Sundew Search Engine Blog

Friday, April 24, 2009

42 Million Americans Listen to Radio Weekly on Digital Audio Platforms

The latest study by Arbitron and Edison Research shows continued growth in usage and ownership of various forms of digital audio platforms, including online radio, iPod/MP3 players, and podcasting. The weekly online radio audience increased significantly in the past year to 17% of the U.S. population age 12 and older; up from 13% in 2008. On a weekly basis, online radio reaches 20% of 25-to-54 year-olds; up from 15% in 2008.

Bill Rose, senior vice president of marketing, Arbitron Inc., says "The sharp growth in weekly usage of Online radio... provides compelling evidence that radio's digital platforms may be reaching critical mass. We are... seeing encoded streams of AM/FM broadcasts with significant audience in local markets."

Key findings from The Infinite Dial 2009: Radio's Digital Platforms, include:

More than one in five radio listeners (21%) say AM/FM radio has a big impact on their lives; ranking second only to owners of the Apple iPhone in particular (23%) and cell phone owners in general (47%) as the audio platform/device that has a big impact on people's lives.

Online radio listeners are more likely to be upscale, well-educated and employed full time;

- 54% of weekly online radio listeners are employed full-time (compared to 43% among persons 12 and older);
- 16% of weekly online radio listeners live in homes with an annual income greater than $100,000 (vs. 10% among persons 12 and older);
- 37% of weekly online radio listeners have a college degree or higher education level (vs. 29% among persons 12 and older).

Weekly online video viewing among persons age 12 and older is up significantly in the past year, from 18% in 2008 to 27% (approximately 69 million) in 2009.

- 34% of persons age 12 and older report having a profile on Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or any other social networking Web site, up from - 24% in 2008
- 63%  of teens age 12-to-17 report having a profile on these social networking sites
- 64% 18-to-24 year-olds have a profile on these social networking sites.

iPod/portable MP3 player ownership and iPod use continues to grow dramatically.

- 42% of persons age 12 and older own an iPod or other brand of portable MP3 player

- 64% of 18-to-24 year-olds own a digital audio player

- 32% of teens age 12-to-17 and persons 18-to-24 are spending less time with over-the-air radio specifically due to time spent with iPod/other portable MP3 players

- 22% of Americans age 12 and older have ever listened to an audio podcast

- 11% (27 million) reported having listened to an audio podcast in the past month in 2009

Tom Webster, vice president of strategy and marketing, Edison Research, concludes that "... consumer use of new digital platforms... is becoming nearly ubiquitous... a window of opportunity for radio to... spread its content across the expanding choices consumers use to control their media experience."

The complete study, The Infinite Dial 2009: Radio's Digital Platforms, may be downloaded free of charge via the Arbitron and Edison Research Web sites linked here.

Post your response to the public Research Brief blog.

See what others are saying on the Research Brief blog.

We use the term research in the broadest possible sense. We do not perform an audit, nor do we analyze the data for accuracy or reliability. Our intention is to inform you of the existence of research materials and so we present reports as they are presented to us. The only requirements we impose are that they are potentially useful and relevant to our readers and that they pass the rudimentary test of relying on acceptable industry standards. We explicitly do not take responsibility for the findings. Please be aware of this and check the source for yourself if you intend to rely on any of the data we present.

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# posted by (hris @ 2:08 PM 0 Comments

Hansen Beverage Company Brand Manager Pushes Life and Brand to Extremes

Corona, CA, April 06, 2009 -- Steve Jugan Crowned Executive Level Crossover Athlete 2009 Push Champion.

When Steve Jugan Allied Brand manager for Hansen's Beverage Company decided to make Lost Energy the title sponsor for an ultimate actions sports adventure game, he decided to show his true and pure dedication by walking the walk or should we say Board, Ride, Bike, Skate, Wake and Surf. Jugan from Yorba Linda, California joined a group of other action sport junkies to do something that has never been done before and be part of The Push-Lost Energy invitational. The Push is a one day, non-stop "Hexathlon" of action sports designed to literally push an athlete both mentally and physically from one event to another for 15 hours straight across 160 miles of some of Southern California's most beautiful locations.

Jugan, the self-professed action sports enthusiast and native of California, has spent most of his life in the snow, dirt and surf, so when the founder of The Push Bob Krause and partner Marco Thompson approached him he was sold. "I get a ton of pitches from people with a lot of ideas, but I had never heard of an event quite like this one," said Jugan. Convinced that the event catered to hit his target demographics and psychographics, he offered his event prowess to the table and became the title sponsor. "The Push is a wicked combination of six of the most popular action sports - Snowboarding, Motocross, Downhill Mountain Biking, Skateboarding, Wakeboarding and Surfing - all mixed up into a day long adventure," says Krause, the creator of The Push. This concept was devised by him and his 18 year old son Ryan as the ultimate father-son bonding experience in which they completed 23 non stop action sports while traveling over 300 miles across southern California all in one day.

