Broadband

Two interesting news articles from the WSJ and NYT today.

"Internet Providers Move to Shape Broadband Push" (The Wall Street Journal) "President-elect Barack Obama's call to improve the nation's broadband infrastructure has cable and phone company lobbyists maneuvering to get a leg up. Policies under serious consideration are corporate tax credits to build new wireless or landline infrastructure, government-backed broadband "bonds" and grants to companies or local governments, legislative aides and lobbyists close to the process say. There also is strong agreement that low-income consumers need to be encouraged to sign up for broadband -for example, through vouchers to purchase computers or discounts on monthly service. Public-interest groups are clamoring for conditions to be imposed on carriers that receive tax credits, such as pledges not to degrade any Internet traffic, a principle referred to as "net neutrality."

"Internet Use Grows At Meetings, As Do Challenges" (The New York Times): "The advent of cheap, user-friendly —but bandwidth-heavy— streaming video technology changed the status quo drastically. Demand at hotels and convention centers has spiked, as businesses add videoconferencing to their meetings and guests download media. Adding to the logjam, hotel managers are moving toward Web-based tools for managing back-of-the-house departments, using more bandwidth, too. Nick Price, CIO and CTO for Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, said that bandwidth has been doubling year over year."

Caught on Camera

Check out this CNN video on 2008's some of the most memorable iReports.

Best technology stories of the year

Here is another top 10 list. Last week, PC World published IDG News Service's top technology stories for 2008 (not in order of importance). It includes some big mergers (and attempts), important news from the industry, and some new and innovative technology products brought to market this year. Other interesting picks for the top stories of the year are the use of technology during the elections and the impacts of the recession on corporate IT budgets and the tech industry overall. I am sure you have read and heard a lot about these news over the past year, but you can visit the link above for a quick recap.

- Recession Pulls the Plug on Tech
- HP Gobbles up EDS
- Microsoft Chases Yahoo
- Open Office XML Scores Controversial Victory
- Android and the Opening of the Mobile World
- Format Wars Revisited: Blu-Ray Beats HD DVD
- McColo, King of Spam, Falls and the Fight Goes On
- XP is Dead, Long Live XP
- Politics 2.0: Obama Taps Tech to Clinch Victory
- The End of an Era: Gates Retires

IAB's biggest interactive news of 2008

Most will agree that the most important news in the year 2008 were the credit crunch and economic downturn that has dominated the news, a presidential election driven in part by the Internet and social networking, the rise of social networks as an interactive platform and the growth of mobile media. The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released the most important interactive stories and events of 2008, based on the clicks of the readers of its daily newsletter, IAB SmartBrief. Here is the top 10 list:
- Twitter 101 (The Washington Post, 5/1)
- Blogging yet? Don't bother (Wired, 10/20)
- Mary Meeker on the state of the Internet (The New York Times, 11/5)
- Letterman's McCain tirade get 3.5M hits on YouTube (Advertising Age, 9/30)
- Experts weigh in on SEO myths (iMedia Connection, 6/30)
- Panel: The future of widgets (ClickZ, 3/24)
- Click rate for fake ad soars (Philly.com, 6/7)
- Newspapers are troubled, but online aggregators are flourishing (Reuters, 8/28)
- Research points to value of online display ads (The Wall Street Journal, 9/19)
- BusinessWeek's "25 Most Influential People on the Web" (BusinessWeek, 9/29)

Updates from MRA

Marketing Research Association (MRA) Launches Internal Review Program
MRA has created and launched a research company review program designed for providing transparency in online research. The MRA Review Program will vet and standardize online sample providers, it will create a clear understanding of panel supplier practices as they relate to data quality. Click here to access the MRA Review Program.

Marketing Research Association to Close Professional Researcher Certification Open Enrollment December 31, 2008
MRA will close Professional Researcher Certification (PRC) open enrollment on December 31, 2008. The unveiling of Certification 2.0, the second generation of the prestigious program, was introduced July 1, 2008. PRC's main goal is to encourage high standards within the marketing research profession, to raise competency, establish an objective measure of an individual's knowledge and proficiency and to encourage professional development.

