In the introduction of a recently released study by the Annenberg Public Policy Center, the authors noted that (government) issue ads are abundant, growing in prominence, and central to important questions about the nature of democracy and the relationships among money, speech, and political influence. Legislative issue ads (also called "pure issue ads") are advertisements directed at the public, legislators, or agencies in hope of swaying opinions on matters of policy, law, or regulation.

New evidence from the 2003 American Interactive Consumer Survey conducted by the Dieringer Research Group shows that the multi-channel hyper-shopping phenomenon is real and growing dramatically. Hyper-shoppers are defined as consumers who spend at least $500 directly online as well as offline after first seeking online information. More than 103 million Americans searched the Internet for product and service information in the 12 months prior to the survey. Of these, nearly three out of four used search engines to find products.

A recent BIGresearch bi-annual SIMM Survey of more than 12,000 respondents shows that nearly 40 percent said newspapers were "very important" or "important" when it came to influencing their purchasing decisions. More than half of those surveyed who consider newspapers highly influential in their buying decisions say advertisements for big sales prompt them to shop.

As the largest category of consumer spending on the Web, online travel is clearly an Internet success story. Consumers spent $9.1 billion on travel in the first quarter of 2003, representing growth of 31 percent versus Q1 2002. This growth rate significantly outpaced non-travel spending, which increased 17 percent versus Q1 2002 to $11.8 billion.

According to new research by the Institute for Adolescent Risk Communication of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania, over half of 14-18 year old boys (54 percent) report that they have gambled for money. Only 16 percent of adolescent females report having ever gambled.

A special report from Nielsen//Net ratings on the overnight crunch on the new government Donotcall site, and an update on mid-June traffic on news, information and special occasion sites. Donotcall.gov recorded one of the fastest increases ever for a Web site, jumping nearly 26,000 percent to more than 3.4 million unique visitors at work on June 27, according Nielsen//NetRatings. Launched on Friday, June 27, the site allows consumers to register their telephone numbers in a national database to help limit telemarketing solicitations.

According to the mid-year forecast by TNS Media Intelligence/CMR, advertising spending is expected to rise 4.3 percent to $124.7 billion this year. "The first quarter for this year came in very strong at 4.9% with spending totaling $28.4 billion - this robust spending is likely a precursor for the rest of the year," said Steven Fredericks, president and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.

A new survey finds that baby boomers are more inclined to relocate when they retire than they were just a few years ago, contradicting a belief that most would prefer to stay put, writes Steve Kerch for CBS.MarketWatch.com. The study by Del Webb, the adult-community homebuilder, of more than 1,300 boomers aged 44 to 56 found that 59 percent plan to relocate for retirement. In a 1999 Del Webb survey only 31 percent of those age 48 to 52 said they planned to move for retirement.

According to a study by media research firm Borrell Associates, reported by Daisy Whitney in tvweek.com, online advertising has become a catalyst for TV stations to generate new broadcast dollars. "TV stations as a whole generated about $72 million in online advertising revenue in 2002, about 4 percent of the total $1.65 billion pie spent in local Internet advertising, said Gordon Borrell, president of Borrell Associates. "About one-quarter of the 157 stations surveyed were using their Internet sites specifically to lure new-to-TV advertisers, such as real estate and employment recruiting."

A study by BIGresearch provides insight into strategic media buying based on significant findings of simultaneous media users. The report concludes that the growth of simultaneous media usage should have direct impact on the allocation of advertiser media dollars, since (a) one message becomes background or (b) both messages pass one through the other.