EU countries take action against Google

Google's new privacy policy is under legal attack from regulators in its largest European markets, who want the company to overhaul practices they say let it create a data goldmine at the expense of unwitting users.

Led by the French, organisations in Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Italy agreed Tuesday on the joint action, with the ultimate possibility of imposing fines or restrictions on operations across the entire 27-country European Union.

Last year the company merged 60 separate privacy policies from around the world into one universal procedure. The European organisations complain that the new policy doesn't allow users to figure out which information is kept, how it is combined by Google services, or how long the company retains it.

Web privacy tools to warn of internet tracking cookies

Internet users will receive a warning if sites do not respect their privacy thanks to new tools being developed by the web's standards setting body.

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) wants to help users control how their personal data is managed.

It is designing controls to shield personal data and reveal when sites do not honour privacy requests.

The W3C now wants users, browser makers and businesses to help finish and implement the specifications.

"Users have the feeling they are being being tracked and some users have privacy concerns and would like to solve them," said Dr Matthias Schunter from IBM who chairs the W3C group drawing up the Do Not Track technologies.

Co-ordination

The working group is defining software specifications that will:

• let browser settings tell websites to do less tracking
• let websites acknowledge privacy requests
• define best practices for sites so they can comply with different privacy needs

Dr Schunter said the specifications aim to end the current situation in which different browser makers adopt incompatible Do Not Track systems.

"Currently websites need to implement all these different protocols," he said. "There's no standard way to respect privacy preferences."

"We want to standardise all these protocols so they talk the same language and then tell websites what to do with them," said Dr Schunter.

The tools resulting from the W3C work would aim to be "privacy friendly" and surrender as little information as possible, he added.

For instance, he said, a site could log a user's language preference by noting their name and native tongue and store that in a cookie - little text files sites use to record information about regular visitors.

A more privacy-friendly way, said Dr Schunter, would have browser software note that its owner prefers a particular language without surrendering any identifying information.

Users could be warned about sites that do not do a good job of respecting requests to keep information private.

While the W3C cannot insist that sites and software vendors follow its lead, said Dr Schunter, it was more than likely that they would adopt the technologies.

The finished technologies are expected to be implemented by browser makers first in mid-2012 with websites following soon after as they get to grips with the best practices.

More than 15 firms and organisations are involved in the Do Not Track work including Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Stanford University.

Story source: www.bbc.co.uk

US lawmakers abandoning online piracy bill

Five days before a critical vote, US senators are abandoning an anti-piracy bill after an outpouring of online opposition to tinkering with internet freedoms.

Senate Democratic leaders still plan to vote on Tuesday on taking up the Protect International Property Act and supporters are scrambling to make changes before then to answer some of the critics, but it is questionable whether they have the 60 votes needed.

Half-a-dozen of the 40 original co-sponsors of what is known as the PIPA bill withdrew their support on Wednesday amid a one-day protest blackout by Wikipedia and other web giants and a flood of emails to Capitol Hill offices that at times doubled normal volumes.

More than 7 million signed a petition on Google saying the Senate bill and its counterpart in the House would censor the web and impose burdensome regulations on US businesses.

"The overwhelming input I've received from New Hampshire citizens makes it clear there are many legitimate concerns that deserve further consideration before Congress moves forward with this legislation," said Republican Senator Kelly Ayotte, one of the politicians who pulled back her support of the bill.

Others included Republicans Orrin Hatch of Utah, Marco Rubio of Florida, Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Boozman of Arkansas.

Nearly all cited the earful they were getting from constituents.

"I can say, with all honesty, that the feedback I received from Arkansans has been overwhelmingly in opposition to the Senate bill in its current form," Boozman said.

Several Democratic co-sponsors also now say they oppose the bill as it is written.

Democrat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has resisted suggestions he put off the Tuesday vote.

Reid and the bill's main sponsor, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy said it was too important to delay action on legislation aimed at combating the billions of dollars US content creators and companies lose to foreign copyright violators and counterfeiters every year.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky on Thursday urged Democrats to shelve the bill for now, saying serious issues with the measure should be resolved before "prematurely" bringing it to the floor.

The Senate bill, and the parallel Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, would allow the Justice Department and copyright holders to seek court orders against foreign websites that steal from American content creators.

It would bar advertising networks and payment facilitators such as credit card companies from doing business with the offending websites.

The bills have the strong support of the entertainment industry which loses billions every year to foreign copyright violators and from industries such as pharmaceuticals battling fake and sometimes harmful alternatives sold on the internet.

The opposition, as demonstrated by Wednesday's protest, is led by internet-related industries that say the bills will lead to censorship of the internet and a surge in lawsuits that will discourage budding internet entrepreneurs.

