Hitwise, a provider of online competitive intelligence services, reports that their demographics data in the Health & Medical- Health Insurance category shows that almost 50% of visits to health insurance websites are from households with an income of $75K+, while nine of the top 10 health insurance websites have witnessed decreases in market share of visits during 2003.

According to Arbitron Internet Broadcast Ratings, the Adsertion Network was ranked as the top Internet Radio Advertising Sales Network with 698,556 hours of Total Time Spent Listening (TTSL) for the week of January 5.

According to SFN Flash, a new monthly update of World Press Trends published by the World Association of Newspapers, newspaper executives in the US are attempting to build on their products aimed at young adults and other demographic groups, prompting one trade magazine to call 2004 "The Year of the Niche."

"The Web has made it easier for millions of Americans to file their own taxes," said Greg Bloom, senior analyst, Nielsen//NetRatings. "Offering step-by-step instructions, automated calculations and often quicker returns, filing online is an attractive option for the often daunting task of filing taxes."

Jack Morton Worldwide, describing experiential marketing, quotes from publications to make the point. Prefacing these excerpts, he notes that experiential marketing - inspiring audiences with 360-degree experiences that engage hearts, minds and senses - isn't a trend. It's a 21st-century marketing imperative.

Big-ticket high-tech items and discount shopping topped consumers' 'hot' lists along with low-carbohydrate diets heading into 2004, according to the latest study by BIGresearch. Shopping at discount stores was seen as 'hot' by 80 percent of respondents, while 67 percent said so about shopping at dollar stores. Of 9,500 consumers polled, 84 percent said they considered plasma televisions 'hot' in 2004, while 80 percent said the same about picture cell phones.

Chris Charron of Forrester Research reports that an advertising backlash is upon us. - Sixty million US households have signed up for the Do Not Call Registry. - Fifty-four of online households have spam blockers; - 20% have ad blockers. - Personal video recorder households skip 59% of ads. - Multitasking, especially among younger consumers, is sapping consumer attention away from advertising.

Entertainment, lifestyles, education and careers take a backseat to computers and electronics online in January.

A recent release by the NAA reports that the sharp employment drop three years ago had a devastating impact on help wanted advertising in newspapers, which suffered a dollar decline of 35 percent in 2001, another fall of 23 percent in 2002 and another estimated 10 percent reduction last year. From a peak level of $8.7 billion in 2000, recruitment advertising plunged more than 50 percent to just under $4 billion last year.

Reveries.com surveyed US marketers about mobile marketing's potential and found that while just 5.5% think that the viability of mobile marketing as a medium today is excellent, while 22.3% say the same for its viability five years from now. Similarly, though 22.7% of marketers think mobile marketing is currently just fairly viable, only 13% rate it as fair five years from now.