New global e-commerce research from Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) reveals that one-size does not fit all when it comes to consumers’ online shopping preferences around the world.
While international shoppers share some characteristics, the survey reveals key differences among consumers in many countries. U.S. retailers looking to expand their businesses online to international markets should consider the unique consumer shopping behaviors and preferences in each country.
Commissioned by Pitney Bowes, the polling firm ORC International surveyed approximately 10,000 adults across 10 countries regarding shopping habits and preferences. Consumers were polled in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Online shopping a global habit
Online shopping is a truly global habit, according to the research. Overall, 93 percent of consumers polled have purchased products online, with 49 percent doing so during the last 30 days. Consumers in Germany,
South Korea and the U.K. were the highest for making online product purchases (98 percent) followed closely by Japan (96 percent). In Canada, where online shopping is least prevalent, more than four out of five (82 percent) reported having bought goods online.
The survey also found that international shoppers want four basic things when purchasing products online: competitive prices (71 percent); a broad selection of products (42 percent); easy, intuitive checkout (35 percent); and low costs for shipping, duties and taxes (35 percent).
Price of products was the most important consideration for purchasing products online in all 10 countries. However, other consumer preferences varied by country. For example:
Ease and speed of the online checkout process was more important to consumers in Germany and South Korea (both 59 percent), but much less important in Japan (11 percent).
French consumers were seven times more interested in the ability to track an order than Japanese consumers (37 percent versus five percent).
Accurate delivery date estimates were more important to consumers in China and South Korea (both 20 percent) but less important in Canada (10 percent).
A clear and easy to understand return policy was almost three times more important to consumers in China (36 percent) than to consumers in Brazil and the U.S. (both 13 percent).
“Given today’s economic situation, international e-commerce is becoming even more enticing as U.S. products are becoming more attractive and affordable for international buyers,” said Jay Oxton, president of mail services, Pitney Bowes.
“However, to be successful, retailers need to ensure they can offer a simple and seamless online shopping experience, and have a clear understanding of consumers’ purchasing, shipping and communications preferences in each market.”
Significant differences in why shoppers abandon carts
The study also showed significant differences in why the consumers surveyed abandon online shopping carts. High shipping costs (67 percent), additional fees at time of delivery such as duties and taxes (47 percent), and the delivery time (39 percent) were the top disincentives to complete purchases online. Consumers in the U.S. (83 percent), U.K. (79 percent) and Japan (78 percent) are three times more sensitive to shipping prices than consumers in South Korea (25 percent).
The survey also revealed insight on what types of products international consumers are more likely to purchase online than in a brick-and-mortar store. Top product categories for online purchases included books, videos and music (58 percent), computer hardware and software (41 percent), and consumer electronics (38 percent).
Consumers in China indicated they are more likely to purchase apparel (58 percent) and footware (53 percent) online versus in a store. As a matter of fact, for almost every category included in the survey, respondents in China are more likely to purchase products online with the exception of computer hardware and software (39 percent), and jewelry/watches and accessories (16 percent).
When asked about preferences for receiving information on new products, promotions or other offers from retailers/merchandisers, 59 percent of global consumers indicated they prefer e-mail communications.
A quarter prefer information from catalogs or direct mail
Twenty-five percent of respondents said they prefer to receive this information in catalogs and direct mail, indicating that mail is another strong channel for online retailers. Four percent of respondents prefer to receive information via text messaging, and social media channels (Facebook and Twitter).
Looking at all 10 countries, consumers in Brazil had the highest preference for receiving new product and promotional information via e-mail (72 percent). Consumers in Australia (33 percent) had the highest preference for receiving information in catalogs and direct mail followed closely by Canada (32 percent), Germany (31 percent) and the U.S. (30 percent).
Text messaging information had the highest preference with consumers in South Korea (13 percent), Japan (12 percent) and China (nine percent). Consumers in China (11 percent), and Brazil and South Korea (both five percent) responded the highest for receiving information via social media channels.
The majority of small business owners believe Internet security is critical to their success and that their companies are safe from ever increasing cyber security threats even as many fail to take fundamental precautions, according to a new survey of U.S. small businesses sponsored by Symantec and the National Cyber Security Alliance and conducted by Zogby International.
The survey found that two-thirds (67%) of U.S. small businesses have become more dependent on the Internet in the last year and 66% are dependent on the network for their day-to-day operations.
What’s more, 57% of firms say that a loss of Internet access for 48 hours would be disruptive to their business and 38% said it would be “extremely disruptive” and 76% say that most of their employees use the Internet daily.
Majority think they’re cyber secure
The vast majority of small business owners think their company is cyber-secure as 85% of respondents said their company is safe from hackers, viruses, malware or a cyber-security breach and seven in ten (69%) believe Internet security critical to their business’s success. Additionally, a majority (57%) of small businesses believe that having a strong cyber security and online safety posture is good for their company’s brand.
Yet a closer look reveals that most small businesses lack sufficient cyber security policies and training. Seventy-seven percent said they do not have a formal written Internet security policy for employees and of those, 49% reported that they do not even have an informal policy.
More small business owners also said they do not provide Internet safety training to their employees than said they do – to a tune of 45 versus 37%. And a majority of businesses (56%) do not have Internet usage policies that clarify what websites and web services employees can use and only 52% have a plan in place for keeping their business cyber-secure.
40 percent suffered a security breach
At the same time, small businesses may not understand how to respond to online threats or the danger they pose. For example, 40% of small businesses say that if their business suffered a data breach or loss of customer or employee information, credit card information or intellectual property, their business does not have a contingency plan outlining procedures for responding and reporting it.
Two-fifths (43%) also say they do not let their customers and partners/suppliers know what they do to protect their information.
The respondents’ sense of security is especially unwarranted given that 40% of all targeted cyber attacks are directed at companies with less than 500 employees, according to Symantec data.
Average losses were $188,000
In 2010, the average annual cost of cyber attacks to small and medium sized business was $188,242. What’s more, statistics show that roughly 60% of small businesses will close up within six months of a cyber attack (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-challenges-in-defending-against-malware-2011-9). According to the Norton Cybercrime Report, the total cost of cyber crime to consumers and small business owners alike, is greater than $114 billion annually (http://norton.com/cybercrimereport).
“We recognize that most small business owners are focused on running their businesses, and have limited resources and IT staff dedicated to managing their cyber security needs.
Unfortunately, cyber criminals are increasingly making small businesses their targets, knowing they are likely to have fewer safeguards in place to protect themselves,” said Cheri McGuire, vice president of Global Government Affairs and Cybersecurity Policy at Symantec.
“It’s important for small businesses to educate their employees on the latest threats and what they can do to combat them. Education, combined with investment in reliable security solutions, provides small business owners with a well-rounded approach to protecting their businesses and managing cyber risk.”
“The threats grow in number and complexity each day, but too many small business owners remain naively complacent,” said NCSA Executive Director Michael Kaiser. “The stakes are high for individual businesses and the nation as a whole: a single malware attack or data breach can be fatal to a small enterprise but the collective vulnerability of all our businesses is a major economic security challenge.”
