Troubled U.S. automakers are pleading their case for a government “bailout,” but American consumers would rather discuss future vehicle news and concepts from luxury automakers.
An analysis of auto-related blog discussions released Tuesday by Nielsen Online found online buzz in October spiked around BMW’s X1 Concept, Lexus’s IS 250C, and Acura’s first V8 engine.
The “Meet the Beckers” series and content from the Lexus L-Studio site were the top consumer-cited videos for October.

U.S. households without children spent 19% more on liquor and wine, and 14% more on vitamins than average American households during the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2008, according to Nielsen.
Although households are often assumed to be conventional families with children, most U.S. households do not have children under the age of 18.  In fact, households without children account for roughly 65% of all U.S. households. 
According to Nielsen, these households represent 77.5% of liquor and wine dollar sales, 74% of vitamin dollar sales, and 73.6% of floral/gardening product and tobacco dollar sales.
Other categories skewing to households without children include medications/remedies, …

Obesity is more prevalent in the U.S. than ever before, and marketers are taking notice.  Many are actively changing their strategies to create products and messages that appeal to this segment of the population. 
According to NielsenHealth, U.S. households with at least one obese member spend 9% more than the average American household on over-the-counter medications, 10% more on health and beauty care products, and almost 17% more on total medications and remedies. 
Obesity sufferers tend to live in low-income households, with incomes of less than $20,000/year, and are more likely to be middle-aged …

Surging online activity on Election Day accompanied record voter turn-out at the polls, as voters flocked to current events and news sites to follow election results.
Web traffic to sites within the “Current Events and Global News” category was up 27% on Election Day, versus the previous Tuesday (Oct. 28), Nielsen Online reported Wednesday.
The candidates’ websites also drew healthy traffic on Election Day.  Obama’s site had 1.2 million unique visitors on Nov. 4, while McCain’s site had 479,000 unique visitors.

Rank
(by
Nov. 4 UA)
Website
Unique Audience:
Oct. 28, 2008
(in 000s)
Unique Audience:
Nov. 4, 2008
(in 000s)
% Change

1
CNN Digital Network
8,496
12,847
51%

2
MSNBC …

U.S. households with fulltime working women spent over one-third more on sanitary protection, family planning, and cosmetics products than average American households during the 52 weeks ending June 28, 2008, according to Nielsen.
Professional women live in almost one-third (32.3%) of U.S. households.  In 2007 and 2008, these households represented 44.3% of sanitary product dollar sales, 43.6% of family planning product dollar sales, and 43.3% of cosmetic product dollar sales.
Other categories skewing to households with working women include ethnic health and beauty aids, baby needs, gum, and diet aids.

Rank
(by highest index)
Top …

On the eve of the presidential election, both candidates made hefty boosts in their advertising in seven key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
On Sunday, Nov. 2, McCain ran just 708 TV ad units in those seven states — 48% fewer than the 1,463 ad units Obama ran that day. 
But on Monday, Nov. 3, Obama’s lead in these key battleground states shrank to 79% — or a margin of 1,510 ad units, after McCain’s campaign increased the number of TV ad units it ran in those …

In recent months, U.S. households have accelerated their preparations for the nationwide switch to digital TV, Nielsen reported Tuesday.
The percentage of completely unready households declined from 8.4% in September 2008 to 7.7% last month — the largest single-month change in the past six months, according to Nielsen.

During the final weekend preceding the presidential election, Sen. Barack Obama ran 77% more TV ads than Sen. John McCain (5,947 vs. 3,358) in seven key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Despite trailing Obama in terms of the total number of TV ad units placed, McCain showed a much larger percentage increase in TV advertising from the previous weekend (Friday October 24 thru Sunday, October 26) to this past weekend (Friday, October 31 thru Sunday, November 2).  
McCain bumped his TV ad units up by 76% overall in the seven battleground states Nielsen tracked, while Obama increased his advertising …

With the presidential election less than a week away, both candidates are easing back their advertising in seven key swing states: Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
McCain increased his ad units by small margins in Florida, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Thursday, Oct. 30.  He reduced the number of ad units he ran in Colorado by 1.5%, in Georgia by 31.9%, in Missouri by 1.8%, and in Ohio by 3.8%.
In comparison, Obama boosted his ad units slightly in Georgia, Missouri, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Thursday.  Meanwhile, he reduced the …

On Wednesday, Sen. John McCain continued to increase his TV advertising in seven key swing states, while Sen. Barack Obama reduced his TV ad units in most of these states.
Wednesday evening marked the release of Obama’s half-hour infomercial.
McCain increased his ad units in Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia on Wednesday, Oct. 29.  He reduced the number of ad units he ran in Missouri by -1.7%.
In comparison, Obama increased his ad units in Florida and held his advertising steady in Georgia on Wednesday.  Meanwhile, he reduced the number of ad units he ran in Colorado, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia by slight percentages.

State
Obama:
Ad Units* (10/28/08)
Obama:
Ad Units* (10/29/08)
% Growth:
Obama …