More Teens Create, Share Online Content: 'Multichannel Teen' Emerges

Content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64 percent of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation, up from 57 percent of online teens in 2004, according to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, writes MarketingCharts.

Moreover, teens now have available to them a variety of social-communication means, and are using them more — so much so, that a new segment of super-communicators has begun to emerge, Pew said (see "Multichannel Teens" heading, below).

Fueled by new technologies, websites, and social networks such as Facebook and MySpace, large numbers of teens share and create materials online the study found:

• 39 percent of online teens share their own artistic creations online such as artwork, photos stories or videos.
• 33 percent of online teens create or work on webpages or blogs for others, including friends, groups they belong to or school assignments.
• 28 percent of online teens have created their own blog, up from 19 percent in 2004 - almost completely driven by the popularity of blogging among girls.
• 27 percent of online teens maintain their own webpage.
• 26 percent of online teens remix content they find online into their own creations.

Girls continue to dominate most elements of content creation:

• 35 percent of all teen girls blog, compared with 20 percent of online boys.
• 54 percent of wired girls post photos online, compared with 40 percent of online boys.
• Boys, however, do dominate one area - posting of video content online: Online teen boys are nearly twice as likely as online girls (19 percent vs. 10 percent) to have posted a video online somewhere where someone else could see it.

The report, Teens and Social Media, is based on a national phone survey of 935 youth ages 12-17 conducted in November 2006.

The survey found that content creation is not only about sharing creative output but also about participating in conversations fueled by that content:

• Nearly half (47 percent) of online teens have posted photos where others can see them, and 89 percent of those teens who post photos say that people comment on the images at least "some of the time."
• Teens who post videos report a similarly large incidence of feedback, with nearly three quarters (72 percent) of video posters receiving comments on their videos.

However, many teen content creators do not simply plaster their creative endeavors on the web for anyone to view; many limit access to content that they share:

• Some 66 percent of teens with social network profiles restrict access to their profiles in some way.
• 77 percent of teens who upload photos restrict access to them at least "some of the time."
• In contrast, 58 percent of adults who post photos restrict access to them in some way.
• A smaller percentage of teens who upload videos (54 percent) restrict access to them.

Social network sites affect teens' lives in other ways beyond providing space for content creation and feedback. For many teens they are now an integral part of the system of communication that they use to conduct the work of their lives.

Fully 41 percent of the teens who use MySpace, Facebook or other social network sites say they send messages to friends via those sites every day.

New Segment: 'Multichannel Teens'

The Pew Internet report highlights a new segment of "multichannel" teens - super-communicators who have a host of technology options for dealing with family and friends: traditional landline phones, cell phones, texting, social network sites, instant messaging, and email.

They constitute about 28 percent of the entire teen population and are more likely to be older girls. They interact with their friends at levels equal to or greater than other teens; and, as with all teens, email is a last resort.

How multichannel teens connect with friends:

• 70 percent talk daily with friends on a cell phone.
• 60 percent send text messages daily.
• 54 percent instant message.
• 47 percent send messages daily over social network sites.
• 46 percent talk to friends on a landline phone.
• 35 percent spend time with friends in person daily.
• 22 percent send email every day to friends.

In general, cell phones have a significant impact on communication choices among all teens.

Nearly two-thirds (63 percent) of teens now have a cell phone; for teens who have them, they are the premier communication method for talking with friends. Among teens with cell phones, 55 percent say they use them to talk with friends every day.

About the study: The Parents & Teens 2006 Survey sponsored by the Pew Internet & American Life Project obtained telephone interviews with a nationally representative sample of 935 teens age 12 to 17 years old and their parents living in continental United States telephone households.

The survey was conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. The interviews were done in English by Princeton Data Source, LLC, from October 23 to November 19, 2006.

eMarketer's Predictions for 2008

DECEMBER 27, 2007

What will the new year bring?

Ben Macklin, Senior Analyst

Ad Spending
The Beijing Olympics and US presidential election will ensure that advertising spending will spike in 2008 across all sectors. The Olympics marks the "coming out" party of China. As was the case with South Korea in 1988, the games will be an important milestone for China's economic and political development. The competition will be fierce both on and off the sporting field as multinational organizations try to tap into China's growing middle class.

Politics Online
In the recent Australian election, a video appeared on YouTube that showed the prime minister-elect, Kevin Rudd, eating his ear wax. It didn't prevent him from winning the election, but it dogged him throughout the campaign. YouTube and the Internet in general will be an important battleground in the 2008 presidential election campaign in the United States. The influence of online-advocacy groups will continue to grow.

David Hallerman, Senior Analyst

Online Video
Internet video will produce more light than heat. That is, the array of video available online will jump dramatically both from professional content producers, such as TV networks, and from the growing panoply of amateurs. However, the heat of ad-spending dollars will remain small relative to the entire US online ad-spending universe.

Various large online video players, such as Google, Microsoft and the TV networks, will fortify their video offerings by buying small, ad-related companies.

Search Engines
At least one search engine will stop fighting the giant and farm out the bulk of its sponsored-link (a.k.a., paid-ad) results to Google.

A deal between Microsoft, Yahoo! or AOL (pick two of the three) will take place before the third quarter, but Google will still increase its share of ad revenues relative to those portals.

Online Ad Spending
Overall US online ad spending will be surprisingly resilient, even in the potentially recessionary economy. With money tight, marketing executives will continue to gravitate toward the Internet, looking for more measurable ad formats to buttress their positions.

Debra Aho Williamson, Senior Analyst

Social Networking
About 44% of US consumers will use social networking at least once a month. Although MySpace and Facebook will continue to dominate the market, changes are afoot that will extend social networking activities beyond a single destination site and into many other facets of the consumer Internet experience.

Profiles will eventually become portable, meaning consumers need only create one profile and be able to use it in many places on the Web. Small applications or “widgets” that today work with only one social networking destination site will be designed on an open platform, extending their reach. Activities such as online shopping, searching and even sending e-mail will be enhanced with social networking features.

Social networking will remain a key online activity regardless of the individual performance of MySpace or Facebook.

US ad spending on social networks will climb to nearly $1.6 billion in 2008, from $920 million in 2007. Although targeted advertising is getting the lion's share of attention and will continue to be a hot button in 2008, other forms of social network marketing, such as search advertising, widgets and e-commerce, will draw increased marketer interest. Additionally, self-serve advertising systems will create a new market for local and small businesses to promote themselves via social networks.

James Belcher, Senior Writer

Video Games
Old video games will get a second life thanks to software from Double Fusion and other firms that can place ads retroactively into old games, which will then be placed online for free distribution to players.

The same concept will apply to console games distributed online for Xbox and Wii, although other firms such as Microsoft-owned Massive will provide the technology.

Jeffrey Grau, Senior Analyst

Retail E-Commerce
Alternative online payment methods to credit and debit cards, such as PayPal, Google Checkout and Bill Me Later, will gain traction with Web retailers and consumers. Online retailers like these options because they save on processing fees, and research shows that offering several payment options increases conversion rates. Consumers like having more choices and feel more secure about making online transactions.

Multichannel retailers will begin rolling out "buy online, pick up in store" services in larger numbers. This option pairs the convenience of online shopping with the instant gratification of store shopping. Consumers like it because they can avoid shipping fees. A number of big name retailers, including Circuit City, JC Penney and Sears, offer this service.

Recently Wal-Mart announced a variation on that service just in time for the holiday season with its site-to-store option. Consumers who purchase online forego shipping fees by having their items shipped to a local Wal-Mart store for pickup in a few days.

John du Pre Gauntt, Senior Analyst

Mobile
Google will bid aggressively for 700 MHz spectrum in the United States to force mobile operators to partially or fully open their networks to outside innovation. Mobile marketing will have its first significant privacy meltdown. Global smartphone sales will become mainstream instead of occupying a niche.

Mobile marketing will execute its first million-dollar-plus campaign and local mobile search will become a huge battleground among Web giants, mobile operators and local directory publishers.

