A bigger proportion of Internet users are spending more time on content sites than they were six years ago, according to a new analysis by the Online Publishers Association. But that growth has come at the expense of communication and commerce sites.

The study showed that people in 2009 on average spent 42% of their time online on content sites compared to 34% in 2003, when the OPA launched its Internet Activity Index, which tracks monthly Internet use across five categories: commerce, communications, community, content and search.

The actual amount of time spent on content sites has nearly doubled since 2003, increasing from an average of three hours, 42 minutes to 6:58.

By contrast, people are not lingering as long on communication-focused properties, which include Web sites and services such as Yahoo Mail, AOL Instant Messenger and MSN Groups. People spent only 27% of their time on communication sites in 2009, down from 46% in 2003. Time spent fell 8% from 5:20 to 4:54.

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"Even in this tough economy, Internet radio is growing ad revenues year over year and is one of the fastest-growing online media categories. Attractive demographics and a connected audience will prove increasingly appealing to advertisers as they look for fresh channels to reach consumers."

Read more in eMarketer >>>

While movie studios are well known for big budget TV ad buys, surveys are showing that their best customers might be available on a much different medium – internet radio.

A Mediamark Research & Intelligence Survey has shown that internet radio listeners far outpace any other audience measurement group in terms of movie-going habits. Online radio users are 37% more likely than an average TV watcher, and 32% more likely than an average internet user to go to at least one movie per week.

Read more in RBR >

Ask 100 mobile marketers why a particular mobile ad works and another doesn't and you're likely to get a 100 different opinions. Unfortunately, there's no right answer. But with voice ads, we've discovered there are some things you can do, with both the art and the science, which can make the difference between good response and great. 
Read more about it in MediaPost >>>

A newly released report, the 2009 Foundation Research study, shows that 83% of adult respondents say their time with either radio or the 'Net increased or remained the same in 2008; compared to TV at 76% and print at 79%.

Radio continues to perform well because it adapts to a listener’s lifestyle, accompanies them throughout their busy day and isn’t demanding of their time, radio marketers opine. And, listinening to the radio does not limit media consumption.

Of the adults surveyed, 36% listened to radio while surfing the Internet. Radio/internet multitasking is above average for adults 18-34 (39%), working adults (39%), women with children (43%), working women (44%) and business executives (41%).

Read more in Mediacaster >>>

Online retail sales will grow again this year, although at a smaller rate than in previous years. According to  information from Nielsen Online, the challenge for most online retailers is not how to get the consumers to shop online - nearly 80% of online adults made a purchase online in the past six months - but how to differentiate their brand and drive traffic to their website rather than a competitor’s...

Read more from Jennifer Lane at RBR

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Those all-important "digital influencers" actually get their information from magazines, newspapers, TV and radio.

That's according to an MS&L survey whose results will be released tomorrow. The study, developed by MS&L's influencer-marketing unit IM, reveals that some 84% of digital influencers go online to find out more about something only after first reading about it in magazines and newspapers or hearing about it on TV or the radio.

Read more in Ad Age

A new study from ARAnet shows that, despite the rapid rise of online media, television, followed by newspapers and radio, remain the most credible sources of news and information.

Read more in MediaPost >>

Research shows that internet radio attracts an affluent audience. Now learn more about that audience through a recent Ipsos Mendelsohn survey. Highlights include:

• 37% download or stream audio files on their computer/mobile phone
• 30% purchase music and video via computer
• 11.3 hours a week listening to radio (terrestrial) and 23.4 hours a week online
• In general, they spend more on home, travel, and apparel.

Read the full Ipsos Mendelsohn study.

Local media sites hold a distinct advantage when it comes to delivering results for advertisers, according to a new report by the Online Publishers Association (OPA). The report identifies an important common trait of all local online content sites: an ability to attract high concentrations of influencers.

• 29% percent of local online content site users say they are the first person people come to for reco
• 26% of local online users say they are the first person people come to for local shopping recommendations
• 23% for local entertainment recommendations
• 23% for local consumer electronics recommendations.
  

Visit OPA for the full report.

"Engaging Emotions Through Effective Radio Ads" is the second part of a Radio Ad Lab project originally conducted by Gallup & Robinson (G&R) in 2007 and designed to assess how well Radio ads generate emotional responses and engage with consumers, compared to television ads.

Read RAEL's study, with guidelines for an effective radio ad.

A new consumer segmentation analysis from Mediamark Research & Intelligence (MRI), titled “Responsiveness to Ads Across Media,” categorizes US adults according to the media via which they prefer to receive advertising messages.

The study showed that more US adults prefer ads in mass media (radio, tv and internet) than other formats like events and product placement.

Read more about it. 

Recent studies have shown that internet radio listeners are at-work, affluent and educated:

• Work hours are "prime time" for internet radio listeners, according to Arbitron/Edison's "The Infinite Dial 2007."
• The at-work internet radio audience has grown from 12% to 20% in one year, states a 2008 Arbitron/Edison study.
• The same study reports that 30% of college graduates at work say they listen to internet radio.
• Internet radio listeners are 40% more likely to live in a household with an annual income of $100k, according to Arbitron/Edison's "The Infinite Dial 2007."

Compared to other mediums, where consumers have learned to block and skip advertising messages, internet radio advertisements are delivered to consumers effectively and unobtrusively. According to a 2006 study from the Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab, 63% of listeners do not find that radio ads get in the way of their programming.

And, internet radio enables advertisers to connect with consumers when buying decisions are being made. 57% of listeners report listening to streaming radio while buying at a website according to Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab's "Radio and Internet: Powerful Complements for Advertisers," (2007).

Download Arbitron and Edison Media Research's "The Infinite Dial 2008: Radio's Digital Platforms."

Internet radio is particularly effective in reaching at-work audiences. This recent study by BIGResearch shows why that audience is so elusive, but important to reach.

Read more in MediaPost.

The digitally savvy consumer is 3x more likely to listen to internet radio than the general populaion, says a recent report from Scarborough. They are also heavy online spenders and skew male.

For the full report, download Understanding The Digitally Savvy Consumer.

"Radio listeners have a unique relationship with radio as a medium. That relationship is more emotionally connected than for either newspapers or the Internet. And this relationship is much more personal than for television or the Internet. This suggests that radio provides a pathway to the consumer’s mind that can provide better emotional connections to brands and products when the advertising is designed and placed properly...."

Read more about it in Radio Ad Effectiveness Lab's pdf.