In the last few days at the @d:Tech show in New York, most of the presenters touched on the fact that the web's penetration continues to grow. No one really backed up that statement with any quantifiable proof, so I thought I'd find some for you. As luck would have it, Nielsen//NetRatings has just released its Third Quarter 2001 Global Internet Trends report on Internet access and penetration, finding a total of 474 million people now have Internet access from home. The Q3 results show an increase over Q2 of 14.8 million people with home-based Internet access. …

Well, the biggest show of the season has come to an end. Here's the final roundup. In my humble opinion, the content was strictly average save a few stellar presentations, the exhibit floor was lively and fully reflective of the industry's renewed faith in itself, and all the attendees I spoke with were generally satisfied with the experience. That, of course, doesn't sound like a typical @d:Tech show of years past - compared to the usual glitz and glamour, this one was very sedate. However, we have to remember that we're in the middle of a serious recession and …

The second day has come to an end and, as promised, here are some highlights. Good news -- the exhibit floor finally opened today and it's a sight to see. It is really nice to see that there are hundreds of exhibitors at this conference unlike the several conferences of months past when all of them could have fit into 3 parking spaces. Another encouraging sign is that there are several new companies in attendance - it shows not only that they are obviously fearless to launch at a time like this, but also that the entrepreneurial spirit …

Well, the first day of @d:Tech New York has come to an end and I thought I'd give you a roundup of the day's highlights as I've done in the past. So far, unfortunately, there's not much to report. The day began with a keynote speaker who basically told the audience nothing of major importance, screamed at an audience member, and inspired several online media buyers I spoke with afterwards to seriously reconsider their plans to buy ads on his portal. What should have been scheduled as the opening keynote was Geoffrey Ramsey's presentation that followed on the …

Two leading industry forecasters said today that they expect an upturn in advertising spending by the fourth quarter of next year. At the UBS Warburg media conference in New York, London-based Zenith Optimedia said it had shaved back its forecasts, reducing an expected 2002 decline to 1.3%, but had not made major changes to its outlook. "After three big downgrades in a year, our forecasts have stopped growing gloomier. We expect at least the beginnings of advertising recovery in 2002," Zenith said in its annual report. Zenith is forecasting an 8.7% slide in U.S. spending in real …

A recent study from a relatively unknown research firm Cyveillance seems to have made huge waves in the online advertising media in the last two days. Yesterday, the company announced the results of a study that put pop-ups on the defensive... again. Brian Murray, senior director of client services at Cyveillance said that more than 25% of top destination sites are now using tactics in an apparent attempt to divert and capture shoppers. And, he said, "there is undoubtedly a growing level of consumer frustration online that poses a threat to global brands." Cyveillance found that …

Some say DoubleClick's future is uncertain, but it sure doesn't look that way from the iTV side of things. DoubleClick and Liberate Technologies, the provider of open software platforms for enhanced television, today announced that the companies intend to collaborate on the delivery of advertising to interactive television. The two companies say this effort will enable advertisers and network operators to deliver highly targeted ads for interactive TV using the standards-based Liberate TV Platform software for the delivery of enhanced television. The two companies have completed the initial stage of the collaboration by integrating DoubleClick's AdServer with …

Here's a hint to what will inspire people to respond to your offers this holiday season. Although bargains abound, nearly three quarters of Americans (71%) who responded to a recent survey of 6,612 people by Deloitte & Touche and BIGresearch say they are not spending additional money because of discounts offered by retailers. "Holiday shoppers are definitely looking for deals this year, but discounts aren't necessarily inspiring them to spend more," said Tara Weiner, managing director of Deloitte & Touche's Consumer Business Practice. "Promotional marketing is causing consumers to shop around. As a result, department and specialty stores have …

America is not the only country in the world that's working to improve online advertising. It is, after all, a world wide web and once in a while it may pay to look to our colleagues overseas for some moral support. The Incorporated Society of British Advertisers and the Advertising Research Consortium today unveiled a study of how major UK advertisers are using new media in their marketing communications. And, according to report author Jonathan Lace, "Despite the burst of the internet bubble the situation amongst leading advertisers appears robust. Spending on website development, e-commerce and Internet …

To start the week off with some good news, Nielsen//NetRatings released a report which showed that overall Internet usage rebounded in October from a drop in September. According to NetRatings, the active Internet universe grew a healthy 3.6% in October, which when combined with a similarly robust increase in Internet sessions and page views, signals a return to wider use of the Internet as people broaden their activities from the targeted news gathering of last month. But that’s not all. It looks like advertisers have to pay more attention to the time of day their ads are running. The …