Karin von Abrams, Senior Analyst

Western Europe
The UK will remain at the top of the European social networking league. But the reach of social networking sites will peak at just over 80% of Britain’s online population for two reasons. First, most UK Internet users who want to share their lives online are already doing so; this leaves young people (kids and “tweens”) as the largest source of growth.

Secondly, there will be rising awareness and concern about the perils of sharing personal information online, as breaches of privacy and security—and the dangers of revealing too much—are publicized.

European consumers waiting for a robust variety of user-friendly, ad-supported content and services delivered to their mobile phones or PDAs will be disappointed. Operators and content owners will improve their offerings, and most mobile owners will be happy to see advertising in exchange for free content, but mobile ad formats will remain rather primitive.

The technology to enable the seamless combination of attractive ads and content, and a convenient direct response from consumers, is still some way off.

UK online ad spending will pass £3 billion ($6.2 billion) and show healthy growth despite financial and political uncertainties in Britain and beyond. This will be the first major wobble in confidence to occur since the UK became a mature wired economy. In fact, the Internet will help Britons cope efficiently with a more challenging marketplace. Web users will spend more time online, exploring options and seeking value for their money. Advertisers that target this committed audience effectively will achieve solid returns on their investments.

E-commerce will also thrive, passing £50 billion ($100 billion) as more consumers avoid the stress of crowded transport systems and city centers to shop from home.

Across Europe, the social and cultural gap will widen between seniors (those 55 and older) who join the online population and those who don’t. Currently, older citizens in Spain and Italy are most likely to opt out of the Internet often because their lives revolve around other activities that are more important to them or because they have no affordable, reliable online access. Seniors who do use the Web will benefit much more from government and local information and services.

Online seniors also constitute an expanding and generally affluent market for certain goods and services, such as travel and financial products. The preferences and spending power of European seniors will emerge more clearly in 2008. Advertisers that identify and develop opportunities for this audience could reap big rewards.

Despite the hefty opposition from the European Union to its intended purchase of DoubleClick, Google will be shopping in Europe for complementary companies. So far, Google’s buys in the region have been largely under the radar (most are mapping and charting companies that can strengthen one of its less controversial offerings, Google Earth).

But it’s logical that Google, now entering the mobile arena, will also aim to take advantage of Europe’s enthusiasm for mobile devices and its wealth of expertise in this area. In 2008, look for Google to be eyeing up—and perhaps pouncing on—local talent.

Paul Verna, Senior Analyst

User-Generated Content
YouTube plays a decisive role in the 2008 US presidential election by, one, airing a user-submitted clip that seals the fate of a leading candidate or, two, setting the tone of the campaign through the site’s series of sponsored debates. Or both.

Online Music
Music labels and marketers step up their experimentations with new and emerging business models as the CD continues to fade into oblivion. Expect to see more ad-supported sites, monthly subscription services, full-track mobile download offerings and use of social networks as music discovery and sales tools.

Labels have no choice but to continue to relax their policies toward digital-rights management, inching the market closer to an unprotected MP3 standard.

Online Movies
US consumer spending on movie downloads doubles as digital services from iTunes, Netflix, Amazon Unbox, Wal-Mart, Movielink/Blockbuster, CinemaNow, Vongo and others start to migrate to the mainstream.

Americans more wired, new-media survey finds

Gail Schiller , Reuters

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - About 38 percent of U.S. consumers are watching TV shows online, 36 percent use their cell phones as entertainment devices and 45 percent are creating online content like Web sites, music, videos and blogs for others, according to a new-media survey from Deloitte & Touche.

The findings of the online survey of 2,081 Americans, conducted October 25-31, were provided to The Hollywood Reporter before their official release next month.

The "State of the Media Democracy" notes that in Deloitte's first edition of the survey just eight months earlier, 24 percent of consumers used their cell phones as entertainment devices, meaning that usage has soared 50 percent.

About 62 percent of "millennials" (consumers 13-to-24-years-old) are using their cell phones as entertainment devices, up from 46 percent in the previous study conducted February 23-March 6, 2007. And among Generation X consumers (25-to-41-year-olds), the number grew to 47 percent from 29 percent in the earlier survey.

About 20 percent of consumers said they are viewing video content on their cell phones daily or almost daily.

The percentage of consumers watching TV online jumped from the 23 percent figure reported in the previous study. Roughly 54 percent of those surveyed said they are making their own entertainment content through editing photos, videos or music, 45 percent said they are producing that content for others to see, and 32 percent said they consider themselves to be "broadcasters" of their own media.

"I think for advertisers one of the conclusions is you don't make decisions to advertise either on television or the Internet when you want to hit all the demographics, but rather you need to have a multiplatform strategy," said Ken August, vice chairman and national sector leader for Deloitte & Touche's media and entertainment practice, which commissioned the study. "It shouldn't be an either or proposition."

Among the study's other findings:

-- 54 percent of consumers said they socialize via social networking sites, chat rooms or message boards, and 45 percent said they maintain a profile on a social networking site.

-- 85 percent of consumers still find TV advertising to have the most impact on their buying habits, but online ads are second best, with 65 percent of consumers saying they have the most impact, beating out magazines at 63 percent.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

Rich media trumps traveler reviews in influencing travel bookings

Dec 31, 07 | 1:57 am

When it comes to making travel purchasing decisions, most American travelers would rather see the options for themselves than simply act on the recommendations of others. In fact, travelers want to view the options in detail via pictures, online maps and video.

"For travel shoppers, seeing really is believing. The fact that travelers find these visual tools to be so influential suggests that online rich media, including content-rich, three-dimensional maps, will be an increasingly important part of the travel-planning process," said Cathy Schetzina, director, research at PhoCusWright. "Traveler review sites that incorporate these visual elements are likely to be more appealing."

The growth of Web 2.0 technologies has garnered a great deal of attention in the past several years and has been accompanied by a parallel phenomenon in travel, known collectively as Travel 2.0. The term Travel 2.0 was first coined by PhoCusWright Inc. in late 2004, and The PhoCusWright Travel 2.0 Consumer Technology Survey is part of the organization's ongoing efforts to trace Travel 2.0's development throughout the travel industry.

The PhoCusWright Travel 2.0 Consumer Technology Survey assesses a range of technologies, including social networks, rich media, blogs, RSS, podcasting, mobile technology, tagging and online maps. The survey's analysis identifies technology adoption rates, overall trends associated with various demographic factors, and patterns of influence during the travel shopping and buying process.

Also among its findings:

• More Americans have used Web 2.0 technologies overall than have used them in the process of shopping for travel.

• Most travelers visit between two and five Web sites when shopping for travel online, and comparing prices is by far the most common reason for visiting multiple sites. At the same time, travelers who visit the most sites are likely to be motivated by a desire to read traveler reviews, research destinations, and purchase tickets to events or attractions.

• Nearly everyone is familiar with online maps, but RSS and tagging go largely unnoticed. Fifty-nine percent of Americans are unfamiliar with RSS and 55% are unfamiliar with tagging.

• Half of people who read blogs read travel blogs.

Virtual World Marketing Gets Reality Check in 2007


It was a year of ups and downs for virtual worlds, as well as the companies that jumped on the bandwagon of creating virtual advertising and branded worlds. As 2007 began, the virtual world environment Second Life was riding high on a wave of interest from users and advertisers, but as time went on, many marketers and agencies began to question the return on investment of their virtual projects.

"2007, especially early 2007, was the year of Second Life," said Greg Verdino, chief strategy officer for Crayon, a marketing consultancy. "Late '06 through '07 was this interesting virtual world rollercoaster ride, where coming into '07 everybody thought they had to be in Second Life, and they didn't know why."

By March, Second Life had over 1.3 million users, and companies ranging from Microsoft to Starwood Hotels to Reuters had launched a presence in the world. But the success of their branding efforts fell into question, as advertisers had difficulty providing the metrics needed to measure success, or simply didn't approach the environment in the right way to promote a brand, Verdino said.

