Internet Marketing Weekly News Update #029 January 6, 2010

Growth for social marketing predicted, but mobile advertising may steal the buzz.

According to eMarketer, spending on social network advertising should continue to grow in 2010, but the really explosive growth should be in mobile advertising. Social ad spending is expected to be up 7.1% in 2010, while mobile advertising is projected to grow by 42.5%. Even so, social advertising spending should still far outdistance mobile advertising spending, at $1.295 billion vs. $593 million for 2010.

MasterCard Advisors issues rosy report for 2009 e-commerce.

Figures for 2009 holiday spending are still being tallied, with some conflicting figures being reported, but all signs point to decent growth for online sales. MasterCard Advisors' SpendingPulse issued a particularly favorable review of the season, with a report that online spending from November 1st through December 24th grew by 15.5% over the same period in 2008.

Direct and digital marketers see an upturn in M&A activity.

With economic confidence increasing and good valuation deals still available, mergers and acquisitions involving direct and digital marketers increased in the 4th quarter of 2009, in terms of both the number and value of deals. According to investment banker Petsky Prunier, there were 201 such deals with a total value of $13.5 billion in the 4th quarter of 2009.

ComScore and Flurry team up to measure mobile app usage.

ComScore has announced a partnership with mobile applications analytics firm Flurry to provide comprehensive measurement of mobile application usage. Flurry claims to capture usage on 50 million devices, representing 80% of all iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android users.

The Network Advertising Initiative finds non-compliance with behavioral targeting guidelines.

The Network Advertising Initiative (NAI) has issued a report stating that 10 of its 35 members do not fully comply with its guidelines on behavioral advertising targeting. The non-compliance with the NAI guidelines mostly comes in areas of disclosure, such as disclosing how long customer information is retained or disclosing which information is used for behavioral targeting.

Cross-channel shopping gains momentum.

Being able to combine the convenience of online shopping with the hands-on accessibility of in-store shopping is becoming increasingly important. Some 34.2% of North American retailers offer some degree of in-store pickup for online purchases, and another 36.6% plan to offer it by the end of 2010. Customers also are increasingly finding it very important to be able to return merchandise ordered online to an in-store location.

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em: the U.S. Postal Service launches iPhone app.

The U.S. Postal Service, which is facing adverse financial circumstances due in large part to the popularity of digital media as a substitute for traditional mail, has launched an iPhone app in an attempt to make it easier for mobile device users to identify and use postal services. Whether they actually have substantial demand for those services remains to be seen.

Zillow prospers despite--or because of--turbulent real estate market.

It was a rocky market for real estate in 2009, but real estate information site Zillow saw dramatic growth during the year, as the tough market may have increased the demand for pertinent information. Among the highlights, Zillow saw a 57% increase in unique monthly visitors, a 37% increase in page views, and a 43% increase in listings.

Happy New Year--people once again spend their holiday with Facebook.

While Google retains its status as the most visited Web site overall, Facebook followed up its leadership on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day by beating out Google as the most visited Web site on New Year's Day, 2010.

Google and Apple go toe-to-toe--or wallet to wallet.

Another battle line between Google and Apple became clear when it was announced recently that Apple has reached an agreement to buy mobile ad network Quattro--an announcement eerily similar to Google's recent agreement to buy mobile ad network AdMob, which Apple had also reportedly coveted.