Survey: Gays & Lesbians Heavier Blog Readers, Social Net Users
New York – Gay and lesbian adults are among the nation’s
most loyal and heaviest blog readers and social network users, according to a
national survey conducted online by Harris Interactive. More than half (54%) of
gay men and lesbians read some type of blog, compared to 40% of heterosexuals;
this figure is up from 51% in March 2008, and 32% in November 2006.
The survey also found 36% of gay and
lesbian adults reads news blogs, compared to 25% of heterosexual adults; 22%
read political blogs, compared to 14% of heterosexuals; and 25% read
entertainment and pop culture blogs, compared to 16% of heterosexuals.
Over
one-third (35%) of lesbian and gay male adults report reading gay and lesbian
news-themed blogs, and 53% of these visit such sites weekly, while 19% do so
daily.
Harris found that 73% of gay and lesbian adults are on
Facebook, compared to 65% of heterosexuals; while 32% are on MySpace, compared
to 22% of heterosexuals; and 29% use Twitter, compared to 15% of heterosexuals.
"A majority of LGBT households are hungrier than ever to stay well
informed and to expand their social, professional and personal connections
online," said Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications.
"In
today’s uncertain economy, and with companies and organizations competing for
share of attention, it is clear that blogs and social networking sites have not
only come of age for gay America — but in many ways have become the virtual,
new gay community centers and marketplace."
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2ejqjsm
Meredith Corp. Acquires Mobile Marketer The Hyperfactory
New York – Magazine publisher Meredith Corp. (NYSE: MDP) announced on
Tuesday that it has completed its acquisition of mobile marketing firm The
Hyperfactory.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The publisher of titles
including Better Homes and Gardens, Parents, and Ladies’ Home Journal took a
20% stake in the company a year ago.
Founded in 2001, The Hyperfactory provides
mobile marketing services for clients such as Coca-Cola, BlackBerry, Disney and
Vodafone.
Meredith said the firm will be added to its Meredith Integrated
marketing unit, which provides companies and brands with marketing services.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2bhx4yv
Report: U.S. Paid Search Spending Up 14% in Q2
Atlanta – Spending on paid search advertising in the U.S.
was up 14% in the second quarter of 2010 from a year earlier, after growing 11%
in the first quarter, according to a report from SearchIgnite, a provider of
search optimization services.
The firm called the first half of 2010 the
strongest period of growth for paid search since the fourth quarter of 2008,
"indicating that online PPC spend is bouncing back from the
recession-level growth declines experiences throughout 2009."
Spending on
paid search at Microsoft’s (NASD: MSFT) Bing grew 26% in the second quarter, compared with a
3% rise at Yahoo (NASD: YHOO) and 15.9% jump at Google (NASD: GOOG).
Google accounted for 78.4% of paid
search spending in the U.S. during the second quarter, while Yahoo took 15.4%
and Bing 6.2% of the market.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/22rhkzc
Mobile Ad Network InMobi Gets $8 Million
San Francisco – InMobi, the operator of an independent
mobile ad network, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $8 million in a
second round of funding, from existing investors Kleiner Perkins Caufield &
Byers and Sherpalo Ventures.
Launched in 2007, London-based InMobi recently
expanded into the U.S., and will used the new funds to focus on the U.S., as
well as launch in Japan and grow existing operations.
InMobi says its global ad
network sees 16.9 billion impressions monthly, reaching 179 million consumers
in 108 countries.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/26phzak
Scytl Secures $9.2 Million for Internet Voting Technology
Barcelona – Scytl, a provider of Internet-based voting technology,
announced on Tuesday that it has closed a $9.2 million investment led by
Balderton Capital.
Previous backer Nauta Capital also participated.
Barcelona-based Scytl says its secure voting technology has been used by 13 of
the 16 countries that have introduced electronic voting in public elections,
including the U.S., France, Norway and Australia.
Related Links:
http://www.scytl.com
GE/NBC Universal's Peacock Equity Backs Voice Chat Firm Vivox
New York – Vivox, a provider of voice chat services used in
online games and virtual worlds, on Tuesday said it has received a $2 million
investment from GE/NBC Universal’s (NYSE: GE) Peacock Equity fund.
Founded in 2005,
Natick, Mass.-based Vivox says its service currently supports 30 million users
in over 180 countries.
Customers including Linden Lab, Sony Online
Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast use the company’s voice chat services.
Vivox
will use the new funds to expand into new markets and services like presence,
text, virtual goods and audio advertising.
Other investors in Vivox include
Benchmark Capital, Canaan Partners, GrandBanks Capital and IDG Ventures.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/32uty2v
Online Social Network Hi5 Raises $14 Million
San Francisco – Online social network Hi5 announced on
Tuesday that it has raised $14 million in its second round of funding, led by
Crosslink Capital.
Founded in 2003, San Francisco-based Hi5 currently counts
around 60 million members.
The company will use the funds to expand into social
gaming and virtual goods; Hi5 launched a virtual currency and gifts store in
late 2008, and a games channel in early 2009.
The company has now raised a
total of over $34 million to date.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2944dhh
Google Releases Free Android App Creator Tool
Mountain View, Calif. – Google (NASD: GOOG) on Monday launched a free
software tool that it says lets anyone create a mobile application for its
Android platform for smartphones, The New York Times reported. The Google App
Inventor lets users drag and drop blocks of code that represent different
smartphone capabilities together. One app, created by a college student using
the tool, automatically replies to text messages while he’s driving, with the
message, "Please don’t send me text messages. I’m driving."
Related Links:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/12/technology/12google.html
Consumer Reports Declines to Recommend iPhone 4
Los Angeles – Consumer Reports has tested Apple’s (NASD: AAPL) new
iPhone 4 and determined that the reception issues caused by the external
antenna prevent it from recommending the smartphone to consumers. "When
your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side — an easy
thing, especially for lefties — the signal can significantly degrade enough to
cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak
signal. Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4," reads the
review.
Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2u7vxm6
(Consumer Reports)
http://tinyurl.com/23lnyjt
(All Things D)
