Conversations about Memorial Day ranged from the hottest retail sales during the holiday to plans for the weekend. So what were bloggers doing? Maybe they were at the movies. Two of the top 10 topics in May were the new movie releases, Star Trek and Terminator Salvation.

Political figures were also widely discussed in May, with Barack Obama being the No. 3 most talked about topic for the month. Bloggers buzzed about the president’s desire to pass a new credit card reform law, his planned trip to the Middle East, and his visit to the University of Notre Dame. In fact, his visit to Notre Dame was so widely discussed that the phrase, Notre Dame, became the 5th most talked about subject in May. President Obama’s May 26th nomination of Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court was also widely discussed among bloggers. Former Vice President Dick Cheney also emerged as the fourth most blogged-about topic.

Bloggers Still Buzzing about the Flu

While Swine Flu was top of mind for many bloggers in April, it fell to No. 8 in May. Bloggers continued to discuss the latest cases and growing number of infected; however, there were also many conversations that discussed how the initial panic surrounding the epidemic was over-inflated and unnecessary.

“Understanding what is currently important to bloggers is essential to marketers since we know that highly blogged about topics are important indicators of conversational sustainability and impact,” said Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president, digital strategic services, Nielsen Online. “Moreover, those topics with high blog links tend to embed themselves prominently in search results.”

Top 10 Blogged Topics, April 2009

Source: Nielsen BuzzMetrics Custom Analysis

Swine Flu and Politics Top of Mind

Despite the fact that it wasn’t until April 24th that the World Health Organization issued its first Disease Outbreak Notice regarding the H1N1 virus, the flu outbreak quickly ascended all other topics to become the most blogged about subject for the month. Discussions ranged from reporting the first flu-related death in the United States to conversations on the Centers for Disease Control’s handling of the situation. Easter was also an important topic for the month, deposed from the No. 1 position by the flu buzz late in the month.

Politics were also top of mind for the online community in April. Bloggers discussed PA Senator Arlen Specter’s switch from the GOP to the Democratic Party, with opinions ranging from it being a disastrous power play to believing the move will work in his favor. Bloggers also discussed President Obama’s speech in early April in which he stated that America will “seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.” Some felt that this idea, while good on paper, is not realistic, while others took the opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns on nuclear weapons as a whole.

“The blogosphere is not just a place where people write about the day-to-day events of their own lives—it also acts as a forum for people to share their opinions and thoughts on things that are occurring in the world. The influence of these bloggers is far-reaching, whether it is sharing their opinion on an upcoming movie launch or a devastating flu epidemic, they are talking and people are listening,” added Blackshaw.

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more info: pr.us@nielsen.com

Some insights on the Insight

The 2010 Honda Insight is having a tough time breaking out of the Prius’ shadow as the majority of consumers often compare the two vehicles. However, keep in mind that the Honda Insight just came on the market in March 2009 while the Toyota Prius has been around for roughly 10 years. Buzz generated by the Insight’s release in March was no comparison to the attention it gained at the Paris & Detroit Auto Shows.

Shoppers, Buyers and Rejecters are turning to Twitter to tweet about their intentions and experiences. Thus far, the 2010 Honda Insight is outpacing both the 2010 Prius and 2010 Ford Fusion on Twitter.

Which hybrid has the most “positive” charge?

2010 Honda Insight online discussion is driven primarily by comparisons to the Toyota Prius. Price is frequently referenced as the Insight’s selling point; however, some do not feel that the difference in price makes up for the Insight’s lower MPG rate (compared to the 2010 Prius) or perceived lack of features. When diving into the topics surrounding the conversations around the Insight and Prius to gauge sentiment, the Insight created a more polarized view.

If consumers regularly evaluate the Insight as a potential “Prius Killer,” the Insight may fail to emerge with a unique reputation, divorced from the Prius. The perception that the design of the Insight is too similar to that of the Prius highlights the belief that the Prius is the gold standard to which all other hybrids must aspire. Insight and future hybrid cars will have to keep an eye not only on the road, but also the web to help shape the conversations of the new breed of hybrid shopper.

Recent Buzz On Conficker Vs. March Madness

Spring Cleaning At Work

Following Microsoft’s announcement of a $250K reward for information that would lead to the arrest of those responsible for the virus, activity on terms such as “virus removal” and “virus protection” began to show spikes during the work week.

The automotive industry has witnessed an extremely volatile and game-changing 2008. With Ford, BMW, Honda, Toyota and Volkswagen leading the way, here is a look at the top 25 automotive brands that consumers discussed online in 2008 relative to all online discussion.

In the wake of winning the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Obama was mentioned in almost 20% of all blog discussions, Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.

In comparison, John McCain was referenced by just 6.3% of all blog entries posted on November 5, according to Nielsen.

Nielsen Online recently analyzed the online presidential campaign, examining online advertising by the candidates, Web traffic and online video viewing at both campaign’s sites, and blog buzz related to the election.

Online Advertising
Senator Barack Obama’s campaign ramped up its online advertising in mid-September. Image-based ad impressions by the Obama campaign grew 202% from September 15 to 22 — and by another 94% by September 29.

In mid-October, Obama’s campaign also stepped up its sponsored link advertising, surpassing McCain’s sponsored link advertising for the first time.