"A lot of the problems with marketing in virtual worlds stem from brands and their agencies thinking you can just parade into a virtual world and take it over as if you belonged there all along. The 'a-ha' moment happened in 2007 when some of the big early brands that entered the virtual space pulled out," he said. "People did a lot of stupid stuff in virtual worlds that they shouldn't have been doing."

Second Life continues to grow and attract the attention of major media firms and advertisers, including CBS and its CSI franchise. Greater competition is also cropping up from Web worlds oriented around specific demographics, especially children and teenagers. Coca-Cola funded PG-13 virtual realm There.com and CosmoGirl. Meanwhile Disney acquired kid-aimed virtual world Club Penguin and switched its own ToonTown offering to a subscription model. Nickelodeon jumped into the mix with Nicktropolis.

"The kid's space is exploding," said Sibley Verbeck, CEO of the Electric Sheep Company, a virtual worlds media and technology agency which recently reorganized to shift its strategy for 2008. "The non-kids space, for teens and adults, is growing quite a bit as well, and we're seeing [longer-term] projects and fewer quick hit marketing projects."

As the virtual worlds industry moves into 2008, Verbeck and others predict lessons learned from 2007 will mean fewer small and rushed campaigns will be created, and instead advertisers will look for opportunities to create larger projects tied to quality content.

"People jumped in without a strategy or a plan; there was no quality content to tie to a brand, so user [went] in and moved on," said Christopher Sherman, executive director of Virtual Worlds Management, a media company. "Now you're going to see content tied to the brand, and high quality content coming out of Disney and Warner Bros and the CSI stuff. Just like any advertising medium you have to tie your brand to quality content. The risk will be much lower for the advertisers and the brands because people that are experienced with creating content are getting into the space."

And as in 2007, dollars and cents will shape the virtual world campaigns of 2008, said Verbeck.

"You're going to see a lot more and wider variety of businesses making money off virtual worlds," he said. "Too much was done over the last year and a half that didn't involve money, and that's why you've seen a down side."

Mobile Leads Online Ad Spend in Japan

JANUARY 2, 2008

Handsets are primed for marketers.

In 2007, the Japanese online advertising market was estimated to be worth between $3.4 billion (Dentsu) and $4.1 billion (PricewaterhouseCoopers). By 2011, Dentsu projects that Japan’s online ad market value will be $6.8 billion; PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts a somewhat higher $7 billion.

Japan’s leading advertising agency, Dentsu Group, tracks the island nation's online advertising market in three segments: search ads, mobile ads and fixed Internet ads, a category that lumps together banner, e-mail, rich media, streaming video and (non-search) text advertisements.

By Dentsu's reckoning, search spending accounted for 27% of Japan’s online ad marketing in 2007, a figure significantly lower than in the United States (40%) and the United Kingdom (60%). By 2010, Dentsu predicts search will reach just 30% of Japanese online ad spending.

Dentsu also estimated that Japan’s mobile ad market grew by 42.5% in 2007. Mobile advertising is expected to remain the fastest-growing segment through 2010. Dentsu forecasts double-digit growth for the entire Japanese online ad industry to 2011, when growth is expected to slow to 9.6%.

Online advertising grew from 3% to 6% of all ad spending between 2004 and 2006, according to Dentsu research.

Shop by phone gets new meaning

Teen-agers at a Metropark in San Francisco from left, Britany Ernst, Christopher Tan, Christine
An iPhone screen displays an offer for a CD, bearing the store's name, seen in the background.

By Jayne O'Donnell, USA TODAY
Alan Brody, a 15-year-old jazz drummer and high school freshman, doesn't have the interest or time to hang out in shopping malls. So he browses the Internet on his cellphone, using a search service that has helped him find everything from Hanukkah gifts to computer software.

Brody, of Arlington, Va., also does mobile searches for his 55-year-old mother, and would send her pictures of items he sees in stores, except Sandy Brody says she "wouldn't know what to do with them."

"This manages the time looking, so I don't have to spend three hours shopping," Brody says of the Slifter service he uses on both his phone and home computer.

YOUNG SHOPPERS: How they use technology

Parents may often shop at the same stores as their children these days, but few shop anything like their kids do. Teens and twentysomethings are twice as likely as their elders to use mobile devices for tasks other than talking. And they are far more likely to opt in for text promotions, mobile coupons and mobile search services.

FIND MORE STORIES IN: Teens

The mobile facility of their young customers has also left retailers with a lot of catching up to do. Some major retailers, including Nordstrom (JWN) and Macy's (M) in some regions, don't have their full store inventories available for mobile searches, and some products pop up as available only online. Mobile coupons can't be scanned at the registers, which slows down the process. And shoppers using mobile devices often can't complete a transaction with a brick-and-mortar store on the devices.

"The kids, especially these 'digital millennials,' are out in front of the retailers," says Laura Evans, retail practice chief for the digital marketing agency Resource Interactive. Evans' company coined the term digital millennials to describe the technology savvy of Generation Y, generally considered those born between 1982 and 2000.

The 14-to-24-year-old members of Gen Y, those most invested in digital technology, "expect on-demand experiences," says Evans. "Part of 'on demand' is 'I can access retailers anytime, anywhere, and that's not limited because I'm not sitting at my computer.'

"They are definitely more comfortable with technology and are definitely pushing technology," she says. "They have used it since the beginning of their lives."

It's not that stores aren't trying to go higher-tech. Mobile retailing site mPoria is rapidly signing up retailers, going from eight to more than 130 since the start of 2007. Mobile couponing company Cellfire's discounts can now be used at more than 250 merchants, including retail and restaurant chains, up from 10 in January.

While mobile company Slifter helps shoppers find items in a geographic area, NearbyNow helps them search anywhere in its 200 member malls. All the mall retailers are part of NearbyNow for at least basic searches — for brands of jeans, but not individual styles or products, for instance — and more than 70% offer full access to their inventories. And retailers are experimenting with a variety of text-message campaigns to see what best draws in the young crowds.

Metropark, which targets teens to thirtysomethings with its casual clothing and music-oriented stores, is part of NearbyNow's network and used the service to test a text-message promotion earlier this month in San Francisco. Throughout the day, more than 10 plasma TVs around the store and in the windows flashed codes that shoppers could text to receive a "special offer." The dozens who did so received a free CD with a compilation of music mixed by Metropark that would usually come only with a $75 purchase.

Metropark CEO Renee Bell and colleagues decided to pursue text-message marketing after they attended a Gwen Stefani concert in April and saw how many young people were texting each other and having their messages appear on a giant screen by the stage.

"I do see this as the future," she says. Her customers are among "the leaders in this texting phenomenon." But she doesn't exactly understand the attraction of typing on tiny keyboards. "I don't text," says Bell, 46. "I don't know how they have the patience. It's just as easy to call." Bell says sending text promotions to a broader audience that includes regular customers would be more effective at reaching people who aren't in the stores or walking by them.

But it could also be a safety risk, as NearbyNow CEO Scott Dunlap learned last year. The company had to stop sending messages offering free items to the first people who showed up in stores because it was causing near-stampedes, and mall security was worried someone was going to get hurt.

Dunlap, 38, started the company two years ago after becoming frustrated on a shopping trip with his wife, who was looking for a pair of Ferragamo boots she saw in a magazine. "I thought, 'It sure would be convenient if I could pull (inventory information) up on a mobile phone,' " he recalls.

A mobile way of life

Brody balances his time studying and practicing with his jazz groups with shopping and amateur movie making. During a trip to Tysons Corner Center mall in McLean, Va., earlier this month, he used his cellphone to look for a few things on his list, which included tuxedo and Hawaiian print shirts for gigs, earring cases for his mother and younger sister, Ilana, plus a digital camera and backpack for Ilana

Despite his enthusiasm for the technology, using a really small screen to shop isn't without its frustrations, even if you're 15. Neither was the service.

