Partner Article

Weekly internet update

with Search Engine Optimisation consultant, Pascal Fintoni

In the news: Research from marketingcharts reveals that young adults now spend more time surfing the internet than they do consuming any other entertainment media, including watching television. Those in the 35+ age bracket still spend more time watching TV than surfing the internet, though figures for online activity among this demographic are on the increase.

A survey by The North East Regional Portal indicates that more and more people from the region chose to complete large proportions of their Christmas shopping online this year. Figures from the study reveal that 85% of those surveyed bought at least 25% of their Christmas shopping via the internet.

Email marketing spending is set to surpass the £2.1 billion mark by 2012, according to Jupiter Research’s ‘US Email Marketing Research Project’.The rise will represent an increase of almost £1 billion when compared with last years total spend.

Social Networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook look set for increased competition following the announcement that former number 1 networking site Friends Reunited is set for a re-launch.

Plugs of the Week: A very useful Resources Page has been added to The North East Digital Awards website to help business attract support for their entries. Banners and logos are available for download by members in a range of sizes, and can be placed on websites, emails and a range of other electronic communications.

Second Life, described as a Sims-style computer game for adults, has generated excitement and controversy in equal amounts. To find out more about it and post your own experiences, why not visit interactive e-business information website webetopia.com?

Story of the Week: The long-held tradition of parents evening is set to be replaced by electronic updates delivered by email according to Education Minister Jim Knight. Mr Knight believes that the proposed system will help strengthen parent-school relationships as well as helping to reduce the country’s ‘digital divide’. What do you think? Are you sad to see parents evenings go or happy to embrace the application of new technologies?

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .