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 …

Google was the top-ranked Web brand in November, drawing more than 127 million unique visitors during the month, Nielsen Online reported Tuesday.  Yahoo! and MSN/Windows Live rounded out the top three, with unique audiences of just over 117 million and 104 million visitors, respectively.

Rank
Brand
Unique Audience
(in 000s)
Time Per Person
(hh:mm:ss)

1
Google
127,656
1:23:40

2
Yahoo!
117,656
3:17:36

3
MSN/Windows Live
104,090
2:13:19

4
Microsoft
95,543
0:45:44

5
AOL Media Network
86,308
3:43:45

6
YouTube
81,882
1:01:33

7
Fox Interactive Media
69,838
1:39:31

8
Wikipedia
58,335
0:18:39

9
Amazon
57,682
0:25:33

10
eBay
55,438
1:43:41

Source: The Nielsen Company (November 2008).

View the full press release.
View the top U.S. Web brands for September and October 2008.

Among the top computer and consumer electronics websites for November, computer giants Microsoft and Apple easily drew the largest unique audiences, according to Nielsen Online. 
Visitors to Apple’s site logged the longest average stay-times.

Rank
(by UA, Nov. 2008)
Top 10
Computer & Consumer Electronics
Web Brands:
Nov. 2008
Unique Audience:
Nov. 2008
(in 000s)
Time Per Person (hh:mm:ss)

1
Microsoft
95,543
0:45:44

2
Apple
52,909
1:12:27

3
Adobe
29,472
0:05:19

4
Hewlett Packard
23,435
0:09:58

5
Best Buy
22,138
0:11:28

6
Flickr
19,304
0:09:06

7
CNET
17,935
0:06:23

8
Dell
17,058
0:18:38

9
Circuit City
16,609
0:08:18

10
Mozilla
14,400
0:02:23

Source: Nielsen Online (November 2008 ).

Note: Web properties reported at either the brand or channel market level and can include multiple URL’s.

Microsoft’s Xbox is the most buzzed about game console so far this holiday season, Nielsen Online reported Thursday.
The Xbox 360 garnered the largest share of online buzz between November 1 and December 9, with 41.6% of blog messages mentioning Xbox, Wii or Playstation.
In comparison, Nintendo’s Wii was mentioned in 29.8% of game console blog messages, while Sony’s Playstation ranked third with mentions in 28.6% of gaming-related blog posts.

Jon Stewart
It seems there has been a lot of discussion lately about the cloud, and questions of a looming shift in computing. I find the most interesting discussion to be the one that surrounds Internet applications that have traditionally been considered desktop apps. If consumers move toward accessing traditional software in this way, it will signify a major shift. Our entire PC experience could change. But it is hard to picture this future with so few real world examples at present. If a shift happens, when will it be? Five …

Google was the top-ranked Web brand in October, drawing more than 122 million unique visitors during the month, Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.
Yahoo! and MSN/Windows Live rounded out the top three, with unique audiences of just over 116 million and 102 million visitors, respectively.

Rank
Top Web Brands
Unique Audience
(in 000s)
Time Per Person
(hh:mm:ss)

1
Google
122,325
1:23:07

2
Yahoo!
116,078
3:23:29

3
MSN/Windows Live
102,494
2:23:27

4
Microsoft
92,348
0:45:54

5
AOL Media Network
88,028
3:34:41

6
YouTube
77,480
0:53:25

7
Fox Interactive Media
67,182
1:37:12

8
Wikipedia
56,896
0:20:07

9
Apple
49,340
0:58:34

10
eBay
49,213
1:47:26

Source: The Nielsen Company (October 2008).

View the full press release.
View the top U.S. Web brands for September 2008.

According to data from Nielsen IAG, a Disney Parks ad inviting consumers to visit Disney theme parks for birthday celebrations was the most liked new “traditional” ad during the four weeks between September 15 and October 12, 2008.
Likeability refers to the percentage of television viewers who report liking an ad “a lot” after viewing it, among those who are able to recall an ad’s brand.

Microsoft unseated longtime number two-ranked Web brand, Yahoo! in September, Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.
Last month, Microsoft drew almost 120.9 million unique visitors, while Yahoo! drew 116.7 million.
Google remained the top-ranked Web brand in September, with more than 127 million unique visitors, according to Nielsen.

Google and Yahoo! were again the number one- and number two-ranked Web brands in August, according to Nielsen Online.

Rank
Web Brand
Unique Audience
(in 000s)
Time Per Person
(hh:mm:ss)

1
Google
123,690
1:25:18

2
Yahoo!
117,702
3:22:31

3
MSN/Windows Live
103,953
2:21:25

4
Microsoft
93,558
12:38:39

5
AOL Media Network
93,070
3:33:46

6
YouTube
75,442
1:01:01

7
Fox Interactive Media
70,696
1:54:24

8
eBay
55,842
1:52:01

9
Wikipedia
52,987
0:21:24

10
Apple
48,766
1:10:42

Source: The Nielsen Company (August 1, 2008 – August 31, 2008).