A search for earring cases while sitting in the mall brought up only websites. No Hawaiian print shirts were found, and tuxedo shirts came up at the Macy's at a mall in the next town, not at the Macy's in the mall he was in. Still, Brody has found software he wanted at the Apple (AAPL) store and a backpack at an area Staples (SPLS) store using the service.

What's known as m-commerce — the ability to shop and buy using a mobile device — is still in its infancy.

While patient teens can and do buy products from websites using their cellphones, purchasing directly from stores where products are found using the search services is typically not possible.

"While the technology is there and phones are enabled to do a lot of these types of things, when it comes to using it to make a purchase, the infrastructures with retailers are not built or established yet," says Evans.

That's a point of contention among many young people.

"I wish that we had more ways to pay for things via your mobile, such as in stores like in other countries," says David Mancini, a 22-year-old student at the University of Akron who gets mobile coupons from Cellfire. "Just hold your phone, and it can be deducted from your bank account … kind of like a mobile wallet."

Philip Moussavi of Bethesda, Md., was recently able to do much of his Christmas shopping on his cellphone while at a movie he didn't like. He bought gifts ranging from apparel to electronics on mobile commerce company mPoria's site.

"You usually don't have the computer in front of you," says Moussavi, 16. "I have it in my room, but I'm not usually home."

What do you think of this?

Mobile devices also help young people stay abreast of their friends' views, which are more important to them than peer opinions are to the 30-and-older crowd. These other views are easily accessible through text messages and photos, as well as social-networking sites, including Facebook. Teens and twentysomethings' use of these sites are sometimes as much about retail as they are about relationships.

Mansi Trivedi, a 23-year-old advertising agency planner, says she regularly uses Facebook to help her make shopping decisions. "Groups help a lot, and so do friends' opinions," says Trivedi, who lives in Detroit. She takes pictures using her cellphone while shopping so she can upload them if necessary for group approval. She recently sent one of herself in a hat to a female friend in India to gauge her opinion before buying it.

How other teens and twentysomethings shop on the run:

•Stevie Morgan-Cline, 23, is planning a wedding while she attends law school and works part time. She used her cellphone and BlackBerry while looking for her wedding dress and making a recent car purchase, and puts them to use almost every time she's in a mall.

"Having mobile devices helps me shop and make big purchase decisions when I normally wouldn't have time to do so," says Morgan-Cline, of Columbus, Ohio. "Since most stores won't let me bring in a camera, I have taken to using my cellphone to take pictures, and then I send them to my BlackBerry so I can compare dresses while I am in different stores."

She'll even use her BlackBerry to compare online prices with store prices, and has found that with free shipping, it sometimes pays to buy it online while she's standing in the store. "When you are really researching a purchase, you don't have to wait to get to a computer. So it makes it easier to find deals," she says.

•Tapan Shatapathy, 27, has made shopping through his BlackBerry or iPhone practically a hobby.

The El Segundo, Calif., software product manager bought two TVs, four laptops, an Xbox, a PlayStation Portable, DVD box sets, routers and an extra hard drive, all on his mobile devices, monitoring sale prices through his multiple phones and e-mail boxes. He's got his e-mail set up so messages touting new deals get filtered into different folders, which he either watches like a hawk or ignores until it's time to go through and delete. "If you want a good deal, there's always a time limit or limited quantities," he says. "If you're not quick enough, you're done."

•Cutting out coupons is too much of a hassle for 17-year-old Caroline Nguyen of Orange, Calif. But like most young people, she loves getting a deal. She gets mobile coupons sent by Cellfire and shows the image to restaurants, including Wienerschnitzel and T.G.I. Fridays, to get, say, 99-cent fries. Nguyen says she'd love to have coupons to more restaurants and retailers.

"I think it could be something really big, because it's easier than cutting out coupons from the newspaper," she says.

Cellfire CEO Brent Dusing, 29, says he knew mobile devices were the way to reach other young people when he considered how attached they are to the gizmos. About 55% of 18-to-29-year-olds say they use only a mobile phone rather than a land line, and many teens including his younger brother rarely use e-mail, favoring text messages. Nearly 70% of Cellfire's users are under 35, and more than a quarter are 13 to 21.

"If you told most Gen Yer's, especially the teens, that you had to take one device away for a week — their PC (personal computer) or their cellphones — they would all choose to keep their cellphones," says mPoria CEO Dan Wright, who is 34.

Contributing: Sharon Silke Carty

Consumer Groups Defend Right to Receive Mobile Adverts

Eight consumer and public interest groups filed a complaint with the FCC, protesting an incident in which Verizon Wireless blocked text messages sent by NARAL Pro-Choice America, an abortion rights group.

The petition states carriers should not be able to block texts sent by political groups or advertisers.

But the group also cites another incident, where Verizon blocked messages from VoIP provider Rebtel.

A correspondence from Rebtel to MarketingVox editors stated that in addition to blocking Rebtel media messages, Verizon also blocks informational texts containing local phone numbers its customers can use to call friends abroad.

"Verizon is deciding what its customer can and can not send to one another. That’s pretty Big Brother," stated an associate for SparkPR, which represents Rebtel.

But if the FCC honors the consumer groups' petition, it may liberate dramatic amounts of mobile messages — including spam and untargeted advertising — that carriers have held at bay.

Supposedly in the interest of subscribers, Verizon blocks between 100 million and 200 million mobile texts per month.

Boomers and Matures Mix Media Usage

DECEMBER 17, 2007

Get ready with those multi-channel campaigns.

The Web surfing habits of boomers and over-60s are more firmly rooted in traditional media than those of their younger counterparts, according to a Deloitte & Touche study conducted by the Harris Group.

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The study found that 67% of boomers visited sites after seeing ads on TV or in print. Matures, those between 61 and 75, were just as likely to be driven to the Web by print ads and less likely by TV ads.

Yet these two age groups were less likely than Generation X (25 to 41) or millennials (13 to 24) to visit the Web as a result of an Internet search engine or ad on another site.

A Lumin Collaborative study reinforced the connection between boomers and traditional media. The company found that boomers, defined as those currently ages 42 to 62, spent an average of 2.69 hours a week online, versus 2.83 hours watching TV and 1.93 hours listening to the radio.

The trends were flipped among the echo boomers (ages 18 to 31) and Gen X (32 to 41), who spent more time online than watching TV or listening to the radio and whose time spent online also exceeded that of their boomer counterparts.

Lumin also noted that only 39% of respondents in the boomer demographic regarded the Internet as their primary channel of information about companies or products. This rate was substantially less than Gen X (53%) or echo boomers (60%).

Boomers were the most likely group to choose newspapers, broadcast TV or magazines as their main source of information.

Marketing Catches Up with Mobile

NOVEMBER 29, 2007

Ads are going where consumers go.

”Mobile messaging was profitable long before it became sexy for marketing purposes,” says John du Pre Gauntt, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report Mobile Message Marketing. “The ubiquity, ease of use and low-cost of mobile messaging caused it to rocket in usage wherever it was introduced—even in the bastion of voice traffic, the US.”

Various research studies show that users give a thumbs-up to messaging. In fact, it’s among the top reasons for buying a mobile handset

”After voice calls, messaging typically ranks second or third in the order of user desires,” says Mr. Gauntt. “Most important to marketers, messaging, especially short messaging services (SMS), is now part and parcel of youth culture everywhere.”

In terms of general use, SMS ranks with voice as one of the standard mobile services. In Europe, Forrester Research reported that nearly 100% of mobile users ages 12 to 24 sent SMS messages on a daily basis while a little more than one-half (55%) used its more robust cousin, multimedia messaging services (MMS).

”Now, SMS and other mobile messaging flavors such as MMS, mobile instant message (MIM) and mobile e-mail are in the midst of a make-over by marketers,” says Mr. Gauntt.

eMarketer projects that the global market for ad-supported mobile messaging will rise from $1.5 billion in 2006 to $12 billion by 2011.

