40% of Skype Minutes Were Video, First Half of 2010

For the first six months of 2010, approximately 40 percent of Skype-to-Skype minutes were video minutes. That should make Skype one of the world's largest providers of video calling or videoconferencing service, one would think.

Assuming half of the 2009 total of 113 billion Skype-to-Skype minutes were at least matched in the first half of 2010, that would suggest something on the order of 22.6 billion minutes.

Skype - The Big Blog - Celebrating 25 million concurrent users

Younger Users Show Preference for Mobile Apps Over Web

Preferences for mobile apps over Web browsers are growing among younger demographics, say researchers at Parks Associates. "Consumers under 35 are starting to ditch browsers in favor of mobile apps, where they don't have to type in a Web address or contend with slow browser speeds," says Harry Wang, Parks Associates director.

"They are also put off by Web pages that do not fit the small phone screen, whereas the mobile app is native to the platform," says Wang.

Mobile apps are already the dominant medium for access to Internet radio (including Pandora), maps, social networks, navigation (including Google Maps), and games.

Mobile preferences show generational divide as younger smartphone users choose apps over Web browsers

Where Will SMBs Spend Marketing Dollars in 2011?

Small businesses are predicted to maintain steady marketing budgets next year, including spending on websites, direct mail, e-mail marketing, social media and print advertising, according to a recent survey by Zoomerang and GrowBiz Media.

Small business marketing budgets leaned toward websites this year, with 39 percent of SMBs with fewer than 1,000 employees spending greater than 20 percent of their budgets in that area. Online spending is expected to continue in favor of websites, as 17 percent of respondents plan to increase budgets for their sites in 2011, the highest percentage increase in planning for any marketing item included in the survey.

In comparison, 15 percent of respondents reported that they plan to spend more on email marketing next year, while 13 percent of respondents plan to up their social media marketing budgets.

Social media is predicted to be the third most increased area for online marketing spending next year. Among the more than 750 businesses surveyed, 34 percent indicated that they currently engage in social media marketing. Of those using social media, Facebook (80 percent), LinkedIn (37 percent) and Twitter (27 percent) were the most commonly used platforms.

One obvious conclusion is that small businesses do not use mobile marketing channels much, if at all.

The State of Small Business Online Marketing Budgets

Online TV Show Viewers Tolerate More Ads

Will online TV viewers accept levels of advertising normally associated with multichannel video service? A new study funded by Turner Broadcasting suggests the answer is "yes."

In the study, online video viewers were randomly exposed to different amounts of adertising. One set of viewers was shown about a minute of ads an episode; the second set of viewers was shown eight to 10 minutes of ads; and the third was shown 16 to 20 minutes worth of ads.

Viewers of 30-minute TBS sitcoms like “Meet the Browns” watched, on average, 40 percent of the episode, including the ads, if there was one minute of ads and 37 percent of the episode if there were 16 minutes of ads.

Viewers of hourlong TNT shows like “Memphis Beat” watched 59 percent of the episode if there were one minute 15 seconds of ads, and 49 percent of the episode if there was 20 minutes of ads.

The takeaway is that viewers watched, on average, for the same number of minutes no matter how many ads were embedded within the program.

The Turner research also suggests that online viewers often do not watch an entire episode, just as they channel-surf while on the couch.

Online TV Show Viewers Tolerate More Ads, Turner Says - NYTimes.com

Conflicting Data on Consumer Communications Spending

Though surveys taken in 2009 and 2010 seem to indicate that consumers were cutting back on communications and multi-channel video entertainment spending, other data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis suggests that did not happen; in fact, such spending increased between the start of 2008 and the middle of 2010, for example.

Since the recession started in the fourth quarter of 2007, U.S. consumers have apparently been cutting back on their spending. But Bureau of Economic Analysis data suggests that consumers have been cutting more in some areas than others, and actually have increased spending on many communications services.

BEA show aggregate personal consumption expenditures were up 2.9 percent, or $285 billion, between the fourth quarter of 2007 and the end of the second quarter of 2010, for example.

Mobile device spending was up almost 17 percent since the fourth quarter of 2007. And spending on communications and multichannel video services was up by five percent.

Americans were spending a little bit less on clothing and hotels; a lot less on foreign travel, video and audio equipment (think televisions), and furniture. The big drop came in motor vehicles and associated goods and services, like gasoline. Spending on household furnishings dropped six percent.

Spending on international travel dropped 7.4 percent; purchases of audio and visual equipment dropped 8.4 percent; spending on motor vehicles declined 16 percent; while spending on moving, freight and storage services dropped nearly 20 percent.

Spending on pets increased 14.4 percent. Spending for child care increased 13 percent. Health care spending grew 11 percent while education spending grew 13 percent.

http://innovationandgrowth.wordpress.com/2010/08/09/where-americans-are-spending-more/

Location-Based Services Getting More Traction

The 2010 Christmas shopping season should provide new evidence of the usefulness of location-enhanced mobile shopping, if a survey commissioned by JiWire is accurate. The study suggests 37 percent of mobile users will make more use of location services this shopping season, while 42 percent will continue to use such services as they have in the past.

Finding stores is seen as highly valuable by about 61 percent of respondents.

http://mashable.com/2010/11/17/location-based-services-holidays/

"Finding Stores" is Top Use for Location Services

When searching for local content, 61 percent say that finding store locations is the most valuable feature of location-based media, says JiWire.

(Click on image for larger view)

About 89 percent of respondents to a recent JiWire survey say they likely will use location-based apps and services during the Christmas shopping season.

Some 36 percent plan to use location-based services to find product reviews while 33 percent plan to discover current inventory at nearby stores. About 26 percent plan to connect with social networks through location-based features.

On average, 30 percent are willing to travel more than five miles to redeem a mobile coupon.

Media Center - JiWire.com