A Proflowers.com survey found that 72.2 percent of respondents said they'd like some element of surprise on their birthday. 43.5 percent actually want the surprise party they may say they don't want. Cash came in a close second, with 40.2 percent of the vote, and 33.8 percent want the dream vacation getaway.

A news flash release from the Director of Communications, World Association of Newspapers, says that strong evidence exists that the newspaper industry is on the rebound world-wide. The report notes that it is the circulation and advertising trend information that provide the best evidence of the newspaper industry rebound. Headlines from around the world are offered to support the WAN conclusion

A Drill-Down on Videos, Movies & Theater Sites, Demographics, Ad Types, Delivery and Technology

A new Harris Poll finds that half of the adults in the United States believe that participation in the Olympics should still be limited to amateurs, as it has been for most of the history of the modern Olympics. This survey also finds that most people favor some U.S. government funding for the training of American athletes, that the loss of medals and suspensions are the best ways to fight the use of performance-enhancing drugs, and that the U.S. Olympic Committee should provide funding for all American Olympic athletes, not only to potential medal winners.

Though collected over a 20 year period, radio research has made some important discoveries relating to effective radio ads. An early RAEL White Paper summarized a large set of published research which estimated that, on average, radio commercials generate about 80 percent of the recall of a single TV ad. A more recent White Paper found how important it is to invest more time and effort in the quality of radio advertising creative. It turns out that there's more variation around the historical average for radio than for other tested media.

This coming Labor Day Holiday, makers of barbecue charcoal might target their online advertising to Web sites that cater to NASCAR and pro wrestling fans, according to the latest findings from Homescan Online, a consumer research service from Nielsen//NetRatings and ACNielsen.

According to an online survey of 300 junior and senior high school students conducted online by InsightExpress, students looking for new electronics say they're the ones in control of the consumer electronics budget and brand buying decisions. Lee Smith, president and COO of InsightExpress, says "Students are more educated not only in terms of what devices they want to own, but also which brands. Teenagers hold a tremendous amount of influence when it comes to the devices they select, and savvy manufacturers will recognize the opportunity this audience represents."

The July MONEY/ICR poll, reported by Money, has found that among registered voters in the United States, John Kerry and President Bush are in a dead heat at 43% each as of July 25th. On most important issues, though:

According to the Radio Advertising Bureau, and reported by Miller Kaplan Arase & Co., radio revenue climbed in June posting a gain of 3% in combined total local and national ad sales compared to June of last year. Local revenue continued to lead, increasing 5% over June of 2003, while the national sector continued to lag, dropping 3% compared to last June.

Doug Knopper, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Ad Management, said "The DoubleClick second quarter ad serving data confirms the idea that online advertising... has both direct and in-direct response potential. As advertisers... take greater advantage of advanced targeting or high-impact rich media, we should only see even stronger performance from the medium."