The survey also found that 69% of their businesses handle customer data while about half (49%) handle financial records, one-third (34%) handle credit card information, one quarter (23%) have their own intellectual property, and one in five (18%) handled intellectual property belonging to others outside their company.
Unconcerned about some potentially nasty cyber attacks
When asked to rank the top concern of small business owners while their employees are on the Internet, 32% reported viruses, 17% spyware/malware and 10% reported loss of data.
Yet only 8% are concerned about loss of customer information, 4% about loss of intellectual property and only 1% worry about loss of employee data, even though cyber security experts believe the loss of any of this kind of information would be devastating to a business.
Overall, cyber vulnerabilities and threats are steadily on the rise, according to the “Symantec Internet Security Threat Report, Trends for 2010,” the latest version of the company’s annual cyber security study. For example, the report found a 9% increase in web-based attacks
In addition to struggling with the basics, many small businesses are failing to keep up with the increasing adoption of mobile and social media platforms. Just 37% of U.S. small businesses have an employee policy or guidelines in place for remote use of company information on mobile devices and just over one in three (36%) maintains a policy for employees’ use of social media.
Social networking, smartphones provide avenues of attack
Social networking platforms now provide hackers with the ability to easily research targets and develop powerful social engineering attacks. Smart phones and other mobile devices are also poised to play a large role with a sharp 42% rise last year in the number of reported security vulnerabilities, according to Symantec’s 2010 report.
Experts say that strong password protections, protecting USB devices and wireless networks matter to a firm’s security posture. Yet, a majority of firms (59%) do not use multifactor authentication (more than a password and logon) to access any of their networks.
Only half (50%) reported they completely wipe data off their machines before they dispose of them and 21% never do. Two-thirds (67%) of U.S. small businesses allow the use of USB devices in the workplace.
The study was an online survey of 1,045 small business owners conducted by Zogby International from September 9-21, 2011. The survey had a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.
Small businesses are leaving customer data open to hackers – despite encrypting databases – allowing even long passwords to be cracked in as little as 7 seconds.
Testing by hosting specialist UKFast has revealed that using industry-standard hashing algorithm MD5 to protect data still allows for a seven character password (of lower alphabet and numbers) to be cracked in 7 seconds.
Using a more secure encryption method such as SHA 256, it would take up to seven times longer to brute force crack the same password.
The tests call into question the security of customer data stored by SMEs, who often do not have the luxury of in-house IT teams or the technical knowledge to properly secure their customer databases.
Neil Lathwood, technical director at UKFast, explained: “Many small companies are trying to protect their customer data on their own or outsourcing their IT and relying on the skills of another company to secure their customer data. What these companies may not be aware of is that some methods of encryption are significantly less secure than others.
“With the emergence of brute force password cracking using Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) for extra fire power, the need for strong encryption algorithms has become more important than ever. The MD5 algorithm is so weak that no one should be using it as their only encryption method – a normal PC without the extra GPU fire power could even crack the MD5 code.”
Despite the many different encryption algorithms available for SMEs to use, with this method of brute force cracking and the extra boost of the GPUs, no encryption is complete secure. Making it as difficult as possible to crack information is the key.
Lathwood said: “Using an encryption method like SHA256 rather than MD5 would still allow the hacker to decrypt the information but it takes significantly longer. For example, a seven character password (of any digit, letter or symbol) would take 1 hour, 40 minutes to crack when encrypted with MD5 but would take 12 hours, 53 minutes when encrypted with the S/HA256 method.
“It is also possible to ‘salt’ encrypted information where random figures are added, making it more difficult to crack the code.
“Businesses that encrypt their own data or outsource their IT must ensure that they are aware of what encryption is used and how safe their customer data is. Relying on the expertise of others is often the best method for smaller companies but they must stop burying their head in the sand over data security – if their database is hacked it is their reputation on the line and many businesses are oblivious to the chances that they are taking not by properly protecting their data.”
Millennials, the 18-34 age group, is mobile in more ways than one. Location-based ad Network Jiwire created this infographic to show just how mobile they are:
Chicago-based Groupon, the leader in the online daily deal space, says in regulatory documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to raise up to $540 million in an initial public offering of stock, less than the $750 million it said it planned to raise in a June filing.
Groupon said it plans to sell 30 million shares at between $16 and $18 a share, which would raise from $480 million to $540 million.
Groupon, which reported 143 million subscribers in Q3, up from 116 million in the previous quarter, had 30 million customers at the end of September – meaning subscribers who bought at least one Groupon deal. Repeat customers rose to 16 million, up from 12 million.
It also saw increased revenue, netting $430 million, up 10 percent from the previous quarter.
Nevertheless, it is still losing money, although at a decreasing rate. The filing said it lost only $21 million in Q3, compared wiht $52 million in Q2.
In other online deal news, CouponCabin raised a fat $54 million in a round led by JMI Equity. The Whitling, IN-based firm, founded in 2003, verifies whether its coupons work and if they don’t offers users a $25 gift card.
CouponCabin founder and CEO Scott Kluth said, “Among other initiatives, this investment will enable us to grow our local, grocery and printable coupon offerings, making us the deepest and broadest consumer destination for coupons on the web. This investment will also help us better engage with more than one million fans on Facebook.”
The company has offered more than 100,000 deals from 3, 500 stores.
BuyWithMe layoffs due to shrinking markets
BuyWithMe, the third larges daily deals site online, slashed more than half its staff Thursday, a move COO David Wolfe told VentureBeat is due to the increasingly hostile capital market for daily deal sites. The company failed in its attempt to raise new money at a valuation of $500 million.
Cover of Walter Isaacson's Steve Jobs biography to be published Monday
Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, due for publication Monday but leaked to the New York Times and to the Associated Press, reveals details of how he went ballistic over Google’s alleged theft of iPhone tech for its Android smartphones.
The biography also discusses how Jobs upset friends, family and doctors by putting off surgery for his pancreatic cancer to try a variety of herbal, nutritional and other unconventional treatments while misleading Apple’s employees, executives and shareholders.
When Jobs finally chose surgery and scientific methods of combating the cancer, he went all the way, trying leading edge options, including being at the time only one of 20 people to have his the complete genome of his cancer and his his own genetic makeup sequenced at a cost of $100,0000.
Jobs, diagnosed with the cancer in 2003, died of it Oct. 5 at age 56.
Isaacson’s 630 page biography is based on more than 40 interviews with Jobs, in addition to other research.
Willing to go thermonuclear over Android
In one interview in 2010, Jobs went ballistic over what he perceived as Google’s theft of iPhone features for its Android smartphone operating system. Jobs told Isaacson in what is described as a “profanity filled rant” that it was “grand theft.”
He said he would spend his last breath and Apple’s 40 billion in cash “to right this wrong.” Apple has sued Google over Android. “I’m willing to go thermonuclear war over this,” he said.
Google’s Eric Schmidt, once an Apple board member, has denied he had any discord with Jobs, but that’s not the way Jobs told it.
Other details in the book show Jobs affinity for music, which he sometimes played for Isaacson during interviews, playing the Beatles, a Gregorian Chant, and a Donovan song for him from the new iPad2 during one session.
Jobs said he came up with the company name “Apple” while on a diet of fruits and vegetables, and he told his biographer that he learned how to unblinkingly look someone in the eye as a teenager.
Jobs also joked about having big wigs such as News Corp. head Rupert Murdock to dinner. He said he had to hide the kitchen knives from his liberal wife Laurene Powell.
Advertising showed its resiliency this quarter by achieving solid gains consistent with spending trends from third quarter 2010, according to a new STRATA quarterly survey of leading advertising agencies. Digital, aided by social and mobile, was up by 43 percent in the quarter, almost matching local TV.
However, client attraction and decreasing budgets remain the chief challenges affecting overall agency growth. The survey also noted a possible shift for the top advertising channel, with Digital and Spot (Local) TV now only separated by a margin of 1%.
STRATA, the system of choice for over 900 agencies and roughly half of ad agencies nationally, found that 52% of respondents noted that their business is increasing compared to the same time last year (only 16.5% saw a decrease in business, down 30% from a year ago).
Biggest industry challenges
Job growth also made a steady upswing this quarter, with 24% of agencies surveyed noting they will hire before the end of the year (up 8% since last year).
When listing their biggest business challenges, attracting new business remains tops for agency respondents (38%) followed closely by client spending (22%). In fact, most feel that their business won’t return to a strong growth period until after 2012.
If market volatility continues, Print and Local TV would be the media most hit by ad spending cuts (Print 52% and Local TV 24%). The auto industry (30%) and entertainment industry (21%) are the two top industries that agencies say are asking to cut advertising.
Digital up 43 percent since last quarter
The STRATA survey suggests its now a tight race for the top advertising avenues. Local TV remains the medium of choice (35%), though it is just barely beating out Digital (34%), which is up 43% since last quarter.
Taking a closer look, 85% say clients are focusing on Digital more than last year. Local Cable noticed a bump as 31% say they are more focused on it than they were last year (up 13% over last year).
Radio had a downturn as 37% say they are less focused on it as they were a year ago. Network TV noticed an uptick with 12% saying they are more focused on Network TV than they were a year ago (up 86% since third quarter 2010).
Social and mobile help digital challenge traditional advertising
Social and Mobile are helping Digital challenge Traditional advertising, according to STRATA’s third quarter survey. In fact, 89% of respondents indicated that they would use Facebook in their campaigns (up 10% from last quarter). For the first time, YouTube (39%) is the number two most desirable social medium for campaign, surpassing Twitter (37%).
Google+ is still on the outside looking in with only 14% planning to use it this quarter (down 47% since last quarter). LinkedIn was a strong fourth at 22%.
Mobile advertising sees the iPhone as the convincing leader with 78% of respondents noting it is the device their clients are most interested in advertising on (down 10% since last quarter).
Android is closing the gap at 54% (up 7% since one year ago). The iPad remains strong at 46% (up 85% since last year). With Amazon and Apple continuing to focus on content for tablets, 69% say that focus will make this medium more attractive to advertisers.
“If one looks for another sign of a nominally growing economy, one should look to the advertising industry right now,” said John Shelton, CEO/President of STRATA. “Attracting new business is still a challenge for agencies, but, and it’s a key point to emphasize, client retention is stabilizing, and market volatility is not immediately effecting long-term goals and campaigns.
As we’ve seen throughout the year, the STRATA survey is a good indicator of advertising growth and definitely highlighted third quarter challenges such as client attraction. But with the holidays right around the corner, it will be interesting to see if the industry can leverage short-term boosts to create long-term optimism.”
Other key findings of the STRATA survey:
20% of respondents say that they anticipate having a greater spend on Digital than Traditional within 1-3 years.
36% say that they will never have a greater spend on Digital than Traditional.
Facebook’s Open Graph launch did create some buzz, but agencies aren’t quite sure yet with 64% saying it is too early to tell if it will help stabilize social media advertising.
Agencies question whether their clients see the value in Digital. In the survey only 56% say their clients understand the value in Digital with 44% saying that they don’t see the value.
29% say clients are more focused on Local TV than they were last year.
Technology is creating closer family relationships rather than pushing families apart, according to research presented at the 7th Annual M2Moms … The Marketing to Moms Conference, at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Moms in families who embrace technology are more optimistic about a wide range of issues, and believe technology is helping make strides in disease, education and overall quality of life.
“There has been a lot of controversy around the impact all this texting and time online has on our society and on families, but our research suggests that moms and dads who embrace technology communicate more and embrace traditional family time and values,” says Monique da Silva, head of Healthcare North America at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide.
“They are three times more likely to strongly agree that their kids’ generation will put a stronger emphasis on family.”
Ogilvy & Mather, in partnership with leading consumer insights company Communispace, conducted a new joint research study, ‘Tech Fast Forward: Plug in to see the brighter side of life,’ which takes a deep dive into the role technology plays in families’ lives today, exploring the mindset of tech-savvy moms, dads and kids, as they pave the way for what lies ahead for consumers and brands alike.
Tech fast forward families studied
The report uncovers insights from the “Tech Fast Forward” (TFF) family segment (defined as households who use more sophisticated technology than the average person, with children ages 3-12) and seeks to understand how parents and children embracing technology differ from their less tech-savvy counterparts.
Following this group helps brands and marketers alike understand the mindset and experiences that companies need to stay engaged and relevant in today’s rapidly changing world.
“You don’t need to be a futurist to know that today’s world is changing rapidly and technology is driving this evolution—continually creating possibilities, broadening our horizons and opening new doors,” said Graceann Bennett,managing partner and director of Strategic Planning at Ogilvy & Mather Chicago.
“We assumed as a starting point that technology is our future, but what we did not know—and what we sought to uncover—was whether the outlook would be limitless or limiting, dangerous or delicious, awesome or overwhelming.”
A Tech Future is a Surprisingly Bright Future
Moms and Dads believe technology is helping their children develop critical skills that will empower them to navigate—and even save—the world in the years and decades to come. According to the research, the TFF segment is twice as likely to say their children’s generation is better off than prior generations and three times more likely than the rest of the population to strongly agree that when their kids’ generation comes into power, they will “save the planet,” “the world will be better off because of how they will lead the way” and “there will be global peace.”
So What Does this Mean for Brands Seeking to Target Moms?
“For those of us who market to moms on a daily basis, this research provides an important information on how we leverage new technologies to connect with moms and harness her desire to communicate with her family and friends,” adds da Silva. “This TFF Mom is not a slave to technology – she is its master and knows how to use it to simplify her life.”
Ogilvy identified several implications that will help marketers stay ahead of the curve and connect, literally and emotionally, with today and tomorrow’s tech forward mom and family.
Here are seven tips on how to target them:
Mobilize tech optimism: Brands have the opportunity to capitalize on today’s tech optimism by helping consumers create the brighter world they want to see.