The Push was held on March 28, 2009, participants included Amateur and Pro athletes as well as a mix of sport enthusiasts and business executive types all hoping to be crowned the worlds best crossover athlete. Participants arrived Friday night March 27th at the Lake Arrowhead Resort for an evening of schmoozing, food and some basic training. At 8am the next morning they were on the slopes and ready to roll. From that point on participants drove from location to location showing off their very best to the judges while the event organizers had every type of board and bike waiting for them at each location.

"I can't wipe the smile off my face, 2010 is going to be unreal," says Jugan. "Only in So-Cal can you be on the slopes in the morning, ride the desert in the day and then surf until the sun goes down.

To learn more about the Push, go to

www.lostenergydrink.com/newswww.lostenergydrink.com/news www.thepushgames.com or check out their blog at http://thepush09.wordpress.com

Contact Information
Lost Energy Drink
Steve Jugan
951-280-3241
steven.jugan@hansens.com
www.lostenergydrink.com

 

# posted by (hris @ 4:19 PM 0 Comments

Retail Institute Releases Winning Retail Business Plans

Create a Winning Retail Business Plan in one day and get the financing you need.

Toronto, Canada, November 26, 2008 -- The revised 2009 edition of Winning Retail Business Plans is now available at a discounted promotional price. This business plan system will give any aspiring retailer the tools to get their concept on paper and create a professional Winning Retail Business Plan.

"There are scores of entrepreneurs out there who have great retail concepts but are not sure of how to get to the next level" stated Ron Pawlowski, Managing Partner at The Retail Institute.

Creating a written business plan with financial objectives and projections is essential if a retail concept needs to be shared with any stakeholder. These can include potential partners, employees, suppliers and most essential, investors. The package is designed so that any aspiring retailer can create a Winning Retail Business Plan with all the financials and present the plan to conventional and non conventional investors. "Entrepreneurs can consider presenting their plan to local banks as well as a wide array of other financing sources that they may not even be aware of. In the long run, many of these unconventional sources are better for the entrepreneur." added Pawlowski. The revised package comes with a 111 page manual, retail business plan template as well as spreadsheets for personal financial statements, cash flow projections, cash sensitivity projections and a trial balance sheet. The Winning Retail Business Plans package is also ideal for existing retailers who wish to expand or obtain secondary financing.

The site can be accessed at http://www.retailinstitute.ca

Contact:
Ron Pawlowski
The Retail Institute
Toronto Canada
905 778 1234
ronp@retailinstitute.ca
www.retailinstitute.ca

Contact Information
The Retail Institute
Ron Pawlowski
905 778 1234
ronp@retailinstitute.ca
www.retailinstitute.ca

# posted by (hris @ 3:34 PM 0 Comments

UK-Based Gasta Search Engine Network Enters Into Sales / Merger Talks

The Gasta search network is a blended search that will deliver web results, news, videos, and images with one single keyword search, then lets users social bookmark search results in their own library. The Gasta search network extends its reach into Europe and USA, has search engines launched in South Africa, China, and Japan. Gasta is a European trademark and the Gasta search engine was last year's winner of the PWC award for innovation, it also holds one of the UK most valuable property domain holdings.

Belfast, Ireland (PRWEB) October 14, 2008 -- It was announced here today that the Belfast-based web 2.0 Search Engine Network Gasta is in talks with several companies for a possible sale or merger. A well established player in European, US, and Asian search, The Gasta.com search engine network currently consists of 450+ Domains, is translated into six languages, offers a contextualised ad system, powerful SEO options, keyword management tools, and full service administration to create, launch, and quickly deploy new search engines in emerging markets and geographical regions as needed.

Gasta has created a very easy to use back-end admin system that is designed for non technical use, within the admin you can add new keywords, manage ad campaigns, replicate advertising codes, and launch new search index's and directories in minutes, Gasta has developed its own text based contextualised ad system, InstantAdsTM and the keyword direct hit service SearchMatchTM allowing users to buy targeted keywords for the geographic region they do business in. As well as this there are many SEO options including InstantLinksTM the free link exchange system that publishes the main directory." We can launch new search engines in emerging regions very easily, with the rapid deployment platform we have developed" said Higgins. "We can launch in Poland and Malaysia very quickly and have been looking out for possible local partners on the ground in these regions".

While Gasta.com is well-established in the Search Industry, it has chosen to maintain a low profile and provided state of the art services to its visitors and advertisers. Christian Nielsen, owner of NielsenTech.com, an Internet consulting firm located in the US said he has used Gasta for many years. "Yes, I was submitting client sites to Gasta's system back as early as 1999 when we started doing SEO and web promotion. They have evolved over the years, and we have keep in contact due to their attitude of service and ethics. Most other firms in the US don't seem to know about them and that's been a competitive edge for us."