In contrast, Sen. McCain’s online advertising push came in the weeks just before the Republican National Convention. McCain boosted image-based ad impressions by 261% between August 11 and 22, but after announcing Palin as his running mate, scaled back his display advertising. Between August 25 and September 7, McCain’s image-based online advertising dropped by 85%.

Web Traffic To Campaign Sites
Unique visitors to BarackObama.com outpaced those to JohnMcCain.com nearly two to one in September. The unique audience at BarackObama.com went from 6.1 million in August to 7.9 million in September (+31%).

During the same time period, JohnMcCain.com’s unique audience grew by 56% — from 2.7 million to 4.2 million unique visitors.

Video Viewing Via Campaign Websites
Total video streams at JohnMcCain.com surged by 175% in September — from 1.2 million streams in August to 3.2 million in September. Unique video viewers at the McCain’s site also increased 175% last month, from 475,000 viewers in August to 1.3 million in September.

In comparison, video streams at BarackObama.com saw less dramatic growth (+60%). Visitors to the site viewed 1.3 million streams in August, and 2.0 million streams in September. Unique viewers at Obama’s site also increased by 35% in September, from 824,000 viewers in August to 1.1 million last month.

Candidate Blogosphere Buzz
Online buzz about the two presidential candidates is increasing as Election Day approaches. In general, spikes in blog buzz during October coincided with the presidential and vice presidential debates on October 2, 7, and 15.

In the days leading up to and following Obama’s October 29 TV infomercial, online discussions of Obama have outpaced those referencing McCain.

Candidate Online Brand Associations
In online discussions, McCain and Obama are most closely associated with each other, followed by their running mates.

After that, McCain is most closely associated with “Sarah Palin,” “campaign,” and “debate.” Obama is also closely associated with “Sarah Palin,” as well as with “vote” and “president.”

Nielsen Online’s proprietary Brand Association Maps chart the attributes most closely associated with each candidate in online discussions. In general, BAM analysis provides an unaided, unsolicited, real-time barometer of consumer perceptions of and attitudes toward a topic discussed online.

Although McCain has tried to downplay several public relations challenges that occurred during his campaign, the terms “Katie Couric,” “Interview,” and “David Letterman” are as closely associated with him as “reform,” “economy,” and “Freddie Mac.”

Similarly, Obama’s efforts to distance himself from real estate developer Tony Rezko and Rev. Jeremiah Wright failed — in the online realm, at least. Obama is as closely associated with “Rezko,” “Plumber,” and “Wright” as he is with “economy,” “financial,” and “reform.”

View the full press release.

Read more about the media’s role in the election, in the latest issue of Nielsen’s “Consumer Insight” online newsletter.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in PC Magazine, Digital Media Wire, Media Daily News, and Media Post.

“Engagement” refers to the amount of attention paid to a television program by the average viewer.  Nielsen measures TV engagement by questioning a representative panel of viewers about their recall of specific telecasts’ content.

Online consumer discussion of both candidates spiked before and after each of the four political debates between September 26 and October 15, according to Nielsen Online. 

References to Obama accounted for 1.7% of consumer discussions on blogs and Internet message boards during that period, while mentions of McCain accounted for approximately 1.2% of the chatter on blogs and online boards. 

In contrast, voters who watched the presidential debates were considerably less engaged with the second and third debates, compared to the first one, according to Nielsen IAG.

The decline in audience engagement for the latter two debates was driven mostly by uncommitted voters, who had 21% lower engagement in the second and third debates, compared to the first one. Those voters already committed to Obama or McCain showed an 8% decline in engagement in the second and third debates, Nielsen reported.

On average, the debates captured somewhat more attention from those already committed to a candidate, rather than undecided voters.

Voters who watched the vice presidential debate were less engaged than voters who watched the first two presidential debates — but more engaged than those who watched the third presidential debate, according to Nielsen.  As with the presidential debates, the VP debate captured more attention from those already committed to either Obama or McCain than from undecided voters.

Overall, men were much more engaged than women with all three presidential debate broadcasts (+11% on average) and the VP debate (+16% on average).

The highest overall engagement levels came from McCain-committed voters during the first presidential debate.

During the 2pm to 3pm (EST) daypart on Monday, the combined audiences for CNN, CNBC, FOX News, and MSNBC jumped by 71% over the average daily audience for that daypart between Sept. 1 and Sept. 28, according to Nielsen.  The 3pm to 4pm daypart saw an even larger jump (103%) over the average audience for the prior portion of September. 

CNN, CNBC, FOX NEWS, and MSNBC’s combined audience spiked at almost 7.1 million viewers during the 5pm to 6pm hour — an 84% increase over that daypart’s average daily audience for Sept. 1 through Sept. 28.

Also surging on Monday: blog discussions with the terms “wall street” and “bailout.”  Overall, nearly 2% of all blog posts on Sept. 29 mentioned the term “bailout.”

Meanwhile, traffic to online brokerage websites was up by 30% between September 15 and 21 — the week that AIG and Lehman Brothers collapsed, according to Nielsen data released Tuesday.

Unique visitors to online trading sites increased from a weekly average of 9.2 million during the previous seven weeks (July 28 – September 14) to nearly 12 million during the week ending September 21. 

ShareBuilder.com, Scottrade.com, and Merrill Lynch’s corporate website traffic also jumped between September 15 and 21 — by 217%, 104%, and 128%, respectively.

The total number of people accessing the Internet remained stable during that time period.

View the full press release.

Read coverage of Nielsen’s findings in The Baltimore Sun.