According to research from Webvisible and Nielsen, reported by Marketing Charts, though 63% of consumers and small business owners turn to the internet first for information about local companies and 82% use search engines to do so, only 44% of small businesses have a website and half spend less than 10% of their marketing budget online. The research finds an accelerating trend toward online media for local search. However, the report says the study uncovers a significant disconnect between the way small business owners act as consumers vs. the way they market their businesses online.

According to the e-tailing group's 11th Annual Mystery Shopping Survey, leading merchants are optimizing merchandising to get sales. Merchants limited-time-only promotions jumped to 42% penetration in 2008 from 18% in 2007. Gift with Purchase showed a measurable decrease perhaps as it is less economical than the other tactics benchmarked. Online Outlets Clearance saw a 14 percent increase in penetration year-over-year, with 86 percent of merchants now deploying this tactic.

According to surveys through 2008 by the Pew Internet and American Life Project, larger percentages of older generations are online now than in the past, and they are doing more activities online. Generation X (not Y) is the most likely group to bank, shop, and look for health information online. Boomers are just as likely as Generation Y to make travel reservations online. And even Silent Generation internet users are competitive when it comes to email.

Common Sense Media recently released a study on the content of ads shown during NFL broadcasts. The report, Broadcast Dysfunction: Sex, Violence, Alcohol and the NFL, reviewed nearly 60 games, more than 180 hours of coverage, watched nearly 6,000 commercials and concluded that "it was impossible to watch a single game without coming up against sex, violence, or Viagra."

Here's an Online wrap of Super Bowls past and present to conclude the Research Brief''s highlights of the "Bowl" phenomenon. The downstream links offer as much detail as a reader would want to pursue. Dean DeBiase, CEO of TNS Media, notes that "... The Super Bowl... demonstrates the impact that truly integrated advertising initiatives can have... marketers work to ensure synergies between... traditional, online and in-store promotional activities, but not to the extent seen in the Super Bowl... the results... should serve as a catalyst to encourage deeper integration across all media platforms year round."

Nielsen Online reports a 16 percent year-over-year increase in unique visitors to the top 10 newspaper Web sites, growing from 34.6 million unique visitors in December 2007 to 40.1 million in December 2008. The number one online newspaper destination in December 2008, with 18.2 million unique visitors, was the NYTimes.com.. USATODAY.com and washingtonpost.com took the No. 2 and No. 3 spots.

According to the 2008 Personalization Survey from ChoiceStream, 39% of consumers overall are more likely to click on an ad if it is personalized, while that number rises to 58% among those who shop online at least several times a month. The survey finds that the bigger the spender, the greater the interest in personalized ads. Half of those spending more than $250 online over the past six months indicate that they are more willing to click on ads that are personalized. This compares with only 32% of the smallest spenders.

comScore, Inc., in a study of Americans' usage of the job search category, the fastest growing content site category in 2008, found that the category has seen the number of visitors grow 51% to 18.8 million visitors, as millions of Americans find themselves seeking new job opportunities. The final months of the year were some of the most heavily trafficked months of 2008.

According to a new study by the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council, with Satmetrix, 58% of the 480 executives surveyed said their companies do not compensate any employees or executives based on customer loyalty, satisfaction improvements or analytics. 38% said their companies have no programs in place to track or propagate positive word of mouth among customers, and only 29% said their companies rate highly in their ability to handle and resolve customer problems or complaints.

A new study by Bendick and Egan Economic Consultants, released in January, 2009 by the NAACP and Mehri & Skalet, reports data on African-American professionals in the advertising industry in pay, hiring, promotions, assignments, and other areas of employment. The study says that Black college graduates working in advertising earn $.80 for every dollar earned by their White counterparts, and Black managers and professionals are only one-tenth as likely as their White counterparts to earn $100,000 a year.