44% of American Moms use social media to get recommendations on brands and products

""Mommies are flocking to social networks, according to new research from BabyCenter LLC, which runs several parenting Web and community sites.
The number of moms using social media regularly has grown from 11% in 2006 to 63% today, an increase of 462% in three years, the company said.
The study, built from a series of in-depth surveys on the U.S. BabyCenter site, found that 44% of respondents used social media for recommendations on brands and products.
Social media are not equal in online mommies’ eyes, however. Most say they use mass-reach networks such as Facebook for socializing and entertainment, but turn to specialized content sites for information and counsel from fellow parents.""
Source: 21st Century Moms report, cited by Promo magazine, 7th July 2009

As many people trust consumer opinions posted online as trust brand websites

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"Recommendations from personal acquaintances or opinions posted by consumers online are the most trusted forms of advertising, according to the latest Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries.
Ninety percent or consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, while 70 percent trusted consumer opinions posted online."
Source: Nielsen Online Global Consumer Survey, cited in their blog, 7th July 2009

Google Chrome has 30m regular users

"It's been an exciting nine months since we launched the Google Chrome browser. Already, over 30 million people use it regularly"
Source: Google Blog, 7th July 2009

The Thriller video was viewed nearly 28m times in the 7 days after Michael Jackson's death

"Yesterday, we reported that Michael Jackson's Thriller had been viewed over 8.5 million times online since his death last Thursday. These results appear to have resonated with the online video viewing audience and were later reported in the Associated Press. We've been continuing to track Thriller's online video trends and can now confirm that the initial surge in viewership has accelerated significantly.

Over the weekend, we recorded Thriller's sudden spike in views (8.5 million total). Monday and Tuesday's figures totaled over 19 million new views, bringing Thriller's total views to nearly 28 million since the King of Pop's untimely passing. This remarkable growth is occurring across the entire flight of Thriller's nearly 300 placements; no single asset appears to be driving these new levels of viewing activity."

Source: Visible Measures [video tracking company] blog, Wednesday 1st July 2009

52% of British kids aged 5-9 have a mobile phone

"Figures from MobileYouth, a research consultancy which tracks technology use by youngsters, found that 52 per cent of UK children aged five to nine have a mobile. Among ten to 14-year-olds, usage is running at almost 85 per cent."
Source: MobileYouth report, cited by the Daily Mail, 254th June 2009

Online ad spend in Europe rose by 20% in 2008

Online ad spend for the 19 largest markets in Europe (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, UK) rose by 20% in 2008 to hit €12.9bn.
Source: IAB Europe/PWC, June 2009. See the full presentaiton here

Nearly 1/3 of American 25-35s with a game console use it to watch video

"29% of U.S. 25-to-34-year-olds with game consoles use the devices to watch streaming video off the Internet"
Source: In-Stat report Web-to-TV Video Changes Everything, June 2009