Marketing Research Association Releases Special Edition of Alert! Magazine
MRA has released a special edition of Alert! Magazine dedicate to addressing the issue of quality in online research. The question of data quality with online research has been challenged over the years. Early in 2007 MRA began discussing the various options for resolving the viability issue. It was concluded that online research when done well and applied appropriately was a solid and effective research method.

More from the industry

Text message marketing to increase
"Nearly 60% of U.S. mobile subscribers use text-messaging on a regular basis, with 16% recalling some form of advertising while texting, according to new research by Nielsen Mobile. Given the growing popularity of text messaging, Nielsen says cell users can expect to see more short-code marketing. So far, marketers have used text messaging in various ways ranging from conveying basic information to rewards programming to couponing, according to Nielsen." Online Media Daily

13.5 billion Web videos viewed in October
"In October alone, 13.5 billion Internet videos were viewed, a 45% increase over the same month in 2007, according to comScore's Video Metrix. Google, with its YouTube, had the most views, followed by Fox Interactive's MySpace, Yahoo!, Microsoft and Viacom Digital." MarketingVOX

More users embracing new technology in developing world
"Media hardware such as DVD players and gaming consoles is more heavily used by people in Western countries, while newer technology such as video-enabled handsets is being embraced in developing countries, especially those in Asia, according to the biannual Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey." The Hollywood Reporter

Recession can be catalyst for growth
"Interpublic research group Magna released a report Friday suggesting steps that marketers can take to propel growth during the recession, including making more cross-platform deals and looking for opportunities to drive down rates. It also advised that marketers seek to build awareness while blocking competitors in the process." Marketing Daily

Industry news headlines

QA's crime cutting research wins industry award
"QA Research's qualitative study designed to cut crime levels through interaction with former offenders scooped the top prize for public policy research at the Research Awards. This year's Research Awards, hosted by the Market Research Society in London, saw the debut of the New Consumer Insights category. The winners were Vodafone and Mesh Planning for developing a new product to tackle the challenges of an increasingly fragmented media." Brand Republic

Mediaplex Launches Ad Targeting Tools
"Ad technology firm Mediaplex has released Dynamic Behavioral Targeting, a suite of products enabling advertisers to differentiate and segment customers from prospects based on their prior activity, and serve the most appropriate message. The system allows marketers to define their own optimization criteria and then measure and evaluate the performance of the creative element to automatically serve up the best performing ads." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

Tesco predicted to become world's second largest retailer
"Tesco is set to overtake Carrefour in global turnover rankings within the next five years, making it the world's second largest retailer after Wal-Mart. The latest data from food and grocery research firm IGD predicts that Tesco will grow at a faster pace than French retailer Carrefour, with forecasts suggesting a growth rate of 11% for Tesco between 2007 and 2012, compared to 7% for Carrefour." Brand Republic

AHAA Forms Online Measurement Task Force
"In the US, members of the Association of Hispanic Advertising Agencies (AHAA) have formed a committee, AHAA Online Measurement Task Force, to lead an initiative designed to deliver more precise online Hispanic market research data." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

Grant to Fund Virtual World Research
"In Singapore, market research firm The Kalypso Agency has been awarded funding to analyse online virtual worlds, as part of a 5-year $500m incentive programme to transform ideas into ‘breakthrough’ products. Kalypso aims to combine actual behavioral data with marketing metrics to help businesses evaluate their investment in virtual worlds." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

German agencies told to provide callback number
"Research associations in Germany have introduced a guideline stating that research agencies should provide phone survey participants with a callback number. It is hoped the move will help legitimate survey firms to differentiate themselves from sales and marketing callers operating under the guise of research." Research-live.com

TNS buys remainder of Brazil's InterScience
"TNS, now part of WPP Group's Kantar, has acquired the remaining 37% of the shares in TNS InterScience, one of Brazil's leading market research businesses. TNS has held a majority interest in TNS InterScience since 2005 and now owns 100% of the company." Brand Republic

From the Quirk's magazine, December 2008

Here are quick summaries of some of the articles in the December issue of the Quirk's Marketing Research Review. You can read all the articles in this month's issue on Quirk's website, where you can also search its archive of marketing research articles by signing up for free access to their online database.

