Internet Marketing Weekly News Update #028 December 30, 2009

MySpace and Facebook Ad Revenues Heading in Opposite Directions

Facebook is expected to pass MySpace as the number one social media site in terms of earning ad revenue, a change that highlights the differing fortunes of the two sites. Facebook is enjoying strong growth, with revenues expected to increase by 39% in 2010. MySpace, on the other hand, is projected to suffer a 21% decline in ad revenue during 2010.

The Federal Trade Commission hears arguments against Google's acquisition of AdMob.

Consumer groups are petitioning the FTC to block Google's planned acquisition of mobile advertising firm AdMob. Besides the usual anti-monopoly concerns that often accompany acquisitions, there are also overtones of privacy concerns in this case, because of the information-gathering practices ofboth Google and AdMob.

iPhone hears Android footsteps.

Android is posing a credible threat to iPhone, as consumer awareness is growing while usage statistics indicate that iPhone and Android are trying to occupy much the same space with users. Awareness of Android among U.S. mobile phone users rose from 22% to 37% between August and November of 2009, and Android users demonstrate many of the same characteristics as iPhone users.

eMarketer releases new statistics on in-store and online retail convergence.

Online and in-store shopping are not necessarily separate and competing alternatives, and new statistics show the convergence between the two is growing. More than 70% of multi-channel retailers give in-store sales people Internet access so they can look up information and place orders, and over 20% provide this access directly to customers in their stores.

eBay sees big payback from mobile device app.

This holiday season, eBay saw sales via mobile devices triple compared with the prior year. Over 1.5 million items were bought from eBay using a mobile device this holiday season. The traffic alone is impressive, with 6 million users having downloaded the iPhone app, and 175,000 visits occurring via mobile apps daily.

Online shopping delivers on its promise.

Not only did more people than ever shop online this holiday season, but online retailers did a better job of satisfying those customers. A satisfaction index of online shoppers jumped 7% to the highest score since the survey began in 2001. 11 sites were rated as "excellent," up from only two last year. These scores are important to the continued growth of online shopping, as highly satisfied shoppers are 61% more likely to shop at a site again, and 70% more likely to recommend the site.

Online sales up 5% this holiday season.

According to comScore, online sales from November 1st, 2009 through Christmas Eve (December 24th, 2009) increased 5% over the same period the prior year. This exceeds the overall rise in retail spending measured by MasterCard, which was 3.6%.

The digital holidays: family, friends, and Facebook.

For the first time in its history, Facebook earned the spot as the most visited Web site in the United States on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Facebook was second in visits for Christmas of 2008, and for 2009 as a whole it finished third behind Google and Yahoo Mail.