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 …

CI SUMMARY: Asians in the U.S. are often overlooked by marketers due to the tremendous growth of the Hispanic population. However, marketers will need to dig deep in order to reach this rapidly growing segment, who speak many different languages and have diverse cultural backgrounds as compared with the Hispanic consumer. While most Hispanics in the U.S. come from either Mexico or Latin America and share at least some parts of their culture, Asians do not. The strong cultural differences between persons from Japan, China, and India impact their tastes and how they approach their lives in the U.S.

Most global consumers agree that their countries have hit recession, but opinion on how long the recession will last remains mixed, Nielsen reported Wednesday.
While 53% of those surveyed by Nielsen think their country has hit a prolonged recession that will last more than 12 months, 18% of consumers, concentrated in a handful of emerging markets, like India, Vietnam, China, and Russia, told Nielsen they expect their countries to be out of recession within the next 12 months.
In contrast, consumers in Japan, Germany, Argentina, Mexico, Turkey, Italy, Taiwan, the U.S., and Spain were the …

Advertising in Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America grew by 1.5%, year-over-year, in the second quarter of 2008, Nielsen reported Wednesday.
Strong advertising growth in the Asia-Pacific region (+7.6% over Q2 2007) drove the increase, according to data released in Nielsen’s latest Global AdView Pulse report.
Ad spending trends worldwide showed significant variations — with overall advertising declines recorded in North America (-1%) and Europe (-3%).