Story source: www.ninemsn.com.au

SOPA blackout: Bills lose three co-sponsors amid protests

In case you missed all the news on the proposed bill to Stop On Line Piracy, or SOPA as it has become known, is a bill that was introduced into the  US house of representatives in October last year. 

The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods.^[2] Presented to the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.

The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.

In an update of this story, below is a article from the Los Angeles Times:

“Three co-sponsors of the SOPA and PIPA antipiracy bills have publicly withdrawn their support as Wikipedia and thousands of other websites blacked out their pages Wednesday to protest the legislation.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) withdrew as a co-sponsor of the Protect IP Act in the Senate, while Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) said they were pulling their names from the companion House bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Opponents of the legislation, led by large Internet companies, say its broad definitions could lead to censorship of online content and force some websites to shut down.

In a posting on his Facebook page, Rubio noted that after the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed its bill last year, he has "heard legitimate concerns about the impact the bill could have on access to the Internet and about a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government's power to impact the Internet."

"Congress should listen and avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences," Rubio said in announcing he was withdrawing his support. While he's committed to stopping online piracy, Rubio called for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to back off plans to hold a key procedural vote on the bill on Tuesday.

Rubio's withdrawal will reduce the number of co-sponsors to 39. Last week, two other co-sponsors, Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), joined four other Senate Republicans in a letter to Reid also urging him delay the vote. But Grassley and Hatch have not withdrawn their support.

Terry and Quayle were among the 31 sponsors of the House legislation before they withdrew their support Tuesday.

Quayle still strongly supports the goal of the House bill to crack down on foreign websites that traffic in pirated movies, music, medicine and other goods.

"The bill could have some unintended consequences that need to be addressed," said Quayle spokesman Zach Howell. "Basically it needs more work before he can support it."

Terry said that he also had problems with the House bill in its current form and would no longer support it.

Wikipedia, Reddit and about 10,000 other websites blacked out their pages Wednesday with messages warning of the dangers of the legislation and urging people to contact their congressional representatives. Howell said Quayle's office had not seen a major increase in calls or emails Wednesday, but that the piracy bills have been the main issue in recent weeks for people contacting the office.

There has been a "manageable increase" in visits to House member websites Wednesday, said Dan Weiser, a spokesman for the House office of the chief administrative officer.

"It’s possible some users will see a short delay or slow loading of a member's web page," he said.”

Original story from The Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/

If you would like to read more on how this bill, if passed, would affect how you use and research on the Internet, please read this link to Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act.

Anything we can do to stop this bill becoming law, lets do it now, and protest what is essentially an act of total censorship.

China web users hits 513 million

The number of internet users in China has surged past 500 million as millions of new web surfers go online using mobile phones and tablet computers, an industry group reports.

The popularity of the internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government controls on what the public can see online.

The number of mainland internet users rose to 513 million in December, up 12 per cent from a year earlier, the government-sanctioned China internet Network Information Centre said on Monday.

Among them, the number who go online using handheld devices rose 17.5 per cent over a year earlier to 356 million.

The popularity of wireless internet was reflected on Friday in a scramble by Chinese gadget fans and scalpers to buy Apple Inc's latest iPhone 4S, which sold out within hours of its China launch.

Angry customers shouted and threw eggs at Apple's flagship Beijing outlet after the company failed to open the store, citing the size of the crowd. Apple postponed further iPhone 4S sales at its mainland stores for safety reasons, but said they will be sold online and through its local carrier, China Unicom Ltd.

The communist government encourages internet use for business and education, but tries to block access to material it deems pornographic or subversive.

The government is strengthening its control over popular microblogs after a bullet train crash last July that killed 40 people prompted an online outpouring of criticism of the official response.

Microblog services have been ordered to monitor postings content more closely and remove objectionable material, while news media were barred from reporting online material without firsthand verification.

Despite such controls, popular online services such as portals Sina.com and Sohu.com, video websites Youku.com and Tudou.com and search engine Baidu report growing traffic and revenues.

Outlets owned by the ruling Communist Party or by the government also have jumped into the market, launching their own search engines and other services.

On Friday, regulators approved an initial public stock offering by the online arm of the ruling party newspaper People's Daily, people.com, on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to raise 527 million yuan ($A82.84 million).

Story source: www.bigpond.com

Most Consumers Still Don’t Talk About Brands on Social Sites

Consumers occasionally post about brands on Facebook and Twitter, but offline and non-social online methods keep them informed

While most marketers leverage Facebook and Twitter to communicate with customers, not nearly as many consumers comment about these companies and brands on the social sites.