”As the speed and sophistication with which marketers integrate other mediums such as outdoor, radio, television and the Web with SMS call to action, an ad-supported model for mobile messaging charges cannot be far off,” says Mr. Gauntt.

Amid the excitement over mobile messaging, however, there remains a sticking point regarding who should pay the network delivery charge, especially as it applies to communication between a mobile subscriber and a marketer.

”Interactive content experiences such as television voting or polling have seen success with consumers paying the freight for the network,” says Mr. Gauntt. “But it defies logic for mobile marketing to achieve its promised growth with the consumer consistently picking up the tab for various types of interactive sessions with brands or content properties.”

Mobile Content Creation Has Big Potential

DECEMBER 11, 2007

Mobile users as walking production studios.

User-generated and shared content will account for one-quarter of the world's entertainment within five years, according to Nokia's "A Glimpse of the Next Episode" report, conducted by The Future Laboratory.

Nokia said that nearly three out of 10 tech-savvy mobile users ages 16 to 35 blogged, and nearly as many used social networking sites. The company also said that these early adopters consumed a lot of entertainment on their mobile phones.

As a result, argues Nokia, mobile users are poised to consume more user-generated entertainment on their handsets in the future.

"From our research we predict that up to a quarter of the entertainment being consumed in five years will be what we call 'circular,'" said Mark Selby, vice president at Nokia."The content keeps circulating between friends, who may or may not be geographically close, and becomes part of the group's entertainment."

Some efforts to encourage and facilitate mobile content creation and delivery are already underway.

MySpace is now available to Helio and Cingular customers in the US, according to a February 15, 2007, article in Digital Music News. In Europe, O2 has launched a YouTube-styled video-uploading service called LookAtMe, which shares revenue with its customers for any user-generated content clips that are downloaded and purchased.

As with services like photo messaging, user-generated content and social networking applications are more widespread in Europe than in the US, according to an M:Metrics study published in December 2006.

Young consumers are leading the way on mobile user-generated content, both in the US and Europe, according to the same M:Metrics research.

Don’t You Dare Call Them “Old”

DECEMBER 6, 2007

Baby boomers and silver surfers are still rockin’ online.

Many marketers, particularly online, concentrate on reaching younger users. But that could be a multibillion-dollar mistake.

Overall, older Americans make up the most affluent segment of the US population. And they are online.

”Internet usage by baby boomers—and over-60s—is projected to continue rising well into the future,” says Paul Verna, eMarketer Senior Analyst and author of the new report, Baby Boomers and Silver Surfers: Two Generations Online. “Coupled with the discretionary income they have at hand, this creates an irresistible opportunity for online marketers.”

eMarketer projects that, over the next five years, the number of US baby boomers who use the Internet at least once a month will grow by more than 5 million, from 58.2 million in 2006 to 63.7 million in 2011.

“Baby boomers are diverse, notoriously difficult to pigeonhole and sometimes overlooked by marketers, who are generally more interested in catering to younger and more active consumers of goods, services and media,” says Mr. Verna. “But boomers wield enormous economic clout and are increasingly turning to online and mobile channels for a wide variety of needs, including e-commerce, financial services, travel, entertainment, health and wellness information, news and user-generated content.”

Silver surfers, or over-60s, are also a large segment of the US Internet population, growing from 17.7 million Internet users in 2006 to 25.3 million by 2011.

”Silver surfers—also known as ‘the silent generation’—are also typically passed over by online marketers because most of them reached retirement age before computers and broadband access became ubiquitous in homes and offices, so their online habits are not as ingrained as those of their younger counterparts,” says Mr. Verna. “Nevertheless, their spending power and growing presence online should serve as a wake-up call to marketers who might have their sights set elsewhere.”

Over-60s may not be as numerous or influential online as younger generations, but they are determined to use the Web to further a broad range of interests, hobbies and professions.

”And what no marketer should forget,” says Mr. Verna, “is that these two demographic groups have money to spend—lots of it.”

Taking boomers as an example, The Conference Board found that boomers, on average, have more discretionary income than any other segment of the US population—over $24,000 a year per household.

”To focus on younger demographics at the exclusion of boomers and over-60s, as some marketers have done, is to miss a potentially huge opportunity to tap into a large, vibrant, diverse and fast-growing segment of the US Internet population,” says Mr. Verna.

Few Answer Mobile Marketing Call

DECEMBER 7, 2007

American Idol votes are just a drop in the bucket.

About one-quarter of mobile users are interested in mobile marketing, according to a November 2007 study by the Mobile Marketing Association.

Sweepstakes and voting campaigns (think American Idol) were the most common types of mobile marketing in which respondents had participated.

The MMA also speculated that marketers will begin taking advantage of mobile phone features such as cameras. For example, camera phone usage is up more than one-third since 2006.

"Camera phone [usage] dovetails perfectly with the coming cross-carrier interoperability of picture messaging via a short code," said Gene Keenan, vice president at Isobar, in a statement released with the MMA data. "We expect to see some very innovative campaigns this coming year using picture phoning," he said.

Overall, self-reported participation in mobile marketing increased to 5% in 2007. For once, teens were not on the cutting edge. Participation by 25- to 44-year-olds saw the largest increase.

With only 5% of these mobile phone users reporting participation in some form of mobile marketing campaign, it is still far from common. However, the move toward a mass audience for mobile marketers seems inevitable.

"The attraction of mobile messaging for marketers can be summarized in a single word: response," said John du Pre Gauntt, senior analyst at eMarketer. "The current response rates for mobile messaging campaigns blow competing mediums such as direct mail out of the water."

M:Metrics published research in September 2007 showing consumer response rates of 5.7% on the low end (in Germany) and 12% on the high end (in the US).

Learn what it will take for mobile marketing to move beyond the experimental stage. Read eMarketer's Mobile Message Marketing report.

Study finds online reviews a powerful tool

Do travel and other consumers use online reviews? Yes. Are they willing to pay more for high ratings? Yes.

So says a recent study that found consumers were willing to pay at least 20% more for services receiving "excellent" or 5-star rating opposed to those receiving "good" or 4-star ratings.

"These data show the importance of local service review sites in consumers' purchase process," said Steve Marshall, Research Director for The Kelsey Group.

The study focused on examined the impact of consumer-generated reviews on the price consumers were willing to pay for a service delivered offline. The study covered hotels, restaurants, travel and other areas, according to comScore.inc.

The study is based on a survey of more than 2,000 US Internet users in October of 2007.

Nearly one out of every four Internet users (24%) reported using online reviews prior to paying for a service delivered offline. Of those who consulted an online review, 41% of restaurant reviewers subsequently visited a restaurant, while 40% of hotel reviewers subsequently stayed at a hotel.

More than three-quarters of review users in nearly every category reported that the review had a significant influence on their purchase, with hotels ranking the highest (87%).

Were the reviews accurate? The study found that 97% of those surveyed who said they made a purchase based on an online review said yes.

Review users also noted that reviews generated by fellow consumers had a greater influence than those generated by professionals.

"This study underscores the importance of providing not just good, but excellent, service if a business hopes to generate positive consumer reviews which will result in greater sales," said Brian Jurutka, Senior Director, comScore Marketing Solutions. Report by David Wilkening

Mobile TV Subscriber Numbers to Shoot Up, Operators' Revenue Not so Much

Vodafone's mobile TV service

The mobile TV market will be worth over €4.4 billion (nearly $6.5 billion) in 2011 in Asia, North America and Western Europe combined, and subscription business models will dominate the market, generating more than 90 percent of revenues in 2011, according to a Screen Digestwrites MarketingCharts. forecast,

The report, Mobile TV: Business Models and Opportunities, examines the market for mobile TV in 25 countries, including the US, in Europe and Asia, and offers two perspectives on the market: the TV industry's and the mobile content industry's.