Get into generation bending: Nobody really acts their age anymore: market to kids as adults, adults as kids.
Mine the family mindset: As intergenerational attitudes converge, opportunities to market to the family as a unit increase. Purchase decisions are family decisions.
Turn up the intensity of shared experiences: Brands can leverage technology to expand and elevate shared experiences; look beyond the ordinary and consider partnering with artists to enhance and deepen brand involvement.
Un-connect the dots: Consumers want to interpret your brand—to make your brand’s story their own. So give them the building blocks and let them put the pieces together.
Get serious about game play: Game play is no longer relegated to the domain of kids—as technology makes brands more interactive, consumers expect to engage with brands in ways that mimic “play.” Be it betting, competing, constructing or solving puzzles, consumers look for ways to take time out and have a little fun with your brand.
Let people mess with your brand: The creative impulse abounds, and today, any and all content is fair game for experimentation, adaptation and reinterpretation. This includes your brand! Companies need to embrace this trend and enable consumers to reimagine and remix brand assets.
Online Gambling sites witnessed the strongest lift in traffic in September with sports betting front-and-center as the NFL season kicked off, according to comScore’s (NASDAQ:SCOR) Media Metrix Service.
The new school year also swung into gear in September, which encouraged students and teachers to visit Education Information and Resource sites.
“In September, Americans browsed a variety of web content, with Online Gambling, Education and Political News sites ranking at the top of our fastest-growing categories list,” said Jeff Hackett, executive vice president of comScore.
“Fall television lineups also premiered in September, earning ABC Television and TV Guide Online Network spots on the list of top-gaining properties, along with NFL Internet Group and ESPN as the long-awaited NFL season began.”
Americans All-In For Online Gambling
Online Gambling sites represented the fastest growing category in September, up 13 percent to 9.7 million visitors. PokerStars ranked first in the category with 1.1 million visitors (up 11 percent), followed by UPickEm.net with 993,000 (up 36 percent), FullTiltPoker with 753,000, SimSlots, Inc. with 655,000 (up 5 percent) and Wooga.com with 520,000 (up 85 percent).
Classes Resume at Education Sites
Education Information sites saw increased pickup in September, growing 12 percent to 82.7 million visitors. Pearson Education ranked as the category leader with 22.3 million visitors (up 43 percent), while HotChalk drew17.2 million visitors (up 27 percent), earning both a spot on the top-gaining properties list. About.com Education attracted 9.5 million visitors (up 49 percent), followed by ClassesUSA.com with 6.4 million and Coolmath.com Inc with 5.5 million (up 47 percent).
Political News Buzzes Online
Interest in Political News sites spiked in September between President Obama’s jobs plan announcement and the heating up of the Republican presidential primary battled. The category rose 12 percent to 35.4 million visitors. HuffPost Politics ranked #1 in the category with 9.9 million visitors (up 8 percent), while CNN Politics drew 8.1 million (up 11 percent). Politico.com ranked third with 4.8 million visitors (up 8 percent), followed by RealClearPolitics.com with 2.5 million (up 15 percent), The Economist Group with 2.5 million (up 4 percent) and BarackObama.com with 1.6 million.
Top 50 Properties
Google Sites ranked as the #1 property in September with 184.6 million visitors, followed by Yahoo! Sites with 177.1 million and Microsoft Sites with 176.9 million. ESPN, Technorati Media and NBC Universal each jumped 4 positions, to rank at #20, #26 and #41, respectively. NFL Internet Group was a newcomer to the list this month at #40 as the season commenced in September.
Top 50 Ad Focus Ranking
Google Ad Network led the September Ad Focus ranking with a reach of 92.8 percent of Americans online, followed by Yahoo! Network Plus (86.1 percent) and AOL Advertising (84.8 percent). AT&T AdWorks maintained its position at #4 with an 82.6-percent reach, while ValueClick Networks rounded out the top five at 81.6-percent.
Table 1
comScore Top 10 Gaining Properties by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors* (U.S.)
September 2011 vs. August 2011 Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Aug-11
Sep-11
% Change
Rank by Unique Visitors
Total Internet : Total Audience
216,006
218,536
1
N/A
ABC Television
6,962
10,736
54
153
Pearson Education
15,552
22,288
43
63
Encyclopaedia Britannica
9,810
12,976
32
127
FedEx
14,610
19,322
32
86
PBS
10,161
13,393
32
124
NFL Internet Group
21,474
28,197
31
40
BuzzFeed.com
5,058
6,556
30
237
TV Guide Online Network
7,198
9,186
28
176
HotChalk
13,584
17,199
27
99
ESPN
41,624
52,198
25
20
*Ranking based on the top 250 properties in September 2011. Excludes entities whose growth was primarily due to tagging through unified digital audience measurement.
Table 2
comScore Top 10 Gaining Site Categories by Percentage Change in Unique Visitors (U.S.)
September 2011 vs. August 2011
Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations
Source: comScore Media Metrix
Total Unique Visitors (000)
Aug-11
Sep-11
% Change
Total Internet : Total Audience
216,006
218,536
1
Gambling – Online Gambling
8,608
9,736
13
Education – Information
73,730
82,670
12
News/Information – Politics
31,675
35,394
12
Retail – Flowers/Gifts/Greetings
21,817
24,290
11
Directories/Resources – Shipping
32,361
35,785
11
Automotive – Manufacturer
22,625
24,839
10
Health – Pharmacy
5,438
5,943
9
Retail – Computer Software
38,144
40,435
6
Community – Beauty/Fashion/Style
62,757
66,505
6
Services – Web Hosting
42,177
44,508
6
Table 3
comScore Top 50 Properties (U.S.) September 2011 Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix
Rank
Property
Unique Visitors
(000)
Rank
Property
Unique Visitors
(000)
Total Internet : Total Audience
218,536
1
Google Sites
184,582
26
Technorati Media
39,563
2
Yahoo! Sites
177,123
27
Wal-Mart
38,255
3
Microsoft Sites
176,856
28
Adobe Sites
37,261
4
Facebook.com
163,021
29
NetShelter Technology Media
36,359
5
AOL, Inc.
105,861
30
LinkedIn.com
35,842
6
Amazon Sites
103,709
31
AT&T Interactive Network
35,582
7
Ask Network
91,994
32
Tribune Interactive
34,288
8
Turner Digital
89,981
33
Twitter.com
32,310
9
Glam Media
88,303
34
Yelp.com
31,975
10
Wikimedia Foundation Sites
83,836
35
Myspace
30,554
11
CBS Interactive
83,463
36
Disney Online
30,537
12
Viacom Digital
79,558
37
Superpages.com Network
29,900
13
eBay
73,830
38
iVillage.com: The Womens Network
29,866
14
New York Times Digital
72,849
39
Everyday Health
28,569
15
Apple Inc.
72,685
40
NFL Internet Group
28,197
16
VEVO
62,183
41
NBC Universal
27,984
17
Weather Channel, The
61,751
42
Netflix.com
27,983
18
Demand Media
59,624
43
Break Media
27,675
19
craigslist, inc.