AYTM Market Research found that 57.8% of US Facebook users had not mentioned a brand in their status updates as of October 2011. More heartening for marketers is that just 0.5% of Facebook users posted only negative mentions about brands on Facebook. More often, they reported commenting on brands in a positive way (25.3%) or with a mix of both positive and negative mentions (16.4%).

US Twitter users nearly mirrored these results, with 61.3% of Twitter users saying they have not tweeted about a brand. Meanwhile, 25.4% of Twitter users said they only mentioned brands in positive tweets, 0.4% said they only mentioned them in negative tweets and 12.9% said in both positive and negative tweets.

Meanwhile, consumers are typically not learning about new brands, products and services from social media. Only 6.5% of US internet users said they most frequently hear about new brands, products and services from social media, while 17.6% said they often do and 26.5% said they sometimes do. A quarter of respondents (26%) said they never hear about these new offerings via social media.

Offline channels, such as TV, radio and print media were the ways consumers most frequently discovered new brands, products and services, while word-of-mouth and physical stores also played a role. US internet users also learned about new offerings more often from online elements that are not social media, such as online advertising or online shopping sites, than they do on social media.

Consumers are using social media more and more, and brands are on these social networks and willing to interact there.

Getting consumers to discuss brands and products in their status updates and tweets is a challenge, but if they start to do so, it could continue to increase the influence that social media has in learning about new products and services.

Facebook rolls out Timeline feature

Facebook has officially started rolling out its new Timeline feature that will enable users to show off the most important moments of their lives on their profile page.

The new feature, which was unveiled in early September, will first be introduced in New Zealand before it is rolled out to other countries, the company revealed on its Facebook blog today.

Facebook said Timeline would keep important life events on profile pages while less-important posts would drop off .

"Now you can share photos of what you did last weekend, and updates about how you feel today," the company said in a previous blog post.

"But since the focus is on the most recent things you posted, more important stuff slips off the page. The photos of your graduation get replaced by updates about what you had for breakfast."

The new feature will allow users to choose which life events, such as birthdays or weddings, are permanently illustrated on their profile.

Timeline raised privacy concerns in its development stage, after it was revealed it would be visible on the Timeline when you "unfriended" certain people, social media website Mashable reports.

Facebook said this was a glitch that had since been corrected.

Story: www.ninemsn.com.au

Internet a 'surveillance machine'

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has blasted the mainstream media, Washington, banks and the internet itself as he addressed journalists in Hong Kong via videolink from house arrest in England.

Fresh from accepting a Walkley award for journalism on Sunday, Assange spoke to the News World Summit in Hong Kong on Monday before keeping a regular appointment with the police.

He defended his right to call himself a journalist and said WikiLeaks' next 'battle' would be to ensure that the internet does not turn into a vast surveillance tool for governments and corporations.

'Of course I'm a goddamn journalist,' he responded with affected frustration when a moderator of the conference asked if he was a member of the profession.

He said his written record spoke for itself and argued that the only reason people kept asking him if he was a journalist was because the United States government wanted to silence him.

'The United States government does not want legal protection for us,' he said, referring to a US Justice Department investigation into his whistleblower website for releasing secret diplomatic and military documents.

The former hacker criticised journalists and the mainstream media for becoming too cosy with the powerful and secretive organisations they were supposed to be holding to account.

In a 40-minute address, he also accused credit card companies such as Visa and MasterCard of illegally cutting WikiLeaks off from funding under a secret deal with the White House.

'Issues that should be decided in open court are being decided in back rooms in Washington,' he said.

The internet itself had become 'the most significant surveillance machine that we have ever seen', Assange said in reference to the amount of information people give about themselves online.

'It's not an age of transparency at all ... the amount of secret information is more than ever before,' he said, adding that information flows in but is not flowing out of governments and other powerful organisations.

'I see that really is our big battle. The technology gives and the technology takes away,' he added.

The anti-secrecy activist then held up a handwritten sign from an aide telling him to 'stop' talking or he would be late for a mandatory appointment with police.

Assange, 40, is under house arrest in England pending the outcome of a Swedish extradition request over claims of rape and sexual assault made by two women. He says he is the victim of a smear campaign.

Most Social Shoppers Trust SocNet Reviews

A majority of social shoppers trust user reviews and recommendations on social network sites more than other sites, according to a study released in October 2011 by Performics and conducted by ROI Research. Data from the “2011 Social Shopping Study” indicates that among participants who use social networks at least occasionally during the shopping process, 58% trust the recommendations they find on social networks more than other sites. Shopping sites (57%) and deal sites (53%) follow closely as trusted sources of product recommendations. According to the study, about one in 2 social shoppers are positively influenced by favorable reviews and recommendations. This compares to roughly 45% of social shoppers adversely influenced by negative reviews.

