A deep look at automotive destinations on the Web, including demographics, advertisers, ad types and technology.

A national phone survey of adults over the age of 18 by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, found that more than 22 million American adults own iPods or MP3 players. 29% of them have downloaded podcasts from the Web so that they could listen to audio files at a time of their choosing.

According to the Fathom Online Keyword Price Index, the prices that advertisers paid to buy search engine keywords increased on average 11 percent from April 1-30. The data indicates that online auction of keywords is attracting more advertisers who are learning how to maximize their ROIs by taking advantage of seasonal opportunities when consumers come online with a strong intent to buy.

According to preliminary figures released by Nielsen Monitor-Plus, advertising spending for the year's first quarter rose 2.4% over the same period last year. The gains were reported across major media, led by Spanish-language TV, which was up 19%, followed by cable, which saw a 12.4% gain.

According to information from BIGresearch's newest Simultaneous Media Survey, when it comes to new media the 18-24 year old age group has cornered the market and complicated most marketing models advertisers use today. When marketers wonder what happened to 18-24 year olds usage of traditional media like TV, the answer is they are early adopters of new media. New media includes internet, picture phones, instant messaging, blogging, cell phones, MP3 players, satellite radio, text messaging, TiVo/Replay and TV and web radio.

According to the latest Nielsen//NetRatings Quarterly Travel Benchmarking Survey, 54 percent of online travel shoppers begin travel research with an online travel agency, but then are evenly split between travel agencies and airline suppliers' Web sites when it comes to the actual purchase of online travel. In comparison, 37 percent of online travel shoppers begin research at a travel supplier Web site, and 9 percent begin with a travel meta-search provider.

A new study of media use by members of various ethnic groups in the US, reported recently by eMarketer, finds heavy usage of targeted Web sites, and surprisingly low Internet usage by some groups, Hispanics in particular. The study, by Bendixen & Associates and sponsored by New California Media, found that 45% of all African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American and Arab American adults said they prefer ethnic television, radio and newspapers over mainstream media.

According to Hitwise, consumer Internet searches for the terms "real estate bubble" and "housing bubble" reached a 12-month high the week ending May 28, 2005. The market share of these terms across all major search engines like Google, Yahoo! Search, MSN Search and others, skyrocketed 311 percent and 174 percent respectively versus the prior week.

The latest Simultaneous Media Survey from BIGresearch details a new hurdle for advertisers, multitasking, the engagement in other non-media activities while consuming media, and the numbers are large. According to Joe Pilotta, VP of Research, BIGresearch, "The complexities of everyday life seem to be increasing, and as a result consumers are multitasking as a way of coping."

Nielsen//NetRatings, focusing exclusively on Internet users who consume newspapers and excluded online users who obtain their news from other online news and information sources, reports that a significant 21 percent of Web users who read newspapers, have transferred their readership primarily to the online version.