Of the two delivery methods for mobile TV - broadcast and unicast - the former is expected to experience rapid growth, with the number of markets offering broadcast service tripling in the next two years and reaching 18 by the end of 2008.

Among the forecasts and findings:

• Screen Digest predicts significant growth in subscriber numbers globally, with 140 million subscribers and revenues of €4.4 billion by 2011.
• North America will experience the biggest increase, growing its subscriber base 20-fold to 28.8 million, and revenues as much as 50-fold to €1.8 billion by 2011.
• However, subscriber numbers do not equate to revenue; despite its large subscriber numbers and longevity of mobile TV services, the Asian market will generate less revenue than Europe and the US by 2011.
• Europe will lead in global revenue share with 42.5 percent, followed by the US at 40.5 percent and Asia accounting for the remaining 17.0 percent.
• At present, there are more than 15 million subscribers of mobile TV in Asia, where the majority of broadcast networks are offered free-to-air.
• Italy has 850,000 paying subscribers, and France has more than half a million subscribers to unicast services.
• Mobile TV will generate more revenues than mobile music and mobile games combined
• In Europe, mobile TV will represent 27 percent of total pay TV subscriptions.

While mobile TV will attract more and more viewers in the immediate term, significant revenues for mobile operators, broadcasters and content owners won't be enjoyed until 2011, according to Ronan de Renesse, author of the report.

"The free-to-air services are the success stories for subscriber uptake, yet business models for mobile pay-TV are still to be proven. Content owners and handset manufacturers can gain in the short term with incremental revenues through a different distribution channel or by selling more expensive handsets," he said.

"While mobile TV may not generate significant revenues for operators over the next four years, bundling to move subscribers to contract will. The operators not investing now in mobile TV risk losing out when the subscriber base finally becomes established enough to generate revenues through pay-TV models and advertising."

Operators that do not offer mobile TV in the short term, despite not much profit, will simply lose their subscribers to other operators or other media devices, such as in-car devices popular in Asia, according to Screen Digest.

The lion's share of the income from offering mobile TV services will be shared among handset manufacturers, software companies, content creators and network owners, the analyst firm said.

However, the experience of Italy offers mobile network operators an opportunity, according to Screen Digest: That is, upgrade pay-as-you-go customers to contracts in order to access the rich content, and by doing so enjoy as much as three times the revenue per unit, without increasing the already-saturated subscriber base.

About the research: The data are taken from Screen Digest's latest report, Mobile TV: Business Models and Opportunities.

The report includes analysis of the current market situation, business models and value chain, as well as analysis of the delivery mechanisms, broadcast technology and the impact of regulation.

25 countries are reviewed in the report at local and regional level, and 11 company profiles are included.

Land Rover, AdMob Connect with Big Spenders on iPhone

The i-ad at work

For high net worth customers, Land Rover partnered with AdMob.

Its resulting campaign targeted smartphone users and took advantage of AdMob's new ad unit, exclusive to the iPhone (see video), which has a store-locator in the banner itself.

Of those who clicked on the Land Rover mobile ad, 23 percent of customers responded to at least one call-to-action on the landing page: 88 percent watched the video, 9 percent entered zip codes, and 3 percent used the click-2-call action.

Since late October, the Land Rover campaign registered 400,000 impressions on the iPhone, with 1,100 users entering their zip codes.

AdMob in turn worked with Mediaedge: CIA to define targeting parameters to reach a desired segment, using a combination of mobile context, sites and devices.

One-Third of US Tweens Own a Mobile Phone

More than one-third of US tweens (ages 8-12) own a mobile phone, and those who access TV, music and the internet on their phones tend do so at home, according to a Nielsen study on the mobile media and cross media behavior of US tweens.

The report estimates that…

* 35% of tweens own a mobile phone.
* 20% of tweens have used text messaging.
* 21% of tweens have used ring & answer tones.

Some 5% of tweens access the internet over their phone each month, according to Nielsen, and 41% of tween mobile internet users say they do so while commuting or traveling (to school, for example).

However, mobile content is also a social medium for this audience: 26% of tween mobile internet users say they access the web while at a friend’s house and 17% say they do so at social events.

Young mobile users are also turning to their phones for in-home entertainment:

* 58% of tweens who download or watch TV on their phone do so at home.
* 64% of tweens who download or play music on their phone do so at home.
* 56% of tweens who access the Internet on their phone do so at home.

Regarding cross-media behavior of tweens, Nielsen reports that tweens spend less time surfing the internet than their teen counterparts:

* Some 48% of US tweens said they spend less than one hour per day online.
* When they are online, 70% of tweens use the internet for gaming.
* Comparatively, 81% of US teens say they spend one hour or more per day online, with email being the most pervasive online activity for this age group.

“In addition to the differences between adult and youth media consumers, there’s an important gap between the media behaviors of teens and tweens,” said Jeff Herrmann, VP of Mobile Media for Nielsen Mobile.

The report, “Kids on the Go: Mobile Usage by US Teens and Tweens,” was conducted by Nielsen Mobile and BASES, two services of Nielsen. It also provides insights on teen and tween use of specific content brands, genre preferences, overall use of leisure time and demographic profiles.

In Asia, the Mobile Novel Makes Runaway Best Seller

Moshimo Kimiga, a mobile phone novel (or "keitai shosetsu") about high school romance, was initially delivered in sections to thousands of mostly young females' phones.

Since its conversion to hard copy, it has sold 420,000 copies, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

The novel's 21-year-old writer, Rin, composed the work on her phone, explaining she got "quick with her thumbs," having been an avid texter since middle school.

But mobile novels are nothing new in Asia. Launched seven years ago, Maho no i-rando (Magic Island), a site that offers free tools to help readers create novels on their mobiles, hosts over 1 million works.

The novels are typically written by first-timers for a young female audience, and the stories play out like "After School Specials" or web operas.

Established novelists are also embracing the format.

China's Qian Fuzhang, who has been compared to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, published his 4,200 character-long "Out of Fortress" via the mobile phone, in bite-size 72-character snippets back in '04, according to The New York Times.

Nielsen Reveals Mobile Media Habits Of Teens, Tweens

A study conducted by Nielsen Mobile and BASES reveals that the teenagers and “tweens” (ages 8-12) who were surveyed have very different mobile media usage habits.

Jeff Herrmann, VP of Mobile Media for Nielsen Mobile, says that, “in addition to the differences between adult and youth media consumers, there’s an important gap between the media behaviors of teens and tweens.”

He adds that, the study, “Kids on the Go: Mobile Usage by U.S. Teens and Tweens,” includes “insights from more than 5,500 teens and tweens and dissects how these demographic segments are engaging with mobile and traditional media.”

According to the report, 35% of U.S. tweens own a mobile phone, 20% have used text messaging and 21% have used ring and answer tones. Only 5% of tweens access the Internet over their phones each month.

Overall, tweens spend less time surfing the Internet than their teen counterparts. The tweens surveyed said they spend less than one hour per day online and while they are online, 70% of that time is used for gaming. In comparison, 81% of U.S. teens say they spend one hour or more per day online, with e-mail being the most popular activity for the age group.

“Tweens use their mobile phones, and media, in general, in very unique and important ways,” Hermann says. “Marketers and media executives need to understand these ‘digital natives’ as they mature and reshape the way we think about new and traditional media.”

The full report of the study will be released on Dec. 14.

Nielsen Mobile and BASES are owned by The Nielsen Company, the parent company of Radio & Records.

Cell phone college class opens in Japan

By Yuri Kageyama AP Business Writer / November 28, 2007

TOKYO—Japanese already use cell phones to shop, read novels, exchange e-mail, search for restaurants and take video clips. Now, they can take a university course.

Cyber University, the nation's only university to offer all classes only on the Internet, began offering a class on mobile phones Wednesday on the mysteries of the pyramids.

For classes for personal computers, the lecture downloads play on the monitor as text and images in the middle, and a smaller video of the lecturer shows in the corner, complete with sound.