Shopping Sites Most Important During Process

Almost three in 4 (72%) social shoppers consider shopping sites to be an important part of the purchase process, about 25% more than those who report deal sites (58%) to be an important factor. Just four in 10 (41%) find social networks to be a significant part of the shopping process.

1 in 5 Use Sites Daily to Find Deals

Among active social networkers, nearly one in 5 (19%) turn to deal sites to find specials, coupons, or deals on a daily basis. Social networks (18%) and shopping sites (17%) follow closely as deal sources. While 15% of social shoppers use social networks daily to learn about new products, only one in 10 use social shopping sites on a daily basis for other key stages of the shopping process, including to research product information, read product reviews, compare products, and find product availability.

Shopping Sites Most Popular Before Purchase

Although social networks are most frequently used to learn about new products, the vast majority of social shoppers (87%) turn to shopping sites while searching for a product, while 83% use these sites right before committing to a purchase. This compares to roughly two-thirds of social shoppers who frequently use social networks or deal sites prior to purchasing a product. After the purchase, however, the focus shifts to social networks: almost six in 10 (59%) frequently share their experiences on social networks after the purchase, compared to 57% for shopping sites and 51% for deal sites.

Other Findings

• Almost seven in 10 (69%) social shoppers visit Amazon at least once a month, making it the most popular shopping site, ahead of eBay (53%) and retailer websites (52%). Search sites fare less well: just 27% visit Google shopping on a monthly basis, followed by Yahoo shopping (23%) and Bing shopping (13%).
• Close to half of social shoppers (47%) have a Groupon account, far more than those with a Living Social (27%) or Eversave (15%) account.

Nielsen: SocNet Users Most Trust Info from Consumers

Social network users are most likely to trust product and service information provided by other consumers, according to data released in October 2011 by NMIncite and The Nielsen Company. Sixty-three percent say consumer ratings are a preferred source for product information, while 62% say consumer reviews are a preferred source. Company websites come in a distant third, preferred by 50% of social network users for product and service information. Call center (47%) and email (45%) closely follow. Interestingly, company Facebook page (15%) and company Twitter (7%) are among the least preferred product information sources.

About the Data: The Performics survey was conducted among 1000 participants who were required to have an active social network account and use social networks at least occasionally in the shopping process. The online survey was in field from 9/27/11 to 10/4/11.

'We should never block social networks'

Suppressing social networks or mobile phones at times of unrest is 'unacceptable', the UK Foreign Secretary has told a global summit on cyber-crime.

Human rights such as privacy and freedom of expression should apply as much online as they do offline, William Hague said.

His remarks appear to rule out any clampdown of Twitter or Facebook during riots, an idea briefly considered following the disorder in English cities earlier this year.

They are in stark contrast to Prime Minister David Cameron's comments to Parliament in August, when he said: 'When people are using social media for violence we need to stop them.

'So we are working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality.'

But Mr Hague told delegates: 'Human rights are universal. Cultural differences are not an excuse to water down human rights, nor can the exploitation of digital networks by a minority of criminals or terrorists be a justification for states to censor their citizens.

'We reject the view that government suppression of the internet, phone networks and social media at times of unrest is acceptable.

'In fact we would go further, and boil this concept down to a single proposition: that behaviour that is unacceptable offline is also unacceptable online, whether it is carried out by individuals or by governments.'

The Foreign Secretary also warned countries who fail to understand the risks of web-based attacks could be exploited by other states.

'It is increasingly clear that countries with weak cyber-defences and capabilities will find themselves exposed over the long term; at a serious strategic disadvantage given the apparent rise in state-sponsored attacks,' he said.

His speech follows a No 10 adviser's admission that China and Russia - both countries with representatives attending the London conference - are suspected of carrying out attacks to steal secrets from other countries.

Baroness Neville-Jones, who is Mr Cameron's special representative on cyber-security, said Beijing and Moscow were 'interested in this kind of activity'.

The head of GCHQ, the Government's 'listening' agency, Iain Lobban, said the Foreign and Commonwealth Office computer system was targeted in a 'significant' attempt to extract information earlier this year.

Representatives from 60 nations have gathered for the conference which will also hear from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales and Facebook's policy director for the UK, Europe and Middle East, Richard Allan.

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has been forced to cancel her speech as her elderly mother is unwell.