Clients should seek a safer and quirky research vendor, by Matthew E. Singer, Decision Development
"Using two acronyms, the author outlines the qualities that research clients should seek in a research vendor."

Does interactivity hold the key to respondent engagement?, by Deborah Sleep, Engage Research and Jon Puleston, Global Market Insite
"The authors provide research-on-research data to show that adding elements of interactivity to surveys can indeed make them more fun to take and lead to more thoughtful responses from participants."

Researching online communities, by Susan Roth and Deanna Lawrence, TNS
"Creating an online community allows a company to understand consumers' experiences and hear their stories in their own words. This article explores the types of research that can be conducted using communities and offers guidance on how to get the most value from them."

When do we stop identifying with Rodney Dangerfield?, by Greg Rathjen, Marketecture
"While the drive to deliver insights is a valuable endeavor for any researcher, the best approach involves both the researcher and their client working together to generate insights, rather than placing the burden solely on the researcher."

IAB's new audience reach measurement guidelines

The Interactive Advertising Bureau released its audience reach measurement guidelines, providing definitions for measurement of audience reach related to Internet-based content or advertising, including appropriate controls, filtration procedures and disclosures associated with this measurement and setting standards for measuring audiences regardless of methodology. The new IAB Audience Reach Measurement Guidelines are currently in public comment period until January 20, 2009. More information and feedback forms for publishers, marketers, agencies and technology vendors are available on the link above.

OPA: Consumers spend more time with content

According to the Online Publishers Association, financial turmoil has increased attention to content sites for people looking for trusted information online. The latest OPA Internet Activity Index (IAI), based on data captured by Nielsen Online, from October 2008 showed that people are spending 6.1% more time on content sites that month vs. January 2008. In that same time period, time spent on commerce sites went down 20.4%, while time spent on community sites was up 16%. Time spent on communications sites was down 2.4%, probably due to more people using social networks such as Facebook to contact friends and colleagues, according to OPA's October IAI, which concludes that consuming content is the dominant way people spend time online, as consumers turn to the Internet for vital news and financial information.

Also, Silicon Alley Insider published some more recent comScore figures today, suggesting that online sales have stayed up since Cyber Monday (Dec. 1), with e-commerce up 9% y/y since then. Click here to learn more.

Last week's industry news

In Lean Times, Online Coupons Are Catching On
"On the Internet, nothing travels faster than a tip on how to score a bargain. Especially in an economic downturn. With online retail sales falling this month for the first time, Internet merchants are offering steep discounts to anyone willing to punch in a secret coupon code or visit a rebate site for a “referral” before loading up their virtual cart. Some online shoppers are so good at this game that they almost never buy anything at full price, making them the digital era’s version of bargain hunters who used to spend hours clipping coupons to shrink their grocery bills." The New York Times

Car Makers Take Case to the Web
"When times were better, American automakers were known to be early adopters of new digital marketing techniques to promote their vehicles. Now, with the U.S. Big Three in turmoil, executives at Ford, Chrysler and General Motors are now turning to the Web to lobby for billions of dollars in federal aid. The Wall Street Journal reports that the American automakers have launched a series of campaigns on sites like Google, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and various blogs to make their case for a bailout." The Wall Street Journal

Future Laboratory launches LS:N online lifestyle network
"The Future Laboratory has launched LS:N Global, an online consumer insight and inspiration network for the lifestyle sector. The network has been created to look at what's next in consumer thinking and to consider how this is set to impact on the way retail brands will be developed, designed and marketed in the future. The LS:N Global site, designed by Made Thought, consists of sections including Seed, Trends, Insight, Innovate, Inform and Inspire." Brand Republic

Nielsen Online partners with Net-Metrix in Switzerland
"Nielsen Online is teaming up with Net-Metrix to provide standardised online research data for the Swiss internet market, starting next year. The new internet measurement panel, known at 'Net-Metrix-Tracking - powered by Nielsen Online', combines two existing panel products, NetView from Nielsen Online and Net-Metrix-Tracking from Net-Metrix." Brand Republic