54,152
44
WebMD Health
27,238
20
ESPN
52,198
45
Target Corporation
25,728
21
WordPress
48,475
46
Fox News Digital
25,610
22
Comcast Corporation
48,256
47
Internet Brands, Inc.
25,601
23
Answers.com Sites
46,587
48
Verizon Communications Corporation
25,043
24
Federated Media Publishing
44,176
49
The Washington Post Company
24,669
25
Gannett Sites
42,968
50
Discovery Digital Media Sites
24,282
Table 4
comScore Ad Focus Ranking (U.S.) September 2011 Total U.S. – Home, Work and University Locations Source: comScore Media Metrix
Senior IT professionals are experiencing an information void that is leading to increased risk in critical decision making. according to a new report from Austin-based start-up Wisegate, a social knowledge network.
Amid the growing volume of vendor sales hype and social networking noise, Wisegate’s study shows that access to the most trusted sources of information – peers who work in the same industry with similar experience – is declining.
As a result, IT management is less likely to have the information they need to make the best data security and information technology decisions for their companies.
At a time when technologies and corporate IT environments are rapidly growing in complexity, resource-strapped IT professionals are called upon to make more high-impact decisions in less time. In this high-pressure atmosphere, many senior IT leaders report that they don’t have sufficient time or adequate resources to gather all the facts they need to confidently and quickly make IT decisions.
In hundreds of hours of interviews with senior IT professionals Wisegate found that:
· 81% said they want more practical IT project and technology information
· 89% rated peers as their preferred source of most trusted IT information
· 81 % said trusted feedback from senior IT peers would help reduce risk in IT
decisions
Wisegate’s research found that IT decision makers commonly expressed a higher level of trust in their peers because they are not influenced by vendors, they have practical knowledge through experience and are usually able to provide a superior level of detailed IT information that includes the full story – both good and bad – about their experiences. The research also found, however, that despite the preference for peer feedback, meaningful peer relationships are on the decline.
Wisegate is an invitation-only community where senior IT professionals meet in a private environment to exchange knowledge and solve problems with their peers. By enforcing strict membership guidelines, which exclude vendors from joining, Wisegate is able to provide members with unmatched access to senior-level IT professionals and quality content.
For example, Kristin Knight, senior privacy director for Phillips Electronics North America, says the big-picture advice she got from Wisegate peers on data loss prevention equipment helped her to shape a successful Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) program. Although she was asking about a specific technology, the advice she got from other members brought up some red flags in her overall approach and steered her in a different direction.
The Internet’s profound effect on how U.S. businesses operate is even more pronounced among young companies, according to a research report released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
The study, “Casting a Wide Net: Online Activities of Small and New Businesses in the United States,” reveals that new businesses have a higher propensity to use websites, email, and to sell online, and that these inclinations have an impact on capitalization and longevity.
The research compares data from the Kauffman Firm Survey, which follows 4,928 firms from their founding in 2004 through 2009, with recently released data from various government sources on businesses overall.
New businesses go digital faster than older ones
While adoption and use of online activities differed depending on the business type, owner characteristics, industry and other factors, the study showed that new businesses tended to implement e-business activities at higher rates than existing businesses did.
In 2007, for example, young businesses were more likely than not to have a website, as compared to only about a quarter of U.S. businesses overall. Six percent of all U.S. businesses had online sales that year, while more than 25 percent of young businesses were selling online.
“Startup companies often are at the forefront of technology implementation that streamlines productivity and gives them a competitive advantage in the marketplace,” said Alicia Robb, Kauffman Foundation Senior Research Fellow and co-author of the report.
In addition to new businesses’ higher likelihood of selling online, new businesses were also much more likely to generate more than half of company sales online. Among online sellers, a quarter of young businesses generated more than 50 percent of their revenues online, almost double the rate seen in the general business population.
“It’s clear that many young businesses are integrating online sales into their strategies for reaching customers and generating revenues,” said E.J. Reedy, Kauffman Foundation Research Fellow and report co-author. “But it’s important to realize that in addition to Internet-only sellers, many young businesses also report sales generated through other channels.”
Online businesses started bigger
New businesses that used websites, email and online sales generally were starting bigger, with greater financial capitalization at birth (almost $55,000 more if a firm had a website, almost $46,000 more if the business owner had email and more than $25,000 more if the firm later reported online sales) and also higher levels of employment, especially for firms starting with a website.
Founders whose companies had websites at startup tended to be younger and more educated than were founders who did not have websites. They more frequently had previous entrepreneurial experience but less industry work experience, and were dedicating about eight more hours per week to the venture than were entrepreneurs whose companies launched without a website.
High-tech startups were most likely to begin operations with websites and email, but were no more likely to be selling online than were non-high-tech companies. Across industry types, companies in Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade; Professional Services; Retail Trade; Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE); and Arts, Entertainment and Recreation were most likely to begin business with websites and email. The lowest level of Internet sales was among Professional Services and FIRE.
Data from comScore’s MobiLens shows that 72.2 million Americans accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, an increase of 37 percent in the past year.
The study also provided new insights into how mobile users interact with social media, finding that more than half read a post from an organization, brand or event while on their mobile device.
“Social media is one of the most popular and fastest growing mobile activities, reaching nearly one third of all U.S. mobile users,” said Mark Donovan, comScore senior vice president for mobile.
“This behavior is even more prevalent among smartphone owners with three in five accessing social media each month, highlighting the importance of apps and the enhanced functionality of smartphones to social media usage on mobile devices.”
More than Half of Mobile Social Networkers Access Sites on a Near Daily Basis
In August 2011, more than 72.2 million people accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device, an increase of 37 percent from the previous year. Nearly 40 million U.S. mobile users, more than half of the mobile social media audience, access these sites almost every day, demonstrating the importance of this activity to people’s daily routines.
Research also indicated that although more people accessed these sites via their mobile browser, the social networking app audience grew five times faster in the past year. While the mobile browsing social networking audience grew 24 percent to 42.3 million users in the past year, the mobile social networking app audience surged 126 percent to 38.5 million.
Frequency of Use and Method of Access for Mobile Social Networking/Blog Audience 3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2011 vs. 3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2010 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ (Smartphone and Non-Smartphone) Source: comScore MobiLens
Total Audience (000)
Aug-2010
Aug-2011
% Change
Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog Ever in Month
52,733
72,252
37%
Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog Almost Every Day
25,272
39,854
58%
Social networking Access Method:
Via Mobile Browser
34,192
42,251
24%
Via Application
17,002
38,453
126%
Facebook Mobile Audience Approaches 60 Million Users
A look at selected social networking brands, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, revealed that each grew their mobile audiences by at least 50 percent in the past year. Facebook was home to the largest mobile audience among the three destinations with more than 57 million mobile users in August, up 50 percent from the previous year. Twitter saw its mobile audience jump 75 percent to 13.4 million people, while LinkedIn’s mobile audience climbed 69 percent to 5.5 million users.
Audience* for Selected Social Networking Brands 3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2011 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ (Smartphone and Non-Smartphone) Source: comScore MobiLens
Total Audience (000)
Aug-2010
Aug-2011
% Change
Facebook
38,240
57,332
50%
Twitter
7,639
13,375
75%
LinkedIn
3,234
5,482
69%
*Includes mobile browser and app access.
70 Percent of Mobile Social Networkers Posted a Status Update While on Their Mobile Device
Understanding how mobile users interact with social media is important for brands looking to engage with on-the-go consumers. comScore recently released new social media metrics through its MobiLens service, offering deeper insights into mobile consumers’ social media activities. Of those accessing social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, 80.3 percent read posts from people known personally, while 69.5 percent posted status updates while on their mobile device.
Mobile social networkers also were likely to interact with brands on these sites with more than half (52.9 percent) reading posts from organizations/brands/events. One in three mobile social networkers received a coupon/offer/deal, with one in four (27.7 percent) clicking on an ad while on a social networking site.
Donovan added, “Advertisers and marketers should take note – mobile users are not only engaging with their friends through social networking, but a majority are also interacting with brands in these social media environments. Knowing that fans and followers engage with branded content on mobile devices opens the door to a world of opportunity for location-based services.”
Mobile Social Networking Activities 3 Month Avg. Ending Aug. 2011 Total U.S. Mobile Subscribers Ages 13+ (Smartphone and Non-Smartphone) Source: comScore MobiLens
Total Social Networking/Blog Audience (000)
% of Social Networking/Blog Audience
Total Audience Accessing Social Networking Sites or Blogs: 13+ yrs old
Who’s attending Internet Summit 2011? Four weeks until the event set for November 15-16 at the Raleigh, NC Convention Center, a better question is who’s not attending!
With over 120 speakers and presenters, Internet Summit 2011 is jam-packed with top level content focused on the latest digital trends, online marketing techniques and IT best practices.
We’ve been covering TechMedia’s digital conferences since the very first one, and we have to admit, this is the most impressive lineup yet. Stay tuned for interviews with participants here on the TechJournal leading up to the event.
Here’s a sampling of firms already scheduled to attend:
1st Degree Marketing
3tailer
919 Marketing Company
A10 Clinical Solutions
ABB
Accelerence
ACCSports.com
Adam-Bryce
AdKeeper
Advanced Energy
Adzerk
Agile Marketing Group
AirClean Systems
All American Corporation
Alloso Technologies
ALPHA Marketing
Alternate Access
American Society for Microbiology
Americaneagle.com
Aon
APC
Apple
Argyle Social
Arketi Group
ASPE ROI
Atlantic Webworks
Atlantis Group
Autoshop Solutions
BB&T
BBH Media
BCBSNC
BEM
Bespoke Arsenal
BGEA
Big Think
BIOPHARMA ADVISORS
Blogads
BlueGlass Interactive
Bosch Packaging Services
Brand Fuel
Brand.net
BRI
Brick Marketing
Brightleaf Consulting Group
Brocadiant IP
Bronto
Brooks Bell
Buddy Media
Bulk TV & Internet
Bulwark Exterminating
BurlapSky
Burson-Marsteller
Burt’s Bees
CAI
Cameron Carmichael
Capstrat
CareAnyware
Carolina Biological Supply Company
Carolina Meadows
Carrot-Top Industries
Cary Academy
Caterpillar
CBC New Media
Cenduit
Center for Responsible Lending
Centerline Digital
Cerium Capital
CESI Debt Solutions
ChannelAdvisor
Charlotte Regional Partnership
Chatsworth Products
Cherry Bekaert & Holland
Cisco Systems
City of Raleigh
ClearSight Creative Resources
Clearspring Technologies
Coalmarch Productions
Command Partners
Comporium
Compuware
Connections Too
Consultwebs.com
Contactology
Contender Capital
Contour Products
Craven Community College
Cree
CROSSROADS PUBLIC RELATIONS
DASH Systems
DataChambers
DataFlux
Dealer Ignition
DecisionPoint
Deere & Company
Delta Apparel
Devonhall Publishing
Dex One
Digital Element
Digital Strategies and Services
Direct Mobile
Discovery Communications
Distil
Distilled
Dominion Enterprises
Downtown Raleigh Alliance
Dreamcatcher Trading
Duke Medicine
Duke University
Easter Seals
Easyfish Marketing
EatDrinkDeals
Eaton Corporation
Eckel & Vaughan
Emerald Isle Realty
Emma
Ernst & Young
ESPN
ExactByte
Exclusively Weddings
FanBridge
FeatureTel/Telovations
FinOps Solutions
FireFold
Fireside Distributors
First Bank
Fitter Happier Consulting
FitTwin.com
Fleishman Hillard
For Rent Media Solutions
Forma
French/West/Vaughan
fsb
Full Scale Solutions
GiftOasis.com
Global Value Commerce
GlobalSpec
GoECart
Google
Governor’s Institute
Gowalla
Grant Thornton LLP
Greater Raleigh CVB
HaggleBuyers.com
HBA of Raleigh-Wake Co.
Heartbeat Marketing
Heta Corporation
HIPPO Internet Marketing Training
HireNetworks
hood river lavender farms
HowStuffWorks.com
Hughes Pittman & Gupton
Hutchison Law Group
IBM
iContact
IDBS
IDEA Fund Partners
If It Barks
Ignite Social Media
IMLeagues
INDA
Inertia
Infogroup
Integritive
Interface Technologies
Intersouth Partners
Inversion Group
Investors Mosaic
iT People Corporation
It’s Your Turn
Jaargon
JDSU
John Deere
Julie Holmes Design
Kadro
KD Web Strategies
Kerr Drug
KeyphraSEOlogy
Khush
Kramden Institute
L A Foster & Associates
Lakewinds Natural Foods
Left Click Studios
Lenovo
Lenox
Lewis Advertising
LexisNexis
LFG
Lincoln Financial
LinkMeIn
ListLikeThis
Litle & Co
Llamawerx
Lohmueller
Low Fat Designs
Lowes Foods
Loyalese
Lulu.com
Lumi Mobile
M.Y. Edge
Madison River Ventures
Manning Fulton
Marin Software
Market America
Market Vue Partners
Marketing Pilgrim
Marketing Resource Solutions
Marshall Institute
Maxpoint Interactive
Media Two Interactive
MedThink Communications
MemberHub.com
Meredith Communications
Method Savvy
Microsoft
Monster MediaWorks
Mooty
Motricity
Mountainside Digital Media
mPower Consulting
myYearbok
NBT Partners
NC National Guard
NC SBTDC
NC Sea Grant
NC State University
NCASI
NCSU
Net Friends
Net32
NetApp
Netsertive
New Kind
New Media Campaigns
Newland Communities
NSTAR Global Services
O3
OtherScreen
Paragon Application Systems
PARcycles
Parker Web
Patagonia Health
Pathos Ethos
PBS
Peak10
Pegasus Lighting
Pentaho
Peoplefluent
PGN
PHE
Phonebooth.com
Piedmont Plastics
Pivot Point Group
Pluot’s
PointClick Technologies
Pointer Advertising
Polished Geek
POLITICO
POOLCENTER.com
Poole College of Management
Poyner Spruill
PPD
Progressive
Project Right Track
Protea Digital
Prudential YSU
Prymak
PSA TechSure
QOL-Apps
Quaero
Quickrelay Networks
Railinc
Rankin McKenzie
RBC Bank
ReadWriteWeb
Red Hat
Relevantor
Religent Health
Rex Healthcare
Ripple Group
RMM
Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson
Rockett Interactive
RSA Security
RTI International
RTP Designs
S&A Cherokee
SafeNet
Sage
SAI Digital
Salix
Sally Johns Design
SAManage
SAS
SBTDC
SC GtUG
Scale Finance
Scenera
ScentTrail E-Commerce
Science Applications International
SciQuest
Scribble Studio
Semetric Media
Sensus
SEOinhouse
SharedVue
ShareFile
Siemens Energy
Signal
Signature Cuisine
Silver Pearl
Sinclair & Co.
