According to a recent eMarketer revised forecast of Internet ad spending, US spending on online advertisements will increase nearly 11% to $25.1 billion, up from $22.7 billion. eMarketer's previous prediction in December 2009 was for 5.5% growth. A stronger-than-expected search and banner market, along with the rush among advertisers for greater accountability in the still-soft economy, led to the revision.

According to the latest Retrevo Gadgetology study asking social media users such as when, where, and how much time they spend on sites and services like FaceBook and Twitter, many people appear to be obsessed with checking in with their social media circles throughout the day and even the night. Not only do social media fanatics check Facebook and Twitter throughout the day, almost half of the respondents said they check in on the social media scene in bed, during the night or as soon as they wake up in the morning. Younger social media users said they tweet by …

Following the metrics of mother's day, this Pew Research Center report sheds light on the demographics of today's motherhood by comparing women who gave birth in 2008 with those who gave birth in 1990, based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau. The report is authored by Gretchen Livingston and D'Vera Cohn. Mothers of newborns are older now than their counterparts were two decades ago. In 1990, teens had a higher share of all births (13%) than did women ages 35 and older (9%). In 2008, 10% of births were to teens, compared with …

According to the recent results of a comScore study on brand loyalty among consumer goods products, showing a significant decline in consumers' allegiance to their favorite brands during the past two years, the percentage of shoppers who typically buy the brands they want most has steadily declined across the categories examined. In March 2010, less than 50% of shoppers reported purchasing the brand they want most.

According to the McKinsey sixth annual survey asking executives about the forces shaping the world economy, there is little change in how respondents view the importance of global trends compared with previous years, either for business in general or for their own companies' profits. The online survey, in the field in March 2010, generated responses from 1,416 executives around the world, representing the full range of industries, regions, functional specialties, and seniority. An ongoing shift in global economic activity from developed to developing economies, accompanied by growth in the number of consumers in emerging markets, are the global developments that …

According to Internet Retailer's recent search engine marketing survey of 102 web-only retailers, chain retailers, catalogers and consumer brand manufacturers, 28.0% of merchants report more than 25% of their site traffic stems from paid search advertisements, while 51.5% say more than a quarter of their traffic comes from natural search. Search engine marketing is one of Internet retailing's fundamentals, says the report. Web merchants keep pouring money into advertising on search results pages and on search engine optimization projects to move up in natural search results.

According to an analysis of the BIGresearch® Simultaneous Media Usage Survey, the message is loud and clear to marketers serving, the U.S. Hispanic community: "one-size-fits-all marketing won't work." The study finds that there are key similarities and differences every marketer should know about Hispanic groups in America including those households that speak English a majority of the time and those who don't, as well as Hispanics who were born in the U.S. and those who were not. ??

A Vocus "Snapshot of Integrated Communications" summary from March 10, 2010 to March 31, 2010, surveyed 966 public relations professionals about their perceptions of integrated communications. Survey participants were provided the following definition: In the context of this survey, the term "integrated communications" means a management concept that ties all aspects of marketing communication, including, but not limited to advertising, search marketing, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing, together to function in a unified an comprehensive fashion as opposed to functioning in isolation or silos."

According to a Nielsen study among 21 European and North American countries, reported by Todd Hale, Senior Vice President, Consumer & Shopper Insights, heavy store brand buyers are good for sales overall, leading the charge on unit growth, unit spending and trip frequency criteria. Store brands have won favor among younger households, boding well for long-term store brand prospects. Prompted by belt-tightening as consumers respond to the long-tailed economic downturn, store brand offerings posted value or currency share gains in two-thirds of the 21 countries Nielsen studied, picking up an average of 1.3 share points during 2009.

According to a new report, "Connected Marketing for Travel Providers," from StrongMail and the Relevancy Group, based on the study of travel and hospitality email marketers in April 2010 by the Relevancy Group, the top three email marketing initiatives for the travel industry in 2010 are increasing email deliverability rates (38%), integrating email and social media (37%) and improving the segmentation/targeting of their programs (35%). The travel industry continues to be plagued with list churn, says the report, which has been amplified by people losing their jobs during the recession and opting for "stay-cations" instead of traditional vacations to …