MySpace streams video on mobiles
"MySpace Mobile users can now access MySpace video content from their video-enabled mobile devices. The move makes MySpace the first social portal to launch video streaming for mobile. The MySpace Mobile site (m.myspace.com) receives approximately three billion worldwide page views per month with more than 10 million monthly unique users." Brand Republic

Ball State Launches $17.7 Million Emerging Media Initiative
"Ball State University unveiled a major initiative designed to advance the study of emerging media and to better prepare students for careers in a rapidly changing digital economy. The program, backed by $17.7 million in funding over the next five years from a combination of institutional and private sector sources, is another in a series of commitments the Indiana state university has made to become an area of academic excellence for the media industry." MediaPost Online Media Daily

Facebook Aims to Extend Its Reach Across the Web
"Facebook, the Internet’s largest social network, wants to let you take your friends with you as you travel the Web. But having been burned by privacy concerns in the last year, it plans to keep close tabs on those outings. Facebook Connect, the company’s new feature, allows its members to log onto other Web sites using their Facebook identification and see their friends’ activities on those sites." The New York Times

2008's top searches

What were the most popular search terms during 2008?

The end of the year is almost here, and major search engines are gathering up the most popular search terms and trends. The most searched for terms throughout the year reflect the fact that 2008 was an election year and we are officially in a recession. Below are some highlights (more information here) and an interesting CNN video about the 2008 search trends.


Google's most searched for econ. terms: Financial crisis, depression, bailout, mortgage crisis, Wall Street
Top shopping trend searches on Google: Free shipping, coupon, layaway, buy one get one free
The fastest-rising search terms of 2008 on Google: Obama, Facebook, Att, iPhone, YouTube, Fox news, Palin, Beijing 2008, David Cook, surf the channel
Yahoo's top 10 overall search terms: Britney Spears, WWE, Barack Obama, Miley Cyrus, RuneScape, Jessica Alba, Naruto, Lindsay Lohan, Angelina Jolie, American Idol
Top 10 news stories in 2008 on Yahoo.com: Hurricanes, Caylee and Casey Anthony, Election 2008, Pakistan, Pregnant Man, China, Iraq, Shelley Malil, Patrick Swayze, Afghanistan

News from last week

Most viewed items at the Daily Research News Online (MrWeb DRNO)

TNS Wins Record Qual Contract for Eurobarometer
"TNS has beaten Ipsos, GfK and others in a major qual competitive tender from the European Commission and the European Parliament. TNS says the deal covers all the body’s qualitative studies and is ‘believed to be the world’s largest qual research programme’, valued at some 15m Euros over four years."

Revenue and Profit Surge at Research Now
"Online research and panels specialist Research Now is forecasting results ahead of previous market expectations, including reported revenues up more than 55% to £41m, and operating profit up 120% to around £6.2m, for the year ended 31 October 2008."

‘Recession-Proof Strategy’ Brings Growth for Confirmit
"Research software provider Confirmit has announced its most successful quarter to date for new business revenue, along with revenue growth of 51% for the nine months ending September 2008."

Online shopping & retail growth over the holiday weekend

The National Retail Federation (NRF) reported that individual shoppers spent about 7% more this year than last year from Thursday through Sunday. Shoppers affected by the down economy were more cautious than in years past, with many drawn in by deep discounts from retailers. One indicator was how shoppers were searching on the Internet for Black Friday sales and promotions while preparing for the holiday-shopping weekend. According to Google, Web searches for the words "Black Friday" were up 41% from last year. Searches for the words "coupons" were up 59%, "free shipping" up 11% and "buy one get one free" up 200%.

To learn more about how Black Friday went, check out the recent articles in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times.

It's all digital

Atlantic Records, a unit of Warner Music Group, says it has reached a milestone that no other major record label has hit: more than half of its music sales in the United States are now from digital products, like downloads on iTunes and ring tones for cellphones. At the Warner Music Group, Atlantic's parent company, digital represented 27 percent of its American recorded-music revenue during the fourth quarter. With the milestone comes a sobering reality already familiar to newspapers and television producers, says the New York Times.