Story source: www.bigpond.com

Google Engineer Calls Google Plus a 'Complete Failure’

Steve Yegge, a senior engineer at Google, has accidentally and publicly posted a critical analysis about his company's understanding of platforms, calling Google Plus a "complete failure."

In a 4,000-plus-word deconstruction of Google+, intended for his co-workers' eyes only, Yegge critiqued his former employer Amazon before mentioning Google's failure to create a platform that works as well as Facebook.

The Google+ team tried to mimic Facebook's usage of games but simply ended up being run-of-the-mill, thanks to a lack of understanding of platforms, Yegge said.

"That one last thing that Google doesn't do well is platforms. We don't understand platforms. We don't 'get' platforms. Some of you do, but you are the minority. ... I was kind of hoping that competitive pressure from Microsoft and Amazon and more recently Facebook would make us wake up collectively and start doing universal services ... as our top priority from now on. But no. No, it's like our 10th or 11th priority. Or 15th, I don't know. It's pretty low."

Yegge intended only fellow Google employees to see his self-proclaimed "long, opinionated rant," which he deleted immediately after posting in his Google+ Circles Wednesday, though a copy remains on Rip Rowan's blog. Yegge said Google's public relations team was very respectful and did not try to censor his assessment, as it was his personal opinion.

He may well be right. Although Google enjoyed a 1,269 percent spike in traffic after opening to the public in late September, traffic has since dropped more than 60 percent, according to Chitika.

Could Google+ indeed be a complete failure? Here's five reasons why I have to agree with Yegge.

1. No one is there

Simply put, Facebook has more than 750 million active users, which is a monopoly compared with Google+ and its estimated 43 million. I can post the cure to cancer, but it would still go under the radar and unnoticed. If the purpose of social media is to be social, and there's no one to be social with, what's the point?

2. Too much buildup

Since Google+ didn't even open to the public until Sept. 20, it built up a hype that the newest social networking site was this amazing, exclusive new way to connect with friends. Everyone was begging to score an invite, to be a part of the elite. Until they found out that Google+ wasn't really that extraordinary.

3. There's nothing to do

Google undoubtedly has made attempts to keep users engaged with new updates and features, like Hangouts. But it looks like Google+ is having difficulty, judging by the numbers. However, if I wanted to video chat with my friends, I'd most likely use Skype. While I must admit I really enjoy the simple interface on Google+ sans a flood of invites to FarmVille and Mafia Wars, I know that many really enjoy the social aspect of online gaming. Google+ still has its fair share of games, but not nearly as many as Facebook.

4. No one has a clue how to use it ... still

Humans typically don't like change. I remember feeling the same way when I switched over from MySpace to Facebook. But Facebook made it easy to understand: There was nothing complicated about clicking "like" or add photo. I'll be honest, I still have no idea what happens after I click "+1."

5. Circles are about as private as the lunch arrangement in "Mean Girls"

Yes, you can actually see what circles people put others in. On each post from Google+ users, there is a denotation of what stream they post, either "limited" or "public." Chances are if you only see "public" posts from a friend, you have been placed in their acquaintances category, leaving you wondering why you weren't good enough to be a friend.

Story by Nadine DeNinno source: http://au.ibtimes.com

Facebook Reigns as Top Global SocNet

A look at the top social networking brands worldwide released by comScore in September 2011 revealed that, perhaps unsurprisingly, Facebook.com ranked as the top social network by a wide margin. In June 2011, 734.2 million people visited Facebook.com globally, an increase of 33% from the previous year.

Meanwhile Twitter.com climbed its way to the #2 position reaching 144.4 million visitors (up 56%), followed by Windows Live Profile at 119.5 million visitors. Professional social network LinkedIn.com reached more than 84 million visitors globally to secure the #4 spot, followed by Chinese site QQ.com Microblogging with 74.8 million visitors.

Worldwide SocNet Audience Passes 1B

Across the globe, social networking continues to grow as new users adopt the activity as a routine part of their online experience. In June 2011, comScore analysis shows 1.1 billion people (age 15 and older accessing from a home or work location) visited a social networking site worldwide, an increase of 22% from June 2010.

Globally, 81.4% of all internet users visit social networking destinations, representing one of the top online activities worldwide. In comparison, close to 1.4 billion people used the internet in June 2011, a 10% jump from June 2010.

Asia-Pacific Leads in SocNet Visitors, Europe in Minutes

Examining regional social network usage trends, comScore finds differences in share of visitors and share of minutes. Asia-Pacific leads in share of visitors (32.5%), followed by Europe (30.1%) and North America (18.1%).

However, Europe takes a 38.1% share of minutes, followed by North America (21.5%). Interestingly, Asia-Pacific’s share of minutes (16.5%) is only roughly half as large as its share of visitors.

