Nice data and perspectives for social networkers in the US:

Social networking is an Internet success story. This year, 37% of the US adult Internet population used online social networking at least once a month. That figure will rise to 49% in 2011.

Read the full article: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1005688

Research about how internet has been influencing consumer-purchase decisions:

Advice from friends, family and experts is consistently cited as an important factor in consumer-purchase decisions. And the Internet has made it easier to spread word of mouth quickly.

Read the full article:
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?id=1005734&src=article2_newsltr

Some numbers and analysis about Google Docs:

A new survey by NPD has found that the 73% of Americans have never heard of Google Docs and other online office applications, but perhaps worst still only 0.5% of respondents have abandoned desktop office applications for an online alternative. 94% of Americans have never tried a web based productivity suite.

Read the full article:
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/12/18/majority-of-americans-on-
google-docs-what-you-talkin-bout-willis/

What to expect from Google Android? See some comments by Gizmodo Blog:

Here’s the first gorgeous shot of an Google Android prototype in the wild. It looks HTC-ish in build, similar to the grainy versions we’ve seen in the official videos and the renderings in the SDK emulator.

Read the full article:
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/android-hardware-in-the-wild/
google-android-prototype-in-the-wild-334909.php

Nice review of 2007 and perspectives for the next year in business:

Originally we planned to pick the most promising Web company for 2008. But in the end the ReadWriteWeb team decided to follow the example set by Time magazine last year, when it named “You” as its ‘Person of the Year’.

Likewise we think there is no single Web company that is more promising than… the open source movement, a loose-knit group that aims to make a huge impact by tying all Web companies together.

Read the full article:
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/most_promising_web_2008_open_source.php

What consumers really look for? Marketing Daily gave some tips:

With uncertainties about the economy creeping into more and more holiday purchase decisions, a new survey of online shoppers finds that price trumps everything. About 43% of online shoppers say a product’s price is the most important factor in making a purchase, according to the poll conducted by Synovate of Chicago for Guidance, a technology advisor based in Marina del Rey, Calif. And 18% named free shipping.

Read the full article:
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=72717&
Nid=37404&p=412316

Main facts and interesting evaluation of 2007:

Web 2.0 applications just keep getting better, gaining the features people expect from traditional desktop applications.

Even though the business models to support online applications are still fuzzy, tech start-ups and established software vendors plowed ahead in 2007, creating an explosion of online digital media and social-networking sites and features.

Read the full article:

http://www.news.com/Year-in-review-Web-2.0-apps-get-slicker%2
C-more-social/2009-1032_3-222223.html?tag=nefd.lede

Behavioral data and trends of internet using:

Cell phones and the internet are becoming more and more an essential part of our daily lives. So essential, in fact, that the majority of 1,011 people when asked how long they would feel OK without online access, 15% of respondents said just a day or less. 21% said a couple of days and another 19% said a few days. Only a fifth more said they could go for a week. Men were more likely to say they could not go without the internet with 59% choosing one of the three options above; vs. 50% of women. Response did not vary significantly among age groups. Similarly 48% of respondents agreed that, “If I cannot access the Internet when I want to, I feel like something important is missing.”

Read the full article: http://www.kenradio.com/content/view/1046/35/

Google plans to provide knowledge. The project is being compared to Wikipedia, Yahoo Answers, Mahalo and Squidoo:

The web contains an enormous amount of information, and Google has helped to make that information more easily accessible by providing pretty good search facilities. But not everything is written nor is everything well organized to make it easily discoverable. There are millions of people who possess useful knowledge that they would love to share, and there are billions of people who can benefit from it. We believe that many do not share that knowledge today simply because it is not easy enough to do that. The challenge posed to us by Larry, Sergey and Eric was to find a way to help people share their knowledge. This is our main goal.

Read the full article:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2007/12/encouraging-people-to-contribute.html

Very nice data about video viewers’ profile:

62% of consumers are viewing video online and these viewers are not just young adults viewing user-generated videos; in fact, most (69%) are ages 35 and older with a preference for viewing news clips online, according to a new study by Advertising.com. Approximately 83% of consumers surveyed indicated that their online video usage in 2007 has either stayed the same or increased since 2006. More specifically, 36% of consumers have increased their consumption of online video, with an even breakdown between men (36%) and women (37%).

Read the full article: http://www.kenradio.com/content/view/1058/35/