European mobile advertising on the rise

According to a new analysis from Frost & Sullivan, the mobile social and content advertising market revenues could reach €2.18 billion (US$2.77 billion) in 2012 in Europe. Mobile content advertising, ad-based music, video, TV and games represent the major source of revenues.

cellular-news.com reports that the European mobile industry has extensively explored the use of advertising recently as a sustainable business model for mobile content, mobile messaging and other services. Despite being in the initial stage, these models have galvanised the industry. The level of confidence of the mobile communications and advertising industries in the potential of mobile advertising is very high.

From the Quirk's magazine, November 2008

November issue of the Quirk's Marketing Research Review has a few interesting articles dealing with online-research. You can find quick overviews of these articles below, and read them on Quirk's website, where you can also search its archive of marketing research articles (it's pretty easy to sign up for free access to the online database).

A look at four important methodological questions for online research by Susan Frede, TNS
The impact of several online research practices - including sending survey reminders, use of generic survey invites and excluding partial completes - is examined, with the aim of developing methods to improve statistical rigor.

A look at the impact of boredom on the respondent experience by Jon Puleston, Global Market Insite and Deborah Sleep, Engage Research
The first of a two-part series on improving online respondent engagement looks at the problems caused by factors such as overlong questionnaires and the overuse of grid-type questions.

Creating the conditions for data quality by Laura Davies, Vision Critical
Looking at some of the reasons behind panelist frustration with the survey process, the author presents a set of actions the industry can take to enhance respondent engagement and satisfaction.

Research panels from the panelists' perspective by Janet Westergaard, Esearch.com
A study of panelists investigated why respondents take part in the panel research process. Most cite money as the main reason but several take part because they enjoy the process and like being able to express their opinions to product makers.

Last week's top news stories

TNS Launches Digital Ad Monitor Suite
"TNS has launched Digital Suite, described as a ‘new generation’ of online ad monitoring tools. The suite combines cookie tracking technology with the company’s 6th Dimension Panel to give in-depth analysis of online ad consumption." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

Online Communities Get ‘Measurable Solution’
"Social networking solutions firm Small World Labs has partnered with social marketing firm Sway Inc. to offer marketers a comprehensive set of tools for the creation and execution of social media strategies to support their brands." MrWeb Daily Research News Online

Compete launches quarterly smartphone study
"TNS’s recently acquired web analytics business Compete has launched a service offering quarterly data and advice on how best to reach smartphone users. The service combines consumer insight from surveys with behavioural data gathered from online clickstream analysis to show how people are using their phones, the sites they visit, and what they like and dislike about the experience." Research Magazine

MySpace BlackBerry application attracts record downloads
"More than 400,000 users downloaded the MySpace for BlackBerry smartphones application in its first week of availability, representing a record for both MySpace and the application's creators, Research In Motion. The application gives BlackBerry users the ability to receive updates and send messages in real time, as well as upload photographs to their profile." Brand Republic

Google launches customisable search feature
"Google has launched a new feature dubbed Search Wiki, which allows users to rearrange and customise search results. The idea is for users to be able to customise searches they may frequently use. For example, if someone searches for cinema listings in their city and they can make a preferred site always come first in the search results, even if it usually comes further down the list in the natural search." Brand Republic

IAB: Online Ad Spending Remains Flat
"Online ad spending remains virtually flat this year--with the third-quarter total of $5.9 billion only 2% ahead of each of the last two quarters, according to the latest figures from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers." MediaPost's Online Media Daily

Marketers to Up Spending in Cable, Online, Mobile in Next 6 Months
"Over the next six months, not only will ad spending be down, but the feeling among advertisers and their agencies toward media such as broadcast TV, national newspapers and magazines is growing more pessimistic, according to the new Advertiser Optimism Report by Advertiser Perceptions." Advertising Age

Online Retail Spending Slows
"Online spending growth in October fell to its lowest rate since 2001, in a sign the sector has been hit by the slumping economy and indicating a challenging holiday season for online retailers. Online retail spending grew only 1% in October from a year ago, following a downward trend that started late last year, according to market research firm comScore Inc." Wall Street Journal

Young adults eager to engage with brands online
"A new global survey conducted by Synovate in conjunction with Microsoft reveals the extent to which young adults are willing to interact and engage with brands as part of their daily online activities. When asked about their online brand engagement in the last month, almost a third (28%) had talked about a brand on a discussion forum; almost a quarter (23%) had added brand-related content to their instant messenger service; and almost one in five (19%) had added branded content to their homepage or social networking site." Market Research Portal

Global Chief Marketing Officers wanted

Here is another interesting report written by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and sponsored by Google: Future Tense: The Global CMO.