Latin American Countries Make Strong Time Showing

Globally, Internet users averaged 5.4 hours on social networking sites during the month of June. A look at the top markets based on the average number of hours spent social networking revealed that half of the top 10 markets were Latin American countries, demonstrating what comScore calls the vast engagement visitors in these markets have with social networks.

Argentina’s online users averaged 10 hours on social networking sites in June to rank third overall, while Chileans averaged 8.7 hours. Colombians ranked seventh with 8.4 hours per visitor in the social networking category, while Venezuelans ranked eighth at eight hours. Visitors in Mexico (7.1 hours) also ranked among the top tier.

Israel ranked first with 11.8 hours, followed by the Russian Federation (10.6 hours). Turkey ranked fourth (9.6 hours), while Philippines ranked sixth (8.4 hours) and Canada ranked ninth (7.2 hours). Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific each had one country in the top 10 time list, while Middle East-Africa had two.

Nielsen: Facebook Dominates US Web Brands in Time

Facebook clearly dominates other top US web brands in average monthly time spent per user, according to data from The Nielsen Company. In July 2011, the average Facebook user spent five hours, 18 minutes and 40 seconds on the site.

In comparison, the brand with the second-highest average time per user in July, AOL Media Network, only averaged two hours, 17 minutes and 46 seconds, less than half Facebook’s total. Yahoo trailed closely behind AOL with a monthly average of two hours, 14 minutes and 25 seconds. There was then another gap of almost 40 minutes between Yahoo and YouTube, which average one hour, 39 minutes and two seconds per user.

Porn Sites Holding Australian Domains Hostage

Websites all over the world are being told to pay a US company for the rights to their own .xxx domain name or risk having their trademarked names associated with pornography sites.

Australian web companies have until October 28 to pay US business ICM Registry for the rights to their own .xxx domain name.

If they do not pay for the domain themselves within that time, porn sites and other buyers will be able to snap up addresses like facebook.xxx or google.xxx.

ICM Registry stands to make up to $400 million from Australian websites alone, with two million businesses operating online, according to the ABS.

Web addresses with the .xxx domain are now available for US$199 ($191).

More than 4000 celebrity names have already been blocked from use in what has been dubbed the "online red light district".

Celebrity names blocked by ICM Registry include Barack Obama, Beyonce, Angelina Jolie and Margaret Thatcher.

Source: www.ninemsn.com.au

Older Facebook Users Click More, Like Less

While propensity to click-through on Facebook is positively correlated with age, propensity to like is not, according to data released in August 2011 by Facebook marketing consulting firm SocialCode. Age has a strong positive effect on whether a user will click, but has a less pronounced opposite effect on the likelihood of them becoming a fan of a page.

Fifty-plus-year-old users, the oldest segment in the study, are 28.2% more likely to click through and 9% less likely to like than 18-29-year-old users, the youngest group observed. Compared to the rest of the younger population, 50-plus users see a 22.6% higher CTR and 8.4% lower like rate.

CTR Rises More Directly than Like Rate Falls

Interestingly, CTR by age rises much more directly than like rate by age falls. CTR rises almost continuously as user age progresses, rise in an almost direct line as users age, with a minimal plateau inside the 30-39-year-old age bracket.

However, the like rate shows some strong fluctuation before plummeting once the user enters the 50-plus bracket. Among 18-to-29-year-olds, the like rate is about 39.5%, and then dips to about 38.5% in the 30-t0-39-year-old demographic.

However, the like rate jumps back to its highest point of slightly more than 39.5% among 40-to-49-year-olds. It then dramatically drops to slightly more than 36% in the 50-plus group of Facebook users.

Women Click More, Men Like More

Overall, women are 11% more likely to click on an ad than men. Like rates, however, are almost even for men and women, with men actually 2.2% more likely to like an ad than women.

In addition, when broken down by age, age has a much more pronounced effect on CTR for women than it does for men, whereas for men there is a stronger effect on like rate than for women.

For women, CTR is 31.2% higher for the 50 plus age group compared to 18-29-year-olds, whereas men only see a 16.2% difference. Compared to all age groups, 50-plus women’s CTR is 22% higher, compared to a 16.4% difference for males.

