A combination of paid and organic search impressions leads to the greatest uplift in purchase intent

"Amongst its key findings, the study reveals that exposure to impressions of digital media boosts brand favorability. Specifically, paid search has the greatest impact on this metric, both in isolation and in combination with other digital media types. Alone, paid search impressions create the greatest lift (28%) overall. However, when combined with organic search impressions, the organic-paid search duo boosts this metric to 40 percent. Likewise, exposure to paid search impressions nets the greatest lift (35%) of individual assets for this metric in the retail vertical. Yet the paid and organic search combination creates a lift of 56 percent for the hotel sector.
The study also reveals that exposure to impressions of digital media drives Internet users' likelihood to purchase. Paid search impressions are particularly adept at influencing this behavior, whether they are used alone or in conjunction with other digital media. At the aggregate level, paid search generates a lift of 44 percent on its own; but within the retail vertical, it produces a 54 percent lift. However, combinations of two digital media types also play a role. Together, organic and paid search impressions yield the greatest lift (73%) in aggregate and in the hotel vertical (147%). But organic and display impressions create the most effective combination (64%) for this metric in the banking/financial services sector."
Source:  Research from iProspect and comScore reported in a press release from iProspect, 2nd November 2010

105,000 people have paid to access online content from The Times and Sunday Times

"More than 100,000 people have paid to go behind the Times and Sunday Times' new online paywalls but visits to their websites have fallen by about 87%.
Times Online was registering about 21 million unique users a month to its front page earlier this year but the figure fell to 2.7 million last month.
The papers said in addition 100,000 people had a joint subscription to read the newspapers in print and digitally.
Times editor James Harding said the papers were "hugely encouraged".
Publishers of the Times and Sunday Times have revealed for the first time how many people are paying to read their newspapers online or on mobiles. They said that figures stood at 105,000.
The subscription figures have been eagerly awaited by publishers and advertisers since the two papers went behind an online paywall four months ago.
The figure for unique users for their websites comprises two million for the Times and 700,000 for the Sunday Times.
[...]
The publishers now say the total paid audience so far is close to 200,000, allowing for duplications in subscriptions.
About 50,000 are paying a monthly subscription, either for the website editions or to read the papers on an iPad or Kindle. Many others are buying a £1 day pass.
The figures include subscribers to the print version of the papers who receive an online subscription as a result."
Source:  Figures revealed by News International, reported by BBC News, 2nd November 2010

Twitter has 175m registered users

"In a New York Times profile on Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, the company revealed a few interesting stats showing the growth trajectory of the network. Twitter now has 175 million registered users, which is up from 145 million users in September. That means the startup added around 30 million users in just under two months. And Twitter has added 70 million users since April.
This is impressive growth considering that Twitter had a total of 58 million users in 2009 (and 503,000 users three years ago). That’s a 200 percent increase from 2009 to 2010 in terms of users. And the year isn’t over—it’s conceivable that at the rate Twitter is growing, the company could be ringing in the New Year with 200 million users. So what’s contributing to this massive growth?"

Source:  Article in the New York Times, reported by Techcrunch, 31st October 2010

Digital accounts for nearly 25% of all radio listening in the UK

"Hopes for digital radio switchover in the next five years suffered a blow today as the growth in popularity of digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio went into reverse.
Digital accounted for 24.8% of all radio listening in the three months to 19 September, marginally up on the 24.6% share of listening in the previous three months, according to official Rajar figures published today.
But DAB radio, the likely broadcast replacement for analogue AM and FM in the digital-only age, saw its share of listening drop, to 15.3% from 15.8% in the second quarter of 2010.
Far from listeners switching off their analogue radio sets, the popularity of AM and FM continued to grow, with a 67.6% share, up from 67% in the previous quarter and 66.1% a year ago."
Source:  Rajar report for the quarter to September 2010, reported by The Guardian, 28th October 2010

15% of US cinema screens can show 3D films

"Katzenberg brought studios and exhibitors together to craft a cost- sharing solution to pay for digital 3-D-enabled projectors. Today 15% of screens in the U.S. can show 3D movies, with 500 more added every month."
Source:  Jeffrey Katzenberg of Dreamworks, reported by CTV, 31st October 2010

3D movies account for nearly 20% of US box office revenues so far in 2010

"The movie industry welcomes Katzenberg's evangelizing because it badly needs those extra revenues. DVD sales have shrunk 19% since 2006. 3D is beginning to slowly make up for that loss, constituting nearly 20% of the $8 billion in box office revenues so far this year, up from 11% in 2009, according to Screen Digest. The production cost of a 3D movie is 10% to 20% higher than that of a regular film. But it could pay off. Jackass 3 (in 3D) earned 40% more in its opening weekend than Jackass 2."
Source:  Jeffrey Katzenberg of Dreamworks, reported by CTV, 31st October 2010

Apple is the 4th largest mobile phone vendor

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"The worldwide mobile phone market grew 14.6% in the third quarter of 2010 (3Q10), the fourth consecutive quarter of double-digit growth, driven in part by the fast-growing converged mobile device category. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors shipped 340.5 million units in 3Q10 compared to 297.1 million units in the third quarter of 2009.
The growing popularity of converged mobile devices, or smartphones, with consumers and businesspersons is evidenced by the appearance of a second smartphone-only vendor in the top 5 ranking. Apple moved into the number 4 position worldwide in 3Q10, joining Research In Motion (RIM) as one of the world's largest mobile phone suppliers. RIM has spent three quarters on IDC's leaderboard. Apple and RIM also posted the highest-growth rates among the top 5 vendors last quarter.
"The entrance of Apple to the top 5 vendor ranking underscores the increased importance of smartphones to the overall market. Moreover, the mobile phone makers that are delivering popular smartphone models are among the fastest growing firms," said Kevin Restivo, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Phone Tracker. "Vendors that aren't developing a strong portfolio of smartphones will be challenged to maintain and grow market share in the future."
Apple, RIM, and the vendors producing Android-based smartphones have put noticeable pressure on Nokia, the overall market leader. "Nokia still leads all vendors by a significant margin for converged mobile devices and mobile phones as a whole," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team. "However, Nokia's grip on the traditional mobile phone market has been somewhat loosened, as multiple Chinese vendors have gained ground, especially within emerging markets. To bolster its overall competitiveness, Nokia has been focused on improving its smartphone offerings.""
Source:  Press release from IDC, 28th October 2010