from Millennial Media. Mobile Mix data indicates 46% of smartphones running on the Millennial network used the Android platform, while 32% used iOS. The only other smartphone platform with a substantial share was RIM (16%).

In addition, six in 10 mobile devices on the Millennial network in December 2010 were smartphones, another 30% were feature phones and 10% were connected devices.