However, the oldest male segment has an 11.7% higher like rate than the youngest segment, and 9.5% higher like rate than all age groups. Women only see 7.2% and 7.9% differences, respectively.

trendwatching.com: ‘F’ is for F-Factor

Consumers are tapping into their networks of friends, fans, and followers to discover, discuss and purchase goods and services in ever-more sophisticated ways, according to an August 2011 advisory from consumer trends firm trendwatching.com. As a result, trendwatching.com advises it’s never been more important for brands to make sure they too have what it calls the “F-Factor,” with “F” standing for friends, fans and followers.

trendwatching.com identifies five key ways the F-Factor influences consumer behavior:

1. F-Discovery: How consumers discover new products and services by relying on their social networks.
2. F-Rated: How consumers will increasingly (and automatically) receive targeted ratings, recommendations and reviews from their social networks.
3. F-Feedback: New ways in which consumers can ask their friends and followers to improve and validate their buying decisions.
4. F-Together: How shopping is becoming increasingly social, even when consumers and their peers are not physically together.
5. F-Me: How consumers’ social networks are literally being turned into products and services.

Facebook launches free SMS alternative

Facebook is attempting to play a strong card against telcos with the release of a new instant messaging app that will also send free SMS.

The world's largest social media company released Facebook Messenger for iPhone and Android phones earlier this week in the US, with Australia to soon follow.

The application allows for instant free messages between friends and groups with several options for when you are notified.

But Telstra said it doesn't expect a move away from SMS despite the availability of free alternatives.

"Telstra has seen continued SMS growth in the face of mobile social networking" said a spokeswoman speaking to News.

The app will also be in competition with Blackberry's instant messaging service, which sends encrypted messages, preventing them from being read by any one other than the sending and receiver.

Blackberry's maker, Research in Motion went under the microscope recently when it was found that rioters in the UK were using the service to coordinate acts of violence and destruction.

A similar card will also be played by Apple next month when it releases its iMessenger app with the iOS 5 software update.

It will provide iPhone and iPad users the ability to exchange SMS style messages without using a mobile carrier.

‘Super Greenies’ are Heavy Online Users

“Super Greenies” (adults who engage in 10 or more environmentally friendly activities on a regular basis) tend to use the internet more heavily than average adults, according to [pdf] an August 2011 study from Scarborough Research. For example, data from “All About the Super Greenies” indicates 51% of Super Greenies have visited Facebook in the past 30 days, making them 36% more likely than average adults to use Facebook.

The social networks where Super Greenies overindex the most, however, are LinkedIn and Twitter. Thirteen percent of Super Greenies have visited LinkedIn in the past 30 days, making them 179% more likely than average to have done so. And while only 9% have visited Twitter in the past 30 days, this is still almost double (96%) the average rate.

Super Greenies Consume Online Media

Super Greenies are avid consumers of online media beyond social networks. Forty-two percent have visited a newspaper website in the past 30 days, 61% more than average. And 38% have visited a broadcast TV website in the past 30 days, 38% more than average.

As with social networks, Super Greenies’ highest levels of overindexing on media sites is actually highest where their overall usage is lowest. Only 12% have visited Hulu in the past 30 days, roughly double (99% more) the average rate. And the 19% who have visited a radio station site in the past 30 days is 48% higher than average, second only to newspaper site usage for overindexing.

Super Greenies Stay Local Online

Super Greenies also consume local online content at rates higher than the overall population. Sixty-nine percent have checked local weather in the past 30 days, 51% more than the average adult. The most notable local content Super Greenies check online more than the total population is traffic, which 15% of Super Greenies have checked in the past 30 days, 231% higher than the average rate.

Other Findings

• Super Greenies are top spenders in all retail categories measured by Scarborough.
• Super Greenies are 71% more likely than the overall population to own a foreign luxury vehicle.
• Half of Super Greenies have volunteered in the past year, and are 90% more likely than the average adult to have done so.
• 42% of Super Greenies have visited an art museum in the past year, making them 220% more likely than the total population to have done so.

4 in 10 Use Facebook for Social Sign-in

Facebook Social Sign In

About four in 10 (39%) users of the Janrain Engage social connection service used Facebook for social sign-in (SSI) during Q2 2011, according to data from Janrain. This was 30% more than the 30% of users who used number two SSI site Google.

Yahoo (12%) and Twitter (8%) remain well behind in third and fourth place, respectively. SSI allows users to sign into a restricted access site using existing sign-in data, rather than having to create a new account.

Facebook Ascends Since Mid-2010

Tracking quarterly SSI preferences since Q4 2009, Janrain finds Facebook, after losing popularity between Q4 2009 and Q1 2010, began a dramatic ascent in SSI usage during Q2 2010, hitting 30% in Q4 2010. In Q1 2011, previous number one Google sharply lost close to 10 percentage points of SSI usage as Facebook surged past it to claim the number one spot.

