Two-thirds of the world’s Internet population visit social networking or blogging sites, accounting for almost 10% of all internet time, according to a new Nielsen report “Global Faces and Networked Places.” If data captured from December 2007 through December 2008 is any indication, that percentage is likely to grow as time spent on social network and blogging sites is growing more than three times the rate of overall Internet growth.
“Social networking has become a fundamental part of the global online experience,” commented John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen Online. “While two-thirds …

More than 80 percent of Americans now have a computer in their homes, and of those, almost 92 percent have internet access, according to a detailed report on home internet access prepared by Nielsen.  One year earlier, computer ownership stood at 77.9 percent.
Using data collected from its national and local television panels, the quarterly Home Technology phone survey and the Nielsen Claritas 2008 Convergence Audit survey, the report provides a detailed look at how Americans are getting on the internet and the differences by various demographic breaks.
Key findings of the …

A jar of mayonnaise or a package of tea is a straightforward product.  But if manufacturers market those products in the U.K. the same way they do in the U.S., they are probably making a mistake.  Nielsen has compiled the following “shopper truths” from around the world to help consumer packaged goods manufacturers and retailers successfully navigate consumer shopping behavior:

Same category, different market: often requires a different shopper strategy — While some universal truths exist within categories across borders, success of activation strategies …

If you’ve cut the cord on your landline and rely solely on a cellphone for calls, you’re likely to spend more time listening to the radio and sampling more stations, according to a pilot study in Lexington, KY run by The Nielsen Company. In March, Nielsen will roll out similar studies in 51 other major markets.
The Lexington study found that cell-phone-only homes logged nearly 23 hours of radio listening per week compared to just over 19 hours for the total sample.
In addition, the sample group:

Listens to 3.5 radio stations compared …

Since mid-February (the original date for the DTV switch) more than a half-million homes have prepared themselves for the Digital TV transition according to an update from The Nielsen Company.  As of March 1, 3.9 percent of all TV homes remain unready for the upcoming transition to all-digital broadcasting and would be unable to receive any television programming at all if the transition occurred today. Congress has set June 12 as the new date for the nationwide transition to DTV.

As economic uncertainty continues to loom over most of the country, Americans are watching their money and shopping less. But while that fact might spell doom for the nation’s retailers, there are a number of opportunities available to those companies who are able to look at how consumers are changing their behavior and innovate in how they do business to leverage these changes.
“Big Players Think Small in Format Fights,” an article in Consumer Insight by Todd Hale, senior vice president, Consumer & Shopper Insights with Nielsen, outlines how the economy …

The banking industry increased ad buys during televised sports events by 36% in 2008, despite an overall 10% cut on all TV buys, according to an analysis by The Nielsen Company.
Banks spent $122 million – or 18.7% of all its TV ad dollars – on sports event programming in 2008. In 2007, the banking industry spent $90 million on sports broadcasts, or 12.5% of the industry’s total TV ad expenditures
“In today’s market, the banking industry is wise to target its ads to sports audiences,” said Tom Ziangas, SVP for Nielsen Sports. “Not …

Over the last decade, Americans’ awareness of and sensitivity to the environment has grown dramatically, and environmental concerns regularly top opinion polls as being important.  Going hand-in-hand with this awareness is a desire to purchase products that are green, such as those that are organic, natural or have an environmentally friendly benefit. Retailers, food and consumer product manufacturers have sought to capitalize on this trend by launching new lines of products touting their natural qualities. The Natural Marketing Institute estimates that the size of the green marketplace will reach $420 …

Population trends have clear implications for those involved in the media and advertising industries. There are now more than 114 million U.S. TV households, with immigration continuing to play a major role in population growth. U.S. Census estimates predict that by the year 2050 more than half of the U.S.
population will be non-white.
Nielsen’s “Ethnic Trends In Media,” is a comprehensive report profiling African-American, Asian, Hispanic and White households in the U.S.  This report examines household characteristics, television usage, timeshifted viewing and popular programming genres for each group.
Key findings include:

Household …

Australians are abandoning desktop PCs and flocking to laptops and other wireless devices, according to Nielsen Online’s Internet and Technology Report released today.  In the last year, household ownership of desktop computers declined 10 percent, while ownership of laptops jumped from 49 percent to 63.  Wireless LAN ownership increased more than 20 points in the last year and now stands at 53 percent.  Additionally, broadband subscriptions reached 97 percent, up from 84 percent in 2007.
“As Australians become increasingly less wired in the ways they access the Internet, a greater focus …