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The marketshare of US visits to Google's Gmail increased 17 percent from February 2007 to April 2007 and was up 30 percent from April 2006 to April 2007, writes MarketingCharts (via Hitwise). Google's Gmail opened up access to all on February 14, 2007. Yahoo Mail and Hotmail, however, remain the dominant Web-based email services: Yahoo's April 2007 share of visits was 13 times greater than Gmail's; Hotmail's was 6 times greater. hitwise-web-email-share-of-visits-april-2007.gif Gmail users, though, are in some ways a more attractive demographic than those of Yahoo Mail and Hotmail, which more closely resemble the general online population in age and socioeconomic status. Gmail users tend to be younger, with higher incomes, and are generally early adopters. For the four weeks ending April 28, 2007, 54 percent of Gmail visits were from users age 18-34, compared with 42 percent for Yahoo Mail and 44 percent for Hotmail, according to Claritas PRIZM NE social group data (via Hitwise). hitwise-web-email-user-demographics-april-2007.gif Some 18 percent of Gmail's visits were from those with average annual household incomes between $100,000 and $149,999, compared with 15 percent visiting Hotmail and 13 percent visiting Yahoo Mail. Gmail users are also more likely to be Facebook users: 3.7 percent of Gmail's downstream went to Facebook in April 2007, compared with 2.2 percent for Hotmail and 1.2 percent for Yahoo Mail.

The data generating ad dollars are the driving force behind a wave of mergers and acquisitions occurring in the media world, reports Business Week. Google's ad-targeting successes have led to a sweeping realization that all ads, including display and video offerings, can be more closely targeted and measured. With this in mind, firms that compile anonymous data on Web surfers have become very attractive to ad-serving companies. Shops like Specific Media, Blue Lithium and 24/7 Real Media have all been tagged acquisition targets. This metrics-mad mindset likely fueled recent rumors of a Microsoft/Yahoo merger. Both companies provide a plethora of member-specific services, and the breadth of collected data between them could easily be used to target users more effectively.

European shoppers are having trouble embracing e-commerce stemming from problems when buying from foreign sites, according to Britain's Channel 4. Six percent of European consumers purchase from sites outside their own countries. And one-third of shoppers had their business refused by the e-tailer when attempting to buy. Pre-internet laws designed to regulate cross-border commerce may be at the source of the problem. The E.U. said it hasn't yet developed a strategy to resolve the problem.

Britain's government-run recruitment site Jobcentre Plus is seeing record numbers in 2007, reports Netimperative. One week in March, the site handled 2.2 million jobseekers who searched some 6.5 million times. In total, the site handled over 70 million job searches in 2007, accounting for 14 percent of the U.K. recruitment market. The last six months have been a major growth period for two-year-old Jobcentre. The leap in career interest represents a trend in the U.K. in which people increasingly prioritize Internet job-hunting over alternatives.

Joost just got some competition. Silvia Scaglia, co-founder of scholarship search site Fastweb, just launched Babelgum in beta, according to Australia's iTnews.com. Like Joost, Babelgum offers broadcast-quality, full-screen programming, and it is already serving content from Reuters and AP. Scaglia is allegedly in conversation with a few Hollywood studios and courting indie produces for niche content. Content creators currently receive $5 for every 1,000 views. Ultimately the site is expected to be entirely ad-run. Babelgum will also offer content owners a secure area for uploading and managing material. Scaglia said there are no restrictions on content size or file type. Scaglia has invested $475 million of his own money into Babelgum and will invest another $175 million in revenue from Fastweb. Meanwhile, Joost recently signed a content deal with Viacom and is currently in talks with ITV and Britain's Channel 4.

Last.fm, a social network for music lovers, is adding music videos to its site, reports Netimperative. Members who use the service to create custom radio channels can now do the same with videos. The company has signed deals with EMI, Warner and some 20,000 independent labels. Talks are also taking place with Universal and Sony Music Group. Last.fm noted the video quality will be 128kbps, significantly better than YouTube's 64kbps.

Microsoft is testing a new format that will turn search ads into display ads, reports John Battelle's Searchblog. When a user hovers over a small icon next to a search ad, that icon explodes into a full-sized display. This is expected to increase click-throughs on search ads. The ads leverage capabilities from Microsoft's recently-released Silverlight Rich Media creation tool. Reports of the format testing come from a demo that took place at Microsoft's Strategic Accounts Summit.

Shortly after rolling out its first series of revenue sharing ad arrangements, YouTube recently introduced in-video ads to user-generated content, reports TechCrunch. The video ads are neither pre- nor post-roll spots. Instead, text appears at the bottom of the video being watched. When viewers click on that text, a video ad appears across the top of the player. There does not appear to be any contextual targeting in place that links advertisers to the video upon which their ads are featured. The optional ad-viewing feature is generating interest in the ad penetration results to follow. Google has been striving to find a middle ground between maintaining user interest and monetizing YouTube, for which it paid $1.5 billion in acquisition costs.