The other most interesting SSI trends in the past seven quarters have been slight but steady growth in Twitter use and a dramatic drop in use of combined “Other” social networks for SSI.

Facebook Jumps in Mobile SSI

There has been significant jump in the popularity of Facebook for social login on mobile apps in the last quarter, moving 60% from 35% in Q1 to 56% in Q2. Facebook’s growth in this segment came mostly at the expense of Google, which dropped 7%, and Twitter, which dropped 6%. Yahoo’s share dropped slightly, but it remained ahead of Twitter.

Google Passes Yahoo for Media Site SSI

On media and digital publisher sites, Facebook is the most popular choice. Yahoo’s share has declined 6% during the past year and half, but its popularity as a sign-in provider is still more pronounced in this space than in any other vertical. However, for the first time, Google has eclipsed Yahoo as the second-most- popular choice.

Other Findings

• After a consistent quarterly growth rate of 5% since Q1 2010, Facebook’s share of social sign-ins on retail sites has stabilized at a shade under 50%.
• On entertainment and gaming sites, Facebook’s leading share has declined a bit, with Google showing substantial growth and Windows Live having its best performance in any vertical with SSI share of almost 15%.
• In Europe, Facebook remains atop the list at 43%, with Google maintaining its position as the second most popular option.
• Facebook and Twitter are the leading destinations for socially shared content. 59% of users choose to share to their friends on Facebook, and 33% choose to share with their followers on Twitter.

ROI Research: Facebook Users Like Entertainment

Looking at the different kinds of companies/products Facebook users are fans of, an April 2011 study from ROI Research and Performics finds the highest percentage (46%) are fans of entertainment-related products. This category is followed by food (41%), restaurants (40%) and apparel (35%).

Service providers tend to be among the least popular categories, including categories such as educational institutions (22%), telecommunications (19%), and financial service companies (15%).

'FaceGlat', Jewish answer to Facebook

A new social networking site for ultra-Orthodox Jews takes customary segregation of the sexes online and also bars pictures or ads deemed immodest in ultra-Orthodox society.

Go to www.faceglat.com and the home page has signs in Hebrew and English directing men to click on to the right of the page and women to the left.

Sign up and you will see a page identical to those on Facebook, but here photos posted on a man's wall may only be of other men; likewise for the women's side.

The virtual divide mirrors the practice at Orthodox Jewish synagogues, weddings and other events where the sexes are physically separated. On certain public bus lines running through ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods, women must stand at the back, to the outrage of feminists.

Israeli news website Ynet says FaceGlat -- Glatt is a term used in kosher food certification -- was founded by Yaakov Suissa from the Habad hassidic movement.

'It's not an alternative for Facebook, but something intended for a particular public,' Ynet quoted him as saying.

'I believe that it would be much more convenient for a haredi (ultra-Orthodox) man or woman to publish pictures and all kinds of other things to people of the same sex only.

'People who are God-fearing and care about their children's education cannot tolerate the ads and pictures one sees on the regular Facebook,' he said.

Men who sign in to FaceGlat as men cannot visit or post on the women's wall and vice versa, although at the moment there seems to be nothing preventing a member of either sex signing up under a false name and details.

Ynet says that plans for the site's future include modifications to prevent gender impersonation.

NBN to cost at least $60 a month

Households will pay at least $60 - and up to $190 - a month for internet services on the National Broadband Network, data from an internet provider shows.

The first retail pricing for services over the $36 billion NBN were released by internet provider Internode on Thursday.

Packages start at $59.95 a month for a basic 12-megabit-per-second (Mbps) service with a 30-gigabyte quota for downloads and uploads, The Australian newspaper reported on Friday.

At the top end, Internode said it would charge $189.95 a month for a 100Mbps service with a 1000GB download quota.

Internode blamed the high prices on 'existing flaws in the NBN Co wholesale charging model' and warned that regional customers could have to pay more to connect to the network.

Telstra, the commonwealth and the builder NBN Co signed definitive agreements for the rollout of the $35.9 billion scheme in June.

NBN Co plans to provide a fibre-optic cable network to 93 per cent of the population while the remaining seven per cent will have either fixed wireless or satellite broadband over the next decade.

Twitter users send 200mn tweets a day

Twitter users are sending 200 million tweets a day, up from 65 million a year ago, the micro-blogging service says.

'For context on the speed of Twitter's growth, in January of 2009, users sent two million tweets a day,' Twitter said in a blog post on Thursday.

The San Francisco-based Twitter was founded in 2006. It has more than 200 million users.

According to a recent study by the Pew Research Center, 13 per cent of the online US adults aged 18 and older use Twitter, up from eight per cent in November 2010.