According to a new study by American City Business Journals illustrating, SMB (small and mid-sized business) owners are using the Internet to improve their businesses. 1762 owners, CEOs and presidents of businesses with five to 499 employees identified five distinct segments for different business purposes. Godfrey Phillips, Vice President for Research at ACBJ, explains that "... the five segments are Transactors, Investors, Interactors, Commentators and Viewers... Interactors, Investors and Transactors are the segments providing the greatest opportunity for companies pursuing the strengths of the Internet."

According to The Cinema Advertising Council (CAC), total cinema advertising industry revenues of CAC members, accounting for more than 82% of 38,794 U.S. movie screens, grew by nearly 2% to $584,067,000 in 2009, as compared to a total of $571,421,000 in 2008, despite a year that saw spending in other traditional media decrease significantly.

According to MAGNAGLOBAL, a division of IPG's Mediabrands, global online advertising will rise by 12.4% in constant currency terms during 2010, to $61.0 billion dollars globally. Accounting for actual and expected changes in currencies over the course of 2009 and 2010, online advertising will grow during 2010 by 13.0% in US Dollar terms or by 21.1% in Euros.

According to a recent report from ROI Research Inc., sponsored by Performics, "S-Net The Impact of Social Media," social media permeates consumers' lives and affects communication, shopping and other activities, driving changes in consumer behavior online. The study of 3,000 U.S. social network users delved deeper into how social sites affect family and friend relationships and consumer attitudes towards brands and products.

According to a new study by ExactTarget, based on more than 1,500 consumer interviews, 58% of U.S. online consumers begin their day interacting with companies on Email, compared to 20% who start their day on search engines and 11% on Facebook. Consumers' early morning online preferences reflect key differences in their motivations for interacting with companies across email and social media, observes the report.

According to the NRF 2010 Father's Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, the average person will spend $94.32 on dear ol' dad this year, up from $90.89 last year. Total Father's Day spending is expected to reach $9.8 billion. Shiny new toys for dad will be one of the biggest hits this year, along with special outings, gift certificates and clothing.

According to a recent comScore Video Metrix service, 178 million U.S. Internet users watched online video during the month, and topped 30.3 billion videos in April, with Google Sites ranking as the top video property with 13.1 billion videos, representing 43.2 percent of all videos viewed online. YouTube accounted for the vast majority of videos viewed at the property. Hulu ranked second with 958 million videos, followed by Microsoft Sites, Viacom Digital, and Yahoo! Sites.

According to a new STRATA quarterly survey of advertising firms, which shows that while more dollars are moving to digital advertising, TV remained the top advertising choice in the first quarter of 2010, with 41.8% of ad agencies saying their corporate clients are more focused on TV than any other medium, but he number was down 27% from a year ago. Internet/digital advertising continues to increase with 68% reporting that their customers are more focused on digital than they were a year ago.

According to a recent study by digital marketing firm White Horse, only 18% of B2B companies say they have no current social media activity, compared to 14% for B2C. The degree of engagement varied widely, says the report. Nearly half of B2B marketers have only a basic social media presence, e.g., a Twitter and Facebook account, or a company blog, and only one-third are engaged in social media day-to-day.

According to a new survey of consumer retail spending and trends from Deloitte, 55% of consumers think the economy has started to recover from the recession, and 64% indicate their household financial situation is the same or better compared with a year ago. In addition, 63% of respondents said they are planning to spend the same or more at retailers this year than they did in 2009.