The cell phone version, which pops up as streaming video on the handset's tiny screen, plays just the Power Point images.

In a demonstration Wednesday at a Tokyo hotel, an image of the pyramids popped up on the screen and changed to a text image as a professor's voice played from the handset speakers.

Cyber University, which opened in April with government approval to give bachelor's degrees, has 1,850 students.

The virtual campus is 71 percent owned by Softbank Corp., a major Japanese mobile carrier, which also has broadband operations and offers online gaming, shopping and electronic stock trading services.

The cell phone lectures may be expanded to other courses but for now will be for the pyramids course, according to Cyber University, which offers about 100 courses, including ancient Chinese culture, online journalism and English literature.

Unlike the other classes, the one on cell phones will be available to the public for free, although viewers must pay phone fees.

The catch is the lectures can only be seen on some Softbank phones. The service may be expanded to other carriers, officials said.

Sakuji Yoshimura, who heads Cyber University and gives the pyramids course, said the university provides educational opportunities for people who find it hard to attend real-life universities, including those with jobs and those who are sick or have disabilities.

"Our duty as educators is to respond to the needs of people who want to learn," Yoshimura said.

He scoffed at those who question the value of Internet and cell-phone classes, noting attendance is relatively high at 86 percent. Whether students play the lecture downloads to the end can be monitored by the university digitally, officials said.

Although real-time exchange with professors and other students isn't possible in Net classes, social networking and other cyber-discussions are flourishing, said Hiroshi Kawahara, professor in the Faculty of Information Technology and Business.

Social networks, online games are a match

Jo Ann Hicks doesn't identify with gamers, but she spends hours online every day playing Kaneva.

The 41-year-old homemaker likes the shopping-and-partying game — where she operates a virtual nightclub and hosts parties — because it helps her interact with people, not provide escape from them as traditional games often do.

Social and gaming networks, once considered polar opposites, are cross-pollenating as online interactions replace prime-time TV and other, more traditional media experiences. Games like Kaneva are attracting players that games like Super Mario Brothers never did.

"I run around and act like a 40-year-old person. I have my little clan we hang with. What people will say is more interesting to me," Hicks said of her preferred game. "As opposed to Mario, who's only going to jump."

Game developers say there's money for both sides in this convergence.

Social networks that incorporate more features of "massively multi-player online games" could enhance their already-substantial earning power. And gaming sites would benefit from increased membership and broader acceptance.

David Dague, a 34-year-old executive in Chicago who runs a website called tiedtheleader.com, said games have changed fundamentally since the early days of Space Invaders.

"I've seen gaming go from a solitary thing to where there really is a cinematic experience going on in front of you that you can share in a social capacity," said Dague, whose site coordinates matches in Xbox Live games like Halo 3 and hosts forums about gaming.

"Video games have become the ultimate party line," he said. "The question is, who are you sharing it with?"

Played in virtual worlds with advertising and goods for sale, games like KartRider and Kaneva now go beyond the scope even of early interactive games. They're less about skill levels and escapism and more about joining friends and strangers in virtual spaces where chatting, comparing fashions, going dancing — and, yes, slaying monsters — are all options.

For their part, networking sites are encompassing more interactive features that consume increasing amounts of users' time — long considered a defining feature of computer games.

MySpace and Facebook are massively multiplayer games in disguise, says Gabe Zichermann, who is developing "rmbr," which he says will make a video game out of tagging and sharing digital photos.

"The reason why Facebook is a really compelling MMO is because it's fun and you get something out of it," he said.

There are interactive titles like Scrabulous for Facebook, and MySpace is rolling out a games channel early next year.

"They're going to be able to monetize their users at the same level (as the games do)," Jessica Tams, managing director of the Casual Games Association, said of the social network sites. "That's a lot of money."

If each of Facebook's 33 million and MySpace's 72 million October users — according to figures from comScore Inc. — paid a dollar each visit for a new outfit for his or her avatar in a game, that would have produced a lot more revenue than the fractions of a penny the sites got for each click on an ad.

Nexon, which has offered free, socially rich video games for years in South Korea, introduced its English-language version of KartRider for use in North America in September.

In October, the year-old North American version of Nexon's Kaneva had 84,000 members, according to comScore. Once players download the game, they see advertising and can buy all sorts of virtual clothing and upgrades for a few dollars apiece.

It's a substantially different business model from online fantasy games like World of Warcraft, which tend to require subscriptions, at $15 or so per month, and usually don't allow users to buy things for real money, online or off.

"Think of World of Warcraft as kind of closing the book on this generation of games," says Christopher Sherman, executive director of Virtual Worlds Management. "Those folks who are developing the next generation of massively multiplayer games really need to raise the bar anew."

Venture capital, technology and media firms invested more than $1 billion dollars in 35 virtual worlds companies between October 2006 and this October, according to a study by Austin-based Virtual Worlds Management, a company that organizes conferences to discuss emerging online trends.

Second Life— where users can buy their own plots of land to build stores, castles or anything else they can imagine — is creating a game within a game with CBS, called The Virtual CSI: New York, that melds networking and gaming. Avatars will be able to go to crime scenes and figure out what happened.

The lure of interactive online games is so strong it can cut into users' sleep and boost the time they spend playing, according to a month-long study by Syracuse University psychology professor Joshua Smyth.

Smyth found that MMORPG players spent on average 14.4 hours a week playing — twice as long as video game players who don't interact online.

Stephen Prentice, a senior analyst for the Gartner Group in the United Kingdom, believes the time is right for such online social video game services to take off. The big question is who will succeed first.

"The huge opportunity is for a lightweight, three-dimensional environment, a virtual world equivalent of Facebook," Prentice says. "Trying to predict who that is going to be is difficult. Anything could happen here."

Facebook Demographics
http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics

Marketers Enlist Mobile Phones as Utility Vehicles

By Brian Morrissey

NEW YORK Beginning next month, the cold-and-flu wary will have a new weapon in their prevention arsenal: weather alerts sent to their cell phones courtesy of Vicks.

The messages are part of an effort by parent company Procter & Gamble to develop mobile applications, rather than use the cell phone as just another venue for media buys.

Other big-name marketers, like Coca-Cola and AT&T, have launched similar efforts. In some cases that means application development takes priority over mobile media buys, with brands using their vast distribution and marketing channels to promote the utilities.

"Consumers are used to ads on the Internet, on TV and in magazines," said Carol Kruse, vp of global interactive marketing at Coke. "The mobile phone didn't start out with ads."

That's leading Coke, P&G and others to test the increasingly popular concept of branded utility: tools advertisers can supply to help consumers perform tasks, rather than messages that interrupt. Think Nike+, the running-and-music system that enables runners to track and compare their training progress with others.

"At the end of the day, if they tap into why you own the phone, brands can figure out how they can help you deal with your life," said John Hadl, CEO of Brand in Hand, a mobile marketing consultancy, which advises P&G on mobile strategy. "What can brands do for us that also ties in to the brand benefit?"

The move to create applications comes as surveys show consumers express wariness that their cell phones will turn into another source of ad overload. A Harris Interactive survey in the spring found various forms of mobile ad messages, from search result placements to banner ads, were rated "unacceptable" by more than 70 percent of respondents. Seeing a video clip from a nearby store was found "acceptable" by only 16 percent.

"Placing ads on mobile sites is just a media placement compared to finding the applications consumers want [in order] to interact with the brand on the go," said Doug Levy, CEO of imc2, an independent digital agency.

Coke is making few mobile ad buys with providers like Third Screen Media, AdMob and other mobile ad networks. Instead, it is placing a big bet that it can provide utilities to consumers. Its first test case is The Yard, a Sprite-themed mobile social network it launched in June here and in China. It is in the process of rolling out the platform in Europe and other regions.

"The industry is still trying to figure out how to do that in a way that's acceptable to consumers," Kruse said. "We're really focusing on providing fun and engaging experiences for consumers."

