The Nielsen Company today reported September 2009 data for the Top Parent Companies/Divisions and Top Web Brands, as well as average Internet usage.

How have gamers responded to the recession? While much of the conversation has focused on fluctuations in new game sales, a new study “The Value Gamer: Play and Purchase Behavior in a Recession” by the Nielsen Company shows there is much more to the story. Over the past several months, the number of hours that gamers claim to be playing is at an all time high, part of a rising trend in gameplay that began in 2007. Additionally, gamers have increased their purchase of used games to record-breaking totals since …

Nielsen Online today reported data for the top U.S. search providers, ranked by total searches, the top companies/divisions and web brands in May 2009.  Total searches increased 20 percent over May 2008.
Top 10 Search Providers for May 2009 (U.S.) 

Provider
Searches (000)
YOY Growth
Share of Searches

All Search
9,440,467
20.3%
100.0%

Google Search
5,968,840
28.2%
63.2%

Yahoo! Search
1,625,253
22.3%
17.2%

MSN/Windows Live Search
891,502
-14.6%
9.4%

AOL Search
364,784
13.1%
3.9%

Ask.com Search
205,438
21.9%
2.2%

My Web Search
77,283
44.7%
0.8%

Comcast Search
55,853
33.1%
0.6%

Yellow Pages Search
33,141
n/a*
0.4%

NexTag Search
27,189
29.9%
0.3%

AT&T Worldnet Search
17,719
-32.4%
0.2%

Source: Nielsen MegaView Search

 * A year-over-year comparison is not possible because of a definitional change to Yellow Pages Search.

Jon Stewart
When Microsoft rebranded their search engine, Yusuf Mehdi explained that they settled on the name Bing “because it sounds off in our heads when we think about that moment of discovery and decision making – when you resolve those important tasks.” Still in the early weeks of the launch, he is probably hoping that Bing resonates more like the sweet sound of trialability.
With only 22 percent of all active U.S. searchers using MSN/Windows Live on a monthly basis, user trial and acquisition is Bing’s first critical hurdle to overcome. …

Jon Stewart, Research Director, Technology & Search, Nielsen Online
It’s safe to say that expectations of search capabilities and delivery have risen over the years, and Microsoft is betting that this will translate into widespread adoption of their new and improved search engine, Bing. In anticipation of its debut this week, Microsoft posted a teaser video and allowed select individuals to preview the tool, resulting in some substantial pre-launch buzz.
The Early Verdict on Bing
To understand how the buzz on Bing has unfolded over the last few days, we watched commentary—specifically reaction …

Anticipation surrounds this year’s E3, one of the largest video game expos, which kicks off this week in Los Angeles. Not only have Sony and Microsoft hinted at major hardware-related announcements, but also details related to upcoming software releases are expected to emerge. Video game enthusiasts started heavily discussing their expectations for E3 several months ago online. This traditionally vocal group of consumers is especially engaged in this year’s E3 – buzz for the month prior to the 2009 expo is up 31% over the comparable time period for E3 …

Jon Stewart, Research Director, Technology & Search, Nielsen Online
We’ve all been there. We’re at the store sizing up that shiny new product, and everybody from the floor manager to the checkout person to our Significant Other is telling us how much we can save if we just went ahead and bought the darn thing. And we know that spending money isn’t actually saving it, but we do it anyway because it feels so good. Well, last May, Microsoft saw opportunity in our soft spot, and told us that they would …

The Nielsen Company released March 2009 U.S. data for the Top Parent Companies/Divisions and Top Web Brands, as well as average Internet usage. Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo! led the way for parent companies online.

Video games are attracting more people than ever.  Traditionally the realm of younger males, gaming has grown increasingly popular among women, older players and other demographic groups.  And while the weak economy has had an effect on many forms of entertainment, video games have shown an amazing resilience, with sales of both gaming consoles and games continuing to show healthy growth.  These are just a few of the findings of a new comprehensive report on PC game and video game console usage from Nielsen Games.
In addition to gaming consoles such as PlayStation and Xbox, PC …

The Conficker computer virus, which has been infecting computers since late 2008 and threatens to impact PCs starting April 1, is getting big buzz in the blogosphere. In the last week, buzz has grown so much that it recently eclipsed chatter for another web hot topic, March Madness and the NCAA Championships. While viruses often spread thanks to mass misinformation on the web (and dubious emails), could the abundance of this computer bug buzz be acting as an early viral warning for PC users?
Recent Buzz On Conficker Vs. March Madness

Spring …