The EIU conducted a global survey of senior marketing executives to addresses two important questions about the changing role of the global Chief Marketing Officer (CMO): What are the greatest challenges faced by CMOs around the globe? What strategies are they implementing to surmount these challenges?

According to the report, there is a need for a greater degree of integration of marketing and communications within an organization and direct involvement of consumers in brand development. Providing a comprehensive view of how the role of CMO is evolving to address the changes in technology, consumer behavior, and the media landscape, the EIU report has identified the key focus areas for today’s CMOs:

- Global versus local balance: CMOs must balance global brand awareness and consistency with local market relevance. Centralizing global marketing functions such as advertising development and production can create economies of scale and save money, but they must be guided by the needs of the local market and customer insights.

- The connected consumer: The interactive nature of the digital media has expanded the sources of information for consumers and businesses. This requires the integration of various forms of marketing and communications and consistent contact with all corporate audiences and customers. To remain competitive, companies must engage customers to create a stronger affinity with their brands.

- Rapidly changing marketing tools and resources: The instruments available to the CMOs require new skills and develop new partnerships to communicate the marketing message to consumers through interactive media.

- Relevance to the business: Measuring the return on marketing investments is a challenge and CMOs will focus more of their budgets on digital marketing, where effectiveness can be measured more precisely in click-throughs, downloads and other interactions.

The report suggests that the latest digital-media tools provide the opportunity to develop deeper insights into customer dynamics and allow the CMO to become the corporate champion of customer insight and innovation.

To learn more about the imperatives for marketing leaders download the full “Future Tense: The Global CMO” report.

News from last week

PR and web could benefit from economic downturn
"Public relations agencies could benefit from the economic downturn as more businesses look at increasing their spend on the web and publicity. A survey undertaken by research agency Shape the Future says that nearly half of the respondents planned to increase spending on PR over the next year." Brand Republic

WPP and Nielsen to swap assets
"WPP has signed an agreement with the Nielsen Company to swap its 50% share of AGB Nielsen Media Research for three of Nielsen's assets." Brand Republic

Research ROI Unmeasurable, Say Pharma Firms
"Pharma companies are moving away from the idea of hard ROI measurement for their market research, according to a study by US-based Cutting Edge Information. 74% of surveyed companies do not attempt to calculate ROI for MR. The report, Improve Market Research Impact, says these firms are concentrating instead on levels of satisfaction of internal clients for research. Of the 74%, 39% do not conduct any sort of performance measurement." MrWeb Daily Research News

Nielsen and IMMI Shut Down OOH Service
"The Nielsen Company and partner IMMI have mothballed their recently launched out-of-home (OOH) television viewing measurement service with immediate effect. The companies blamed difficult economic times, which had led to ‘limited economic support’ for the service." MrWeb Daily Research News

TNS Compete Launches Online Behavior Practice
"In the US, web analytics unit TNS Compete, now part of Kantar, has launched a Retail and Consumer Products practice to provide retailers with insights into shoppers’ online activities across rival sites, portals, search engines and aggregators." MrWeb Daily Research News

ARF forms council for research ‘transformation’
"The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) is bringing together senior industry figures to consider how research can respond to rapidly changing times. The establishment of a ‘super-council’ for research transformation was announced by ARF research director Joel Rubinson. The council will include the Kantar Group's Eric Salama, General Mills’ Gayle Fuguitt and P&G’s Kim Dedeker, Microsoft’s Stephen Kim and Barack Obama’s pollster Joel Benenson." Research Magazine

Mobile marketing, mobile advertising, mobile research, mobile social networking, mobile ...

