The potential of China is unmatched. However, marketers must not make assumptions about the demographic makeup of the population based on what they see in other countries, for China is substantially different.

The Duke Blue Devils have received the largest percentage of online discussion among the Final Four teams in the NCAA basketball tournament.

Spending on Spanish Language and African-American media declined 4.7% and 7.3%, respectively, in 2009, according to figures released today by The Nielsen Company. The declines are consistent with the trend in overall advertising, although the drops aren’t as deep. Last month, Nielsen reported that ad spending fell nine percent in 2009, despite significant increases in Cable TV.

Being able to keep pace with these increasingly diverse and demanding segments will require marketers to have a detailed view of what ethnic households buy as well as how they consumer media across TV, Internet and Mobile.

Find out which generation spends the most per trip, shops the most often, finds the most deals and learn how to reach them. Understanding diverse generational preferences leads to opportunities at the register.

Nielsen’s regional experts share insights on confidence, media trends, and what next for the increasingly diverse, demanding, and connected global consumer.

Thirty-nine percent of Facebook users in the U.S., U.K. and Australia have already donated to the Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Another 21 percent still plan to do so, according to a joint survey conducted by Facebook and Nielsen.

Today’s presence of underwater mortgages, or homes with negative equity, seem to be correlated to two common regional U.S. population trends: domestic immigration from the Northeastern region to the South and Southwestern and migration from coastal California inland.

An aging population will completely alter the marketplace for consumer products in the near and distant future. Marketing strategies that account for shifts in household size and demographic make-up will be most successful.

While people 65 and older still make up less than 10 percent of the active Internet universe, their numbers are on the rise. In the last five years, the number of seniors actively using the Internet has increased by more than 55 percent, from 11.3 million active users in November 2004 to 17.5 million in November 2009. Among people 65+, the growth of women in the last five years has outpaced the growth of men by 6 percentage points.