Gasta.com owner Francis Higgins believes that now is a 'good time' to transition the search engines network due to the convergence of web 2.0 technologies. Higgins said "We believe that we have created great distribution platform to easily explore and rapidly develop new and emerging regions. We have looked into the possibility of partnering with a mobile carrier to deliver local mobile search in which great opportunities are coming in the future, Gasta works well now on mobiles but we would need the expertise of the big carriers to make an impact and monetize the service.

We have worked hard over the past 12 years to improve the reach and the depth of the Gasta network. With the rapid deployment and white label solution we have developed we can quickly launch blended search engines that will bring up web results, videos, news, and images with one keyword. Our brand commands a high level of respect by those that are familiar with us and those that do some research will see our extensive digital footprint built up over the years that shows our quality and consistency and has established our brand's value in the search marketing industry."

Contacts
Francis Higgins
Comm Director Gasta Search Networks
bizz @ amiwired.com
+44(0)2890333748
Mob:+44(0)7816447363

# posted by (hris @ 10:19 AM 0 Comments

We've been getting a lot of emails looking for more information about the European Search Engine Network that I posted about the other day. To eliminate some of the questions, I am posting some more information about this 12 year old network of sites that is built upon their search technology. The more I learn about what they have, the more potential I see for someone with additional skills, capital, and other resources to tie into what they already have and expand on or into the European market.

Here is some more information:

- Monthly traffic of 3,000,000+ per month across the network.

- 3,500 current /past advertisers

- Registered as a European distribution partner for Microsoft Adwords.

- A partner with Google Doubleclick and Adsense.

- Has the ability to deploy new local search engines quickly.

- Currently targeting markets in Europe, US, and several other countries as well as several topics, such as travel.

- Owns at least 4 trademarks

- Currently has 450+ Domains launched on their servers.

Domains:
· International
· US
· UK
· Ireland
· Europe
· Austria
· France
· Germany
· Italy
· Spain
· India
· China
· Japan
· South Africa
· Money
· Travel
· and several others

If you are interested or require more information please let me know and I will put you in touch with the company. I've been friends with the owner for some time now and agreed to help them find a buyer if I can.

I would have thought the current economic situation would have made it difficult to generate interest in a search network such as this, but I was clearly wrong. There are many that would like to expand their current holdings and sites like social networks, consumer shopping sites, auction sites, and sites that are based on UGC (User Generated Content) seem to be super interested in adding mature search to the current offerings. Building is always an option, but why build and re-invent the wheel when you can buy.

And I just learned today that one of my old favorite UK search engines, www.Burf.com was sold and now has a new owner.
If you need to reach me, just Google "NielsenTech" and you should be able to contact me.

# posted by (hris @ 9:59 PM 0 Comments

Independent Film Quarterly

by Tanya Irwin , Friday, September 19, 2008

I CONFESS, I'M addicted to magazines.  I can't go anywhere near a newsstand or bookstore without coming away with at least one.  So seeing a free pile of magazines sitting anywhere is practically like hitting the lottery -- or at least winning on a scratch-off ticket.

I was up in Traverse City, Mich. earlier this month at the Traverse City Film Festival hanging out with my "good friends" Madonna and Michael Moore when I spied a pile of IFQs sitting on a table in one of the theater lobbies. Score!

The cover is intriguing. A black and white photo of a female who looks like a cross between a young Deborah Harry and Nico is set against a pink background. The issue is billed as the "Cannes Special Edition."  Even though Danny Glover is the only name I recognized on the cover (I'll admit it, I like movies but I'm no art film aficionado) I figure maybe I'll know who some of the people are after reading about them. And maybe I'd learn something I didn't know from perusing the usual bourgeois entertainment zines.

As it turns out, the cover model is Emmanuelle Seigner, who appeared in "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly," which I have heard of.  She's married to legendary director Roman Polanski. Penned by Nicole Holland, the interview is Q&A style and while it's decently written and somewhat interesting, I couldn't help but cringe at some of the "questions." I use quote marks because in several cases they aren't so much questions as statements of fawning adoration. Obviously the interviewee is a big deal in the film industry, but the tone of the article struck me as unprofessional and amateurish.  I felt more like I was reading a high school newspaper than an internationally circulated magazine.

If that were the only such article in the 64-page magazine, I could give it a pass. But wait, there's more. We move on to another Q&A piece by Nicole  Holland, this time with Asia Argento, whose father, Dario Argento, is a big-deal director in Europe. I've never heard of either of them or their movies, but the four-page piece is much the same as the first piece.

Moving along, there's another three-page Q&A by Nicole Holland, this time with Cecile De France, another actress I've never heard of.  She was in a French movie with Gerard Depardieu. Finally, someone I have heard of. I'd been starting to feel seriously un-artsy fartsy.