How much will mobile marketing grow in the US and around the world? What factors will accelerate growth? Mobile web, super-smartphones, interactivity, entertainment, search, advertising, all of the above?

Do you use your mobile phone a lot? Web browsing, emails/text messaging, IMing, getting maps/directions, news, weather, playing games, taking pictures/videos, shopping, social networking, etc. Is that all? Here is a Google video about what else you can do with your phones. Check out other tips and tricks on YouTube.

Economy, technology and Internet trends

Last week at the annual Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, leaders in the tech industry came together to discuss current issues and trends in the industry, and more importantly, how the Internet technologies might be used to address the challenges the world is facing today. Hundreds of Internet business leaders attended the event, along with others in the fields of healthcare, genetics, finance, global business, and politics.

Morgan Stanley analyst Mary Meeker gave a presentation that analyzes the current economic challenges and addresses their impact on technology and advertising spending, and trends in new technologies and emerging markets. You can view this incredibly useful presentation here.

Last week's most viewed news on DRNO

Click on each item below to read the most viewed news on MrWeb.com (Daily Research News Online) last week.

Lowden Steps Down at TNS as Kantar Announces Restructure
"TNS CEO David Lowden has left after nine years with the firm, following the completion of WPP’s takeover of the business. WPP’s insight arm Kantar Group made no comment about Lowden’s departure, but instead confirmed a series of senior management positions at TNS. More information and news on Kantar Group's website: www.kantargrouptns.com"

Harris Interactive Reports $2.3m Q1 Loss
"Harris Interactive has reported a first quarter loss of $2.3m, compared with a profit of $1.1m a year ago, which it attributes to deepening economic turbulence in the US combined with the anticipated decline in its Healthcare revenue."

Jobs Cuts Despite Strong Performance at SPSS
"MR software and predictive analytics giant SPSS has announced third quarter revenues up 4% vs Q3 2007 to $74.9m and net income up 25% to $10.5m. However, the firm intends to respond to the global downturn by cutting costs, including a ten per cent staff reduction."

Australian Commission Clears WPP for TNS Buy
"The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has announced that it will not intervene in WPP’s acquisition of TNS, after receiving court-enforceable undertakings from WPP regarding its TAM (Television Audience Measurement) services."

MRA and CMOR Merge

The Marketing Research Association (MRA) and the Council For Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) have merged. By combining the capabilities and deliverables of the two organizations, the MRA aims to meet almost all the profession’s needs. The new body will maintain the name of MRA. View the press kit and the merger presentation for more information.

MRA is the leading and largest association of the survey and opinion research profession, a multi-billion dollar a year industry dedicated to providing valuable information to guide the decisions of companies that provide products and services to consumers and businesses.

CMOR is a non-profit organization that promotes, advocates and protects the integrity of the survey and opinion research profession. CMOR strives to improve respondent cooperation in research and promotes positive legislation impacting the survey and opinion research profession.

IMRO, a division of MRA, is the association of researchers dedicated to providing an open forum for the discussion of best practices and ethical approaches to research being conducted via the Internet. Its objective is to be the primary source for interactive research information technology interests of business, consumers, education, government and other institutions.

Internet wins the 2008 Elections!

There is no question that the Internet had a huge impact on the 2008 presidential elections. According to ClickZ’s analysis, Barack Obama spent roughly $5.5 million on online ads between January and August of this year. The McCain campaign doesn't provide breakouts in its FEC filings, according to the article. Since the beginning of their campaigns, both candidates have also used YouTube to promote their message, posting videos, ads and speeches to their own channels. In addition, millions of people have used social networking sites such as Facebook to get campaign information or share ideas and information on the candidates. According to Reuters, web sites like CNN.com and NYTimes.com are expecting record traffic on this Election Day.

How do online communities compare to online panels?

October 2008 issue of the Quirk's Marketing Research Review includes an article that examines the use of online communities in marketing research. The abstract of this article by Gregory S. Heist and Mitchell S. Sanders of Gongos Research reads: "The authors compare and contrast online communities and online panels, examining instances where communities have been used, such as GM's Project Driveway effort. They look at community members' reasons for participation and analyze data from community respondents vs. data from online panelists."

Click here to view the current issue of the Quirk's.

Last week's most viewed news on DRNO

Click on each item below to read the most viewed news on MrWeb.com (Daily Research News Online) last week.

LinkedIn to Provide B2B Sample
"Business networking site LinkedIn has launched a service to help market researchers and professional investors conduct research among its database of more than 30 million members. LinkedIn says approximately half this worldwide total are IT and business decision-makers. LinkedIn Surveys, a new offering from the LinkedIn Research Network, has already been used by six market research firms including consumer specialist OTX, to conduct B2B primary research among LinkedIn members. Professionals who participate in surveys are offered rewards such as gift cards or donations to a charity of their choice."

WPP’s TNS Deal Now Unconditional
"In the UK, WPP has announced that all the conditions of its offer to buy TNS have been fulfilled and that the offer is now unconditional. As of this afternoon, valid acceptances had been received by shareholders representing 95.54% of TNS stock."

WPP and Google Launch Media Research Grant Program
"Marketing communications group WPP and Internet giant Google have partnered to jointly fund a grant program to support research into how online media influences consumer behaviour, attitudes and decision making. In the next three years, the pair will contribute up to $4.6m to the new Google and WPP Marketing Research Awards Program, which will immediately begin reviewing grant applications from full-time faculty members at universities worldwide."

MPG’s New Modelling Tool Predicts Obama Victory
"Havas-owned MPG has developed a new social network modelling tool, Havas Media Resonance, which uses an agent-based algorithm to represent populations of consumers and predict their behavior."

WPP Income Up Despite Economic ‘Armageddon’
"WPP has reported a 16% increase in Q3 revenues to £1.7bn ($2.87bn), but experienced flat operating margin in the first nine months of the year. As a result of the disintegration in the financial markets, the group predicts that 2009 will be a ‘very tough year’."

Synovate Names New UK CEO and Hong Kong MD
"Jill Telford, Synovate’s CEO for Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea, is moving to London in January to take up the post of UK CEO. At the same time, Brendan Shair will become Managing Director for Hong Kong."

Online Research at the MRA's Fall Conference

This year's fall conference is at the JW Marriott Spa and Resort in Summerlin, Nevada, November 3-5, with lots of education on online research and networking opportunities.

Check out the conference program at the MRA website and if Las Vegas is in your plans for this week, be sure not to miss the discussions on Internet-based research in the Online/IMRO and End User sessions. Topics include issues on data quality, respondent engagement, online communities and social networks.

Featured Article: Comparing Oral Interviewing with Self-administered Computerized Questionnaires: An Experiment

A previous field experiment conducted via national surveys showed that data collected via the Internet manifested higher concurrent and predictive validity and less random and systematic measurement error than data collected via telephone interviewing. To ascertain the extent to which these differences were attributable to mode per se, a laboratory experiment was conducted in which respondents were randomly assigned to answer questions either on a computer or over an intercom system with an interviewer. Replicating findings from the national surveys, the laboratory experiment indicated higher concurrent validity, less survey satisficing, and less social desirability response bias in the computer mode than in the intercom mode. The mode difference in concurrent validity and non-differentiation was most pronounced among respondents with more limited cognitive skills. Taken together, these results suggest a potential inherent advantage of questionnaire self-administration on computer over telephone administration.

Taken from the Manuscript Under Review by LinChiat Chang and Jon A. Krosnick

Welcome to the IMRO Blog!

Interactive Marketing Research Organization (IMRO), a division of the Marketing Research Association (MRA), is the leading organization in the development, dissemination and implementation of interactive marketing research concepts, practices and information. Many research companies have joined forces in IMRO's working committees to develop and spread interactive research knowledge and standards. Today, IMRO welcomes you to its new meeting place for online research.

IMRO believes in collaboration, knowledge sharing and education to uphold the highest level of standards in research. IMRO has created this blog and invites everyone to discuss current topics in online research, as well as other issues related to Internet marketing such as audience measurement, advertising, and more. All are welcome to comment on the posts we have here on this blog. If you have any suggestions, let us know.