About 6.5 million Australians belong to an online social network, and more than two-thirds of Internet users looked at other people’s content on social networking sites during 2008 according to Nielsen Online’s latest consumer generated media report.  The most popular sites are Facebook – which showed 32 percent growth in 2008, MySpace, which recorded a 2 percent gain and Flickr, which grew by 14 percent.  Among those who blog, MySpace was the favored vehicle, with almost one-third of users preferring it over any other site.  Twitter penetration remains low – …

Roger Entner, Nielsen Telecom
Nokia: the name is synonymous with mobile phone innovation and leadership everywhere in the world but in the US.  Its handsets comprise about 40 percent of the worldwide marketplace. It has not always been this way.  Once the leading brand of phone in the US, Nokia’s share of the market has dropped to about 10 percent.  Brands such as LG, Samsung, Blackberry, Motorola and Apple’s iPhone tend to lead in market share and mindshare respectively.
But cell phones have evolved a great deal since Nokia was a major …

With the brackets set and first round matchups set to tip off on Thursday, Nielsen has released its first annual Guide To March Madness, which tracks a range of consumer and media information surrounding the event.
“The NCAA Tournament is very attractive to sports marketers even in tough economic times,” said Tom Ziangas, SVP for Nielsen Sports. “The games playing out over several weeks make it a sort of mini-series for viewers. There’s always some unexpected drama or Cinderalla story – like Davidson College last year – that makes March Madness a …

According to a new Nielsen study, 40 percent of consumers surveyed use vitamins and dietary supplements, with North Americans and Asians leading the world in usage (54% and 43%, respectively).  The highest levels of usage were found in the Philippines and Thailand, with 66 percent of consumers saying they take vitamins, although not every day.  56 percent of U.S. consumers surveyed said they take vitamins or supplements, with 44 percent saying they take them daily.
The primary benefit of taking vitamins and supplements, according to more than 60 percent of those …

Nielsen Online analyst Jon Gibs takes a look at the news and newspaper industry in his latest post and welcomes your input.
“The economic situation we’re in has had many casualties, banks, the housing market, free soda, the works. But one of the most notable has been newspapers. I’ve posted in the past on the fate of the Christian Science Monitor, and the Rocky Mountain News has now said its goodbye as well. I think it is safe to say that these are not the end of a trend; they are …

Advertising expenditures dropped 2.6% overall last year, according to data released today by The Nielsen Company. “Given the state of the U.S. economy, a decline in ad spending was expected, but it’s not as bad as it could have been,” said Annie Touliatos, VP of Sales Development for Monitor-Plus, Nielsen’s ad tracking service. “The campaign season and the Summer Olympics were two big events that had a tremendous impact on advertising, especially on TV buys.”
The automotive industry’s ad spending fell hardest in 2008. The industry slashed its spending by almost …

In a further sign that the economic downturn is more widespread than any before, Russian consumer confidence dropped 6 points in February 2009 from November 2008, when it dropped 16 points from September 2008, according to Nielsen’s Consumer Confidence Index.  The issues causing Russians nervousness mirror those found in other countries: growing unemployment, high inflation, devaluation of national currency and the burden of easy credit obtained during the “optimistic” years.  Maintaining employment is the key concern, with only 20 percent saying their job prospects were good, while 75 percent were …

While uncertain economic conditions have forced most marketers to cut back their budgets, they can take a number of steps to compensate for fewer available dollars and maintain the effectiveness of their campaign.  By moving beyond the use of traditional media age/sex demographics and having a clearer understanding of what networks and programs best reach actual brand targets, marketers have an opportunity to change their mix.  These new schedules can diminish the impact lower marketing budgets could have on a brand’s in-market presence.
Nielsen conducted a recession analysis that replicated the …

Nielsen Games released its January 2009 data for top console usage and PC game titles with Playstation 2 and the role-playing game World Of Warcraft topping their respective lists.
Top Game Consoles January 2009

Rank
Console
Usage
Minutes %

1
PlayStation 2
23.7

2
Wii
20.7

3
Xbox 360
18.2

4
PlayStation 3
9.0

5
Xbox
7.9

6
GameCube
3.3

7
Other
17.2

Source: Nielsen Games – GamePlay Metrics™
Usage Minutes % is the percent of all measured console minutes
“Other” consists of any other console systems found in the home

Top  10 PC Game Titles January 2009

Rank
Title
Publisher
Share
Avg. Min
Per Week
TMP%

1
World of Warcraft
Blizzard Entertainment
12.090
649
46.560

2
Dark Messiah of Might & Magic
Ubisoft
0.978
732
4.403

3
Second Life
Linden Lab
1.488
520
3.589

4
Warcraft III: …

While buyers may be delaying new vehicle purchases, consumers still actively post tens of thousands of brand and vehicle related messages each month. In its latest Automotive Industry Overview, Nielsen Online found that consumers have enthusiastically responded online to the Hyundai Assurance program (which allows leasers to return a vehicle with no penalty if they lose their income). Since the plan debuted in January, 2009, more than 1,900 messages have been posted, helped by general curiosity, praise from the media, Super Bowl commercials and the Assurance Plus addition in February. …