The challenge for such applications is getting them to actually add value consumers can't get elsewhere, according to Hadl. Just mimicking an existing utility won't cut it. For makeup brand CoverGirl, for instance, P&G created a "ColorMatch" application that recommends shades based on complexion and clothing and accessories colors. Women would not have their computer with them at the store, making the mobile phone an ideal choice, he said.

In a more recent campaign, AT&T tapped the phone as a handy tracking tool for fans at last month's Ironman World Championship triathlon in Hawaii. A mobile campaign gave spectators the chance to receive text message alerts when athletes passed one of 11 checkpoints. For a race that takes competitors anywhere from eight to 20 hours to finish, the service was a perfect fit, said Robert Tas, CEO of Active Athlete Media, which developed the program for AT&T. The athlete tracker attracted more than 15,000 sign-ups and 100,000 brand impressions. "It added value," said Tas. "It wasn't crap. It really made the experience better."

The move to provide branded utilities on mobile devices and elsewhere is unlikely to eliminate media budgets. After all, consumers need to know about the tools before they can use them. MediaVest is buying mobile ads through Third Screen Media. Former AT&T agency GSD&M Idea City promoted the Ironman athlete tracker via Active Athlete's network of endurance athletics sites. Sprite is leaning on the millions of bottles it sells per year (and its Facebook fan page) to raise awareness for The Yard.

Brands need to think of what they're getting out of applications, said Scott Symonds, executive media director at AKQA, an independent digital agency. Unless an application lines up with a brand promise, it won't do much good, he warned. AKQA used this litmus test earlier in the fall with a mobile campaign that suggested wine-and-cheese pairings to supermarket shoppers on behalf of Visa Signature. The campaign was designed to appeal to the Signature brand's target consumer: the well-to-do who enjoy travel, dining and leisure activities. "Ideally we can do some twist or implementation that gives the utility a flavor or voice unique to our client brand," Symonds said.

Another big challenge for mobile campaigns at this point, according to execs, is how to measure success. Comparing the value placed on interaction rates online to mobile is "apples to oranges," Hadl said. "They're both fruit, but one you bite into and the other you peel." P&G agency MediaVest, part of Publicis Groupe, has hired Dynamic Logic, a campaign effectiveness research firm, to conduct a study of the effectiveness of the Vicks effort in driving purchase intent.

The mobile medium is still maturing and doesn't provide many rich experiences, said Benjamin Palmer, CEO of The Barbarian Group, an independent digital shop. "There just isn't too much of a mobile marketing medium right now other than alerts," he said, something he expects will evolve with the popularity of the iPhone and as other handset makers come out with units that mimic its features.

"Right now mobile is in a utility-focused place," said Symonds. "If we can provide brand utility and it's still keeping with what the client's theme is, we'll trade a little messaging for utility."

Facebook Stats - Age, Gender, Education Level, Political Views, and Relationship Status

Inspired by a post on Techcrunch, below are some statistics found using Facebook’s advertising audience selector. Data is for the U.S. and all percentages (Group/Total U.S. Facebook Users)*100. So in short, they are out of the entire U.S. Facebook population, not the group. Hopefully that makes sense.

Mobile Web: So Close Yet So Far

By MICHAEL FITZGERALD

ON the surface, the mobile Web is a happening place. There’s the iPhone in all its glory. More than 30 companies have signed up for the Open Handset Alliance from Google, which aims to bring the wide-open development environment of the Internet to mobile devices. Nokia, which owns nearly 40 percent of the world market for cellphones, is snapping up Web technology companies and has made an eye-popping $8.1 billion bid for Navteq, a digital mapping service. There are also the requisite start-ups chasing the market.

It all looks good, but the wireless communications business smacks of a soap opera, with disaster lurking like your next dropped call.

In 2000, the wireless application protocol was supposed to bring the Internet to the cellphone. Our hero turned out to be a flash in the pan. That was attributed to a lack of high-speed cellular data networks, so a frenzied and costly effort to build third-generation, or 3G, networks ensued. But at a recent conference, 3G was called “a failure” by Caroline Gabriel, an analyst at Rethink Research. She said data would make up only 12 percent of average revenue per user in 2007, far below the expected 50 percent. (The 12 percent figure does not include text messaging, but you don’t need a 3G network to send a text message.)

Similarly, surveys by Yankee Group, a Boston research firm, show that only 13 percent of cellphone users in North America use their phones to surf the Web more than once a month, while 70 percent of computer users view Web sites every day.

“The user experience has been a disaster,” says Tony Davis, managing partner of Brightspark, a Toronto venture capital firm that has invested in two mobile Web companies.

While many phones have some form of Web access, most are hard to use — just finding a place to type in a Web address can be a challenge. And once you find it, most Web content doesn’t look very good on cellphone screens.

Even the iPhone’s browser can disappoint. It has a version of the Apple Safari browser that doesn’t support Flash, a programming language widely used on Web sites, so users are limited in what they can see on the Web. And, you pay a lot to experience the pain of surfing the mobile Web. Lewis Ward, an analyst at the International Data Corporation, compares the mobile Web today to AOL before it went with flat-rate pricing in the early 1990s. Most people surf on a pay-per-kilobyte model, which encourages them to surf as fast as they can, he says.

The carriers, however, seem to be having a change of heart about the mobile Web. AT&T has allowed Apple unusual control over the network in the iPhone, and Sprint and T-Mobile have signed on to the Android development platform of the Open Handset Alliance.

Industry watchers think that having started, the mobile Web will inexorably open over the next five years, solving many current problems.

For instance, there’s the challenge of finding things on the Web from a mobile phone. John SanGiovanni, founder and vice president for products and services at Zumobi (formerly ZenZui), which was spun out of Microsoft Research, says his company hopes to make it easier for phone users to find phone-ready versions of sites they want. On Dec. 14, it plans to introduce the beta, or test, version of its slick-looking software. It will include colorful “tiles” that phone users can “zoom” into and out of quickly as they move from site to site. (The tiles resemble the iPhone’s widgets, or icons on a desktop computer.)

Zumobi hopes that cellphone users will adopt tiles as their entry point to the Web; the company offers a scrolling interface of 16 such tiles that provide information with mass appeal, but users can set their own preferences. Software developers will be able to build a tile — in fact, Amazon.com has 12 ready to go — and put it on Zumobi’s platform. Tiles can carry ads as well, creating revenue potential for carriers and developers.

THE chairman of Zumobi’s board is Tom Huseby, a longtime entrepreneur and investor in the mobile business and now managing partner at SeaPoint Ventures. Mr. Huseby says the mobile Web is going through a predictable cycle involving the development of handsets, networks and markets. Now it is in the last phase of innovation: figuring out how customers want to see the Web from their phones. He says the answer will be to give people what they want, when they want it.

“You got to have open systems, to allow the vast creativity of people to take place,” he says. Zumobi, Android and other developments, he says, will help create such openness.

Other approaches to solving this problem include Yahoo Go, a mobile Internet product certified to display Web pages correctly on more than 300 handsets, and another from InfoGIN, an Israeli company whose product automatically adapts Web pages to work on cellphones.

The plot has plenty of time to twist yet again. Nathan Eagle an M.I.T. researcher, is working on mobile phone programming in Kenya, where he’s teaching computer science students how to build mobile Web applications that don’t use a browser. Instead, they rely on voice commands and speech-to-text translation to surf the Web

“People talk about the mobile Web, and it’s just assumed that it’ll be a replica of the desktop experience,” Mr. Eagle said. “But they’re fundamentally different devices.” He says he thinks that the basic Web experience for most of the world’s three billion cellphones will never involve trying to thumb-type Web addresses or squint at e-mail messages. Instead, he says, it will be voice-driven. “People want to use their phone as a phone,” he says.

For now, widespread use of the mobile Web remains both far off and inevitable.

Michael Fitzgerald writes about business, technology and culture. E-mail: mfitz@nytimes.com.