Sirchie
Skookum Digital Works
SkyGrid
Skyline Exhibits / The Holt Group
Small Footprint
Smart Online
Smith Moore Leatherwood
Smith, Anderson
Snyder Interactive
SOBcon
Social Buzz Lab
Southern Capitol Ventures
Spain Business Advisors
Spider Digital
SplendidCRM Software
Sprung Media Makers
Square 1 Bank
State Farm Insurance
Storkie
STORMS Associates
Stripes Group
StumbleUpon
Symplegades
Syncfusion
Taddy
TagMan
TagSeats
Tangram Media
Tavve
Team Powersports
TechCFO RTP
TechCo
Tekelec
Teknicks
TenPearls
Terraine
The Andrus Group
The Bloom Agency
The Body Shop
The brpr Group
The Doug And Jon Show
The Green Kangaroo
The Signature Agency
The Word Factory
TheAvenueToTheFuture
TheeDesign Studio
TheLadders
Think Technology Advisors
Three Ships Media
Time Warner
TimelyText
Tizbi
tranquil hosting
Trone
Tropical Foods
Troutman Sanders LLP
TRUSTe
tw telecom
Twiddy & Co
Twitpic
UNC
UNC Charlotte
UNC Wilmington
Usability Sciences
Vaco
Value Drug Company
Van Tharp Institute
VaynerMedia
VCE
Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness
Verisign
Vibrant Media
Viddler
Virtual Race Bags
VisionPoint Marketing
Wake Tech
Walker Interactive
WDI
Web Analytics Demystified
WebCookingClasses.com
Wells Fargo
Whitmeyer Tuffin
Williams Mullen
WilsonMcGuire Creative
Windstream
Womble Carlyle
Work By Kevin
workplace options
WUNC
Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP
XPIENT Solutions
Yahoo!
Yardi Systems
ZDNet
Walter Isaacson, who penned the new biography of Apple’s Steve Jobs that goes on sale Monday, is slated to be interviewed on 60 Minutes Sunday Night. It’s unusual for the CBS news magazine show, 60 Minutes to delve much into the tech world, but Jobs’ influence is felt in many areas – design, innovative thinking, role model.
Isaacson’s biography, originally set for 2012 publication, was moved up to Oct. 24. The author did dozens of interviews with Jobs, including one final talk just before Jobs’ death Oct. 5. 60 Minutes revealed the Isaacson appearance in a tweet.
Apple says that more than a million people have already shared memories, messages and feelings about Jobs on a remembrance page, sent via rememberingsteve@apple.com.
Wall Street Journal says Microsoft, others putting together proposal to buy Yahoo
The Wall Street Journal reports that Silver Lake Partners, a private equity firm, and one of its investors, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, and Microsoft Corp. are putting together a proposal to buy Yahoo.
Groupon may go for $12B IPO
Groupon is likely to file for an initial offering of public stock at a valuation of around $12 billion, according to the New York Times.
That’s down quite a bit from the $25 billion to $30 billion valuation figures bandied about previously.
Federated Media, Automatic team for WordPress ads
Federated Media, a digital ad company, and WordPress developer Automatic, are teaming up to give WordPress.com blog owners the ability to put ads on their site.
Federated Media will help its clients target their ads to specific audiences on the blogs.
WordPress.com (not the free WordPress.org content management system nor the WordPress VIP service) have limitations on what they can change, so most third-party ad solutions are not supported.
This new agreement can help WordPress.com’s mostly casual blogs bring in more money, although it is not clear how much the two companies plan to share with the bloggers.
AT&T activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S devices
AT&T today announced it activated more than 1 million iPhone 4S’ as of Tuesday, making it the most successful iPhone launch in the company’s history. AT&T was the first carrier in the world to launch iPhone in 2007 and is the only U.S. carrier to support iPhone 4S with 4G speeds.
The Symantec 2011 Threat Management Survey, which examined the concerns and challenges IT security organizations face as they confront the evolving threat landscape, revealed that most enterprises are not confident in their security posture and that staffing is a major issue limiting IT security’s effectiveness.
Considering the study’s results, it is no wonder that even major corporations are experiencing successful hacker attacks.
It shows that 57% of enterprises lack confidence in their ability to respond to new threats, mostly due to staffing issues.
“Although organizations are more concerned than ever about keeping up with the evolving threat environment, many still fall short of achieving high confidence in their security posture,” said David Dorosin, director of product marketing for the Threat and Risk Management group at Symantec.
“Effective threat management requires advanced technology for enterprise visibility and the correlation and analysis of security data, but our research shows that the human element is often the limiting factor for enterprise threat management teams.”
Symantec’s recent 2011 State of Security Survey found cyberattacks were the top concern of the organizations surveyed and the importance of these threats has increased for many respondents. Probing deeper into an enterprise’s ability to manage these threats, 57 percent of respondents to the 2011 Threat Management Survey said they lack confidence in their IT security staffs’ ability to respond to new and emerging threats.
The Threat Management Survey also found that 46 percent of those who lacked confidence indicated insufficient security staff was a top factor. A similar number (45 percent) cited a lack of time to respond to new threats for their existing staff.
More than half globally have staffing challenges
Overall, 43 percent of organizations worldwide reported they are somewhat or extremely understaffed. In North America, respondents were much more likely to report understaffing, with 53 percent reporting staffing challenges.
Those who lack confidence in their ability to respond to threats also reported issues with staff effectiveness. Sixty-six percent rate their staff as less than effective and only 4 percent rate their staff as completely effective. The top three issues impacting staff effectiveness were recruiting (46 percent), retention (42 percent) and skill set gaps with existing staff (35 percent). The findings suggest that effectiveness is linked to both staffing levels as well as staff experience and skill set.
Beyond these staffing issues, the other top concerns noted by respondents were keeping up with changes in the threat landscape, maintaining adequate visibility of their own infrastructure and managing security log and alert data in a timely and effective manner. Sixty-eight percent identified threat intelligence as one of their top two concerns.