The magazine describes itself on its Web site as "one of the fastest growing Film/Art & Society magazines featuring exclusive in-depth interviews with celebrated iconic figures in film, music and pop culture. IFQ invites  you to experience this avant-garde film and pop culture movement."  The  advertising statistics sheet states that the target audience includes "producers, actors, directors, musicians, artists, film distributors, record  labels, entertainment attorneys, dub houses, film labs, film festival directors, music festival directors, art festival directors, editors and the general public alike." I'm guessing they skew fairly young since the magazine has a profile on MySpace.

IFQ can be found in select Barnes & Nobles, Borders, Books-A-Million, on 3,000 newsstands nationwide and at domestic and international film, music and art  festivals and related events. It has controlled circulation mailings that  are sent to industry leaders, trade shows, music festivals, art festivals and film festivals, domestic and international.

Every article in the magazine is in Q&A style.  While I don't mind that formatting as an occasional alternative to the objective third-person narration, it becomes grating after a while.  Unless the person is a really big deal, I don't think it's necessary to preserve every single word they say.  Spare the reader the gory details and get to the point. Exercise your competence as a writer and spin a tale that draws me in.  Otherwise my take is that the writer is just being lazy or doesn't know how to write an actual story.  But maybe to the 20,000 readers of this magazine, all of these interviews ARE with big-deal people.  In which case, I guess all I can say is, "Enjoy."

MAG STATS
Published by: Disticor (Newsstand Distributor); Publisher and Editor in Chief: Stuart Alson
Frequency: Quarterly
Web site

Post your response to the public Magazine Rack blog.

See what others are saying on the Magazine Rack blog.
Tanya Irwin is Deputy Editor of MediaPost. She can be reached at tanya@mediapost.com.

Magazine Rack for Friday, September 19, 2008:
http://blogs.mediapost.com/magazine_rack/?p=526

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# posted by (hris @ 3:30 PM 0 Comments

PLUG-IN ELECTRIC CAR RACE GETS TENSE

Consumers can help pick the tomorrow's winners by completing the on-line "Join the Plug-In Revolution" survey.

PAPILLION, NE, April 17, 2008 - Electric sports car builder Tesla is suing electric luxury car builder Fisker, claiming the latter stole company trade secrets. GM and Toyota are sparing, directly and via surrogates over to the relative merits of their competing plug-in electric car strategies. The furor over California's supposed retreat on its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate continues to spiral with "conflict of interest" charges against one of its Air Resources Board members.

At stake is a rapidly evolving, multi-billion dollar global market for the next generation of electric cars, which use little or no petroleum, promising to reduce the nation's dependence on imported oil. Propelled by intensifying concerns over national security, climate change and resource depletion, carmakers large and small are racing to develop and market three classes of electric-drive vehicles: Plug-in Hybrids, Extended-Range Electric Vehicles and Battery Electric Vehicles.

Plug-in Hybrids are essentially internal combustion engine vehicles that offer electric-only driving ranges from 10-30 miles. Vehicles in this class will include the next generation Toyota Prius and Saturn VUE, both in development and slated to be available sometime around 2010.

Extended-Range Electric Vehicles are predominately electric cars with onboard internal combustion engine generators that recharge the large batteries, giving the vehicles significant range beyond that of their battery pack. This class includes the Chevy Volt, Fisker Karma and Tesla Whitestar, that latter two now locked in the clinches of a legal boxing match.

Battery Electric Vehicles are traditional, battery-only cars that are charged exclusively by an external electric power source such as the grid or a home owner's solar panels. These vehicles include the Think city and Nissan Denke, the former available for sale in Europe and the latter to appear in America sometime after 2010.

Fortunes and careers are being wagered in this high stakes gamble to become the environmental vehicle leader of the 21st Century. Who will win with which technology is yet to be seen. At last count, there are nearly 20 different electric car programs currently in development by manufacturers in North America, Europe and Asia.

The Plugin.EVWorld.Com (http://plugin.evworld.com) on-line survey is giving consumers the opportunity to express their preferences and concerns about the cars of the future. The survey takes only a minute to complete and those completing the survey will be rewarded by a FREE downloadable Thank You gift worth $10. To date, more than 1,100 people have completed the survey.

"Join the Plug-in Revolution" is sponsored by EV World (http://www.evworld.com).

On-line since 1998, EV World is recognized as one of the leading Internet information portals on sustainable electric-drive vehicle technology, public policy, investments and people. For further information, please contact us at 01 (402) 339.9877 US Central Time.

Contact Information:
Bill Moore
EV World.Com, Inc.
Editor in Chief
P.O. Box 461132
Papillion, NE
United States 68046
Voice: 402.339.9877

# posted by (hris @ 7:36 PM 0 Comments