The size of the U.K. Internet audience grew from 36.9 million people in May 2009 to 38.8 million people in May 2010. Of these 1.9 million new Internet users, 1.0 million (53 percent) were at least 50 years old.

While it’s still nice to stop by a store to touch and see products, the convenience of online shopping can’t be beat. And for some services, such as booking travel or buying concert tickets, the ability to do so online has made the process much easier and more efficient.

It has been just over a month since the peak of the May political unrest in Thailand, but most Thai consumers (7 out of 10) say their lives are already back to normal, or will return to normal within a month.

Hany Mwafy, Managing Director North Africa and James Russo, Vice President Global Consumer Insights presented today at Nielsen’s Consumer 360 conference on how the center of gravity is shifting away from North America and Europe. In the decades to come, emerging economies will deliver more growth – and more profits.

The popularity of social media is undeniable as the world now spends over 110 billion minutes on social networks and blog sites – 22 percent of their time online.

While concern about the economy and job security still remains, Nordic consumers are more optimistic than the rest of Europe regarding the state of their personal finances and their willingness to spend.

The Beautiful Game, or joga bonito as the Brazilians say, is coming to mobile. Globally, 21% of survey respondents said they would get at least some of their information from the Internet via their mobile devices.

In April 2007, Social Networks & Blogs accounted for less than nine percent of all UK Internet time, but in three years the sector has grown to account for almost 23 percent of U.K. Internet time.

Over the past two decades, expanding global supply, shortened product life cycles, an abundance of precision data and new interactive and social media have dramatically empowered consumers.

The switch from prescription to over-the-counter status presents huge opportunities for drug manufacturers—as much as $89 billion in the U.S. alone with many near-term opportunities for growth lie in fast-developing countries.