Freestyle skiing, which includes men’s and women’s moguls competition, was the most popular Olympic sport among U.S. TV weekend viewers through February 15, according to a minute-by-minute analysis of viewing conducted by The Nielsen Company.

“The early buzz data makes one thing clear — controversy drives conversation,” said Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of digital strategy at The Nielsen Company.

The Christmas retail season is in full swing, and in Australia, shopping is the on the minds of many, as online buzz about gift-giving is up more than 400 percent, according to research from The Nielsen Company.

Nielsen’s Melissa Davies offers a summary of her experience at the recent FDA hearings which focused on how healthcare and pharmaceutical companies can responsibly engage consumers online and through social media.

On Friday, November 13, Nielsen’s Melissa Davies, Research Director, Healthcare, Online division, will present testimony at an FDA hearing surrounding the pharmaceutical industry and regulations surrounding social media.

When the FDA recommended lowering the daily dose of acetaminophen citing potential overdose and liver injury, consumers reacted. Online chatter spiked and sales went flat.

The 2009 flu season is fast approaching (or has already arrived) and this year, swine flu is expected to figure prominently, but online consumers aren’t yet paying attention. In fact, online discussions about the swine flu have held relatively steady since a spike in April, when federal…

While connected by a common language (accents notwithstanding), history and location, Australians and New Zealanders have always had a degree of friendly rivalry. But that rivalry is diminishing to some extent as more Australians visit their neighbor to the southeast, according to research from Nielsen’s BuzzMetrics service.

For decades, consumer product manufacturers have used research such as focus groups to test new products and marketing campaigns to help ensure that they resonate.  And much of the time, those traditional techniques have been effective.  But the Internet has added a new twist to consumer research, one that makes it easier for people to voice their opinions to the world.  More and more, consumer goods firms are finding that listening to what customers are saying on message boards and dedicated web sites can yield even more insight to what …

The notion that the global economy may be on the verge of recovery has not yet translated into improved consumer spending or confidence, although consumers in the emerging countries – Brazil, India and China – seem to be more optimistic than others and are loosening their purse strings ever so slightly, according to the new edition of the Nielsen Economic Current.  Of the 12 countries Nielsen now tracks, all but Taiwan (which declined) showed no significant change in measures of spending.  Canadian, Western European and American spending was, at best, …