British indie film distributor Peccadillo Pictures is launching a video-on-demand site. The integration of on-demand will enable the film company to bypass conventional cinema and DVD distribution media for new releases, reports NetImperative. Independent films have always struggled with distribution, and online could potentially open films up to undiscovered niche markets. The service launches July 18 with British thriller Surveillance. The film will be available via streaming, download-to-rent and download-to-own.

Nickelodeon's MTVN Kids and Family Group have announced the completion of a number of deals to sponsor and share revenue upon their respective Shockwave.com and AddictingGame sites, reports BusinessWeek. Shockwave.com enables game creators to upload their work to the site for everyone to play. They can then seek third-party sponsorship for their games, provided the sponsors have registered with the website. Such sponsors include HP and Nissan, which also sponsor other content on the site, such as photo sharing. AddictingGames.com brands games uploaded by their creators, giving them access to a wider distribution channel. This also generates more traffic for the site.

Broadband users now spend 48 percent (about one hour and 40 minutes) of their spare time online during a typical weekday. Some 54 percent (54 minutes) of that online time is spent accessing activities related to entertainment and communication, according to "Netpop | Play," a new report by research firm Media-Screen, MarketingCharts writes. "We have found that consumers, on a typical weekday, spend more than 40 percent of their time consuming media online. As more of the population goes online and there are more marketing channels, it will be imperative for the entertainment industry to know how to effectively allocate marketing and advertising dollars," said Josh Crandall, managing director of Media-Screen. On average online broadband users devote 27 percent of their online time to leisure/entertainment, and an additional 27 percent for communication, followed by 9 percent on finding news and information, 15 percent on personal productivity and 12 percent on shopping. media-screen-netpop-allocation-of-total-time-spent-online.jpg The study examines how and where broadband users access entertainment content and information online (e.g., learn about new artists, buy related products, read reviews, use a program guide) and finds that media habits of modern consumers are shifting in the wake of iTunes, YouTube, MySpace and other "longtail" entertainment sites. Online entertainment consumption is dramatically affecting conventional marketing and advertising channels, Netpop | Play finds. For instance, search engines and social networking sites are gaining in popularity, influencing an equal number of people as magazines and newspapers. Moreover, 48% of younger users say they learn about new entertainment primarily through user generation content sites (e.g., community, review and video sharing sites and blogs); by contrast, only 25% say they learn about new entertainment through television. "Users' ability to 'pull' information and content associated with their favorite genre, artist or title changes the marketing game from gross ratings points to access and advocacy," said Crandall. "Many broadband consumers go online for entertainment, and to talk about entertainment with other fans. Marketers need to leverage that interest and focus on catalyzing a conversation now, instead of just talking to their fans via traditional advertising channels." MarketingCharts provides additional data, including charts

Three more advertising trade groups have echoed the demand that Nielsen/NetRatings and comScore metric systems be audited, reports ClickZ. A statement issued by the American Association of Advertising Agencies, Association of National Advertisers and Advertising Research Foundation made the request, following the Interactive Advertising Bureau's call for independent auditing. The groups seek to ensure the methodologies employed by the measurement firms are sound, and that subsequent numbers provide value to organization members. Nielsen has agreed to begin a full Media Ratings Council accreditation process. comScore consented to a one-time audit, which could take about six months to complete.

Nearly nine of 10 email marketers (87 percent) say relevant content within the email message is "very important," followed by eight of 10 (81 percent) who rated email deliverability as very important, writes MarketingCharts, citing a study by eROI, which surveyed email marketers on their perceptions of and experiences with email. The study sought marketers' opinions on what they deem important when creating an email, how they design emails, and how they test deliverability and rendering. Notably, only 68 percent of respondents said coding emails to work across various clients was very important, despite recent concerns with image blocking and the lack of support for style sheets in Outlook 2007. "Many marketers are still behind the times, with only about two-thirds of marketers coding emails properly to work on all major email clients," Jeff Mills, author of the study, told MarketingCharts. By taking relatively simple steps, "like using ALT tags so readers can still see what the offer is about even when images are blocked," Mills said marketers can improve results. eroi-email-issues-by-importance-may-2007.gif For example, though "age-old email marketing wisdom" says an above-the-fold call to action increases response, only 59 percent of respondents consider it very important, according to the study. "There is a huge opportunity for marketers to button up their email programs and know that the little things really do matter," Mills said. Moreover, though email marketers claim relevant content is very important, over half of them say they send broad-based messages to their entire list and do not direct email to specific segments. Only 55 percent said segmentation was very important.

Yet another study has been released claiming that mobile is the next up-and-coming form of media - and advertising will play a crucial role, according to eMarketer. The total number of mobile TV and video subscribers globally will rise from 40 million in 2006 to over 750 million in 2011, and paying subscribers are forecast to reach nearly 200 million, with resulting revenue of nearly $13 billion, according to the study. But while advertising is bound to be important in the mobile video value chain, nobody is quite sure exactly what that means, says eMarketer senior analyst John du Pre Gauntt, author of "Mobile TV and Video: Big Dreams for the Smallest Screen." "It's a mistake for marketers to assume there is some universal attraction or repulsion among users to the idea of watching video or television on a mobile phone," Gauntt is quoted as saying.