Concerns about the potential for new avenues of attack in an evolving infrastructure are reflected in the 49 percent who ranked security visibility as a top concern. Finally, a significant number (45 percent) reported they are concerned about their ability to properly correlate and analyze the security information and alerts that are being generated by their security solutions.
Symantec Recommendations
Build a Comprehensive Incident Management Program. Plan for all aspects of your incident management program, including technology, people and processes. In particular, be sure to consider the staffing requirements to maintain an effective program.
Be Vigilant About the Changing Threat Landscape. With the accelerating rate of change in the external threat environment, many enterprises need to increase their attention on the latest developments to keep pace.
Broaden the Visibility Across Your Infrastructure. Enterprise infrastructure is constantly evolving and new infrastructure trends, such as mobility, virtualization and cloud-based solutions, can open up new avenues for attacks. Maintain ‘edge-to-endpoint’ visibility across your infrastructure to mitigate these new risks to protect information and identities.
Evaluate Systems for Managing Security Information and Alerts. The rising volume of security information and alerts is straining some organizations. These organizations should evaluate the technology, processes and staffing that are in place for storing, analyzing and acting on this data.
One of the more unusual excuses for calling in sick: hurt chasing a beaver!
Employers expect to see more empty seats around the office as the holidays approach, a new CareerBuilder survey finds. One-third (33 percent) of employers reported that workers call in sick more often during the winter holidays. And some of the excuses employees provide are downright wacky.
They range from bats in the hair and falling out of bed to an injury caused by chasing a beaver. H’mmm, we never tried that one.
The Careerbuilder study points out that while the cold and flu season is a heavy contributor to workplace absences this time of year, some workers may be using sick days to take care of some holiday shopping or visit with family.
Twenty-nine percent of workers have admitted to already playing hooky from the office this year, citing errands and plans with family and friends among the top reasons for calling in sick when they were well.
The nationwide study was conducted by Harris Interactive from August 16 to September 8, 2011 and included more than 2,600 employers and 4,300 workers.
Top time of year for absenteeism
While employers reported heightened absenteeism around the holidays, the prime time of year when companies say employees call in sick is in the first quarter:
January through March – 34 percent
April through June – 13 percent
July through September – 30 percent
October through December – 23 percent
Texting in sick
When it comes to notifying employers that they are taking a sick day, some workers reported they are bypassing a phone call to the boss and relying on digital communications.
Phone call – 84 percent
Email – 24 percent
Text message – 11 percent
Most unusual excuses
When asked to share the most unusual excuses employees gave for missing work, employers offered the following real-life examples:
Employee’s 12-year-old daughter stole his car and he had no other way to work. Employee didn’t want to report it to the police.
Employee said bats got in her hair.
Employee said a refrigerator fell on him.
Employee was in line at a coffee shop when a truck carrying flour backed up and dumped the flour into her convertible.
Employee said a deer bit him during hunting season.
Employee ate too much at a party.
Employee fell out of bed and broke his nose.
Employee got a cold from a puppy.
Employee’s child stuck a mint up his nose and had to go to the ER to remove it.
Employee hurt his back chasing a beaver.
Employee got his toe caught in a vent cover.
Employee had a headache after going to too many garage sales.
Employee’s brother-in-law was kidnapped by a drug cartel while in Mexico.
Employee drank anti-freeze by mistake and had to go to the hospital.
Employee was at a bowling alley and a bucket filled with water crashed through the ceiling and hit her on the head.
Checking up on employees
Calling in sick without a legitimate excuse can have serious consequences. Fifteen percent of employers said they have fired a worker for this reason. Twenty-eight percent have checked up on an employee, citing the following examples:
69 percent required a doctor’s note
52 percent called the employee
19 percent had another employee call the employee
16 percent drove by the employee’s home
“While outrageous events are known to happen, frequent absences and over-the-top excuses can start to bring your credibility into question,” said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.
“Many employers are more flexible in their definition of a sick day and will allow employees to use them to recharge and take care of personal needs. This is especially evident post-recession when employees have taken on added responsibilities and are working longer days. Your best bet is to be up front with your manager.
All those highly publisized security breaches at major firms such as Sony, CitiBank, and others may have had one good effect: it called attention to the woefully inadequate counter-measures.
So how are IT managers coping with today’s fast-changing threat landscape? Are they properly protected against the latest data-stealing malware? And would employees report if they compromised corporate data?
To find out these answers and more, Websense Inc. (NASDAQ:WBSN), a content security and data theft protection company, commissioned independent research firm Dynamic Markets to survey 1,000 IT managers and 1,000 non-IT employees in the U.S., UK, Canada, and Australia about the latest threats to corporate and personal security, including modern malware and advanced persistent threats (APTs).
The research reveals that serious data breaches have occurred compromising CEO and other executives’ data, confidential customer data, and data necessary for regulatory compliance.
IT managers are feeling the pressure and saying that data loss incidents put their jobs on the line and that the stress of managing their company confidential data is greater than divorce, managing personal debt, or a minor car accident.
But help is on the horizon as headline-grabbing security incidents have promoted data security talks amongst top management and have driven focus on security, including the need for additional budget. Click here to download the full report entitled Security Pros & ‘Cons’: IT professionals on confidence, confidential data, and today’s cyber-cons.
Key findings:
Stress of Security
Data breaches put IT jobs on the line. 86 percent said that their job would be at risk if a security incident were to occur, including if a CEO or other executive’s confidential data is breached (36 percent); data needed for compliance is lost (34 percent); and if confidential information is posted on a social networking site (34 percent).
Confidential data breaches. Shockingly, a full 24 percent reported that the CEO’s or other executives’ confidential data had been breached. 34 percent report losing data needed for compliance. 34 percent state that confidential information has been posted on a social networking site and 37 percent say that data has been lost by employees.
Hidden data loss and social media risks. 20 percent stated that data affected by regulatory compliance was compromised. 20 percent have seen confidential information posted on social networking sites. 34 percent of employees who accidentally compromise data wouldn’t tell their boss.
72 percent say protecting company data is more stressful than getting a divorce, managing personal debt, or being in a minor car accident. 14 percent say losing their job would be less stressful than staying in their current role.
Sufficient Protection?
Necessary but not sufficient. There are indications that antivirus and firewall solutions may have been oversold as a panacea, creating a false sense of security. While AV and firewalls are still certainly necessary, they are not sufficient to stop modern malware and advanced data-stealing attacks.
Only 48 percent of respondents use systems that prevent confidential data from being uploaded to the web. Yet 60 percent worry about advanced persistent threats and 19 percent said they have been a victim of this type of attack.
Only two percent of respondents had a DLP solution that protects their data at rest, in use, and in motion. However, as a result of recent high-profile data breaches, 23 percent began or accelerated a data loss prevention project.
Hope on the Horizon
Data security talk now involves top management. 91 percent of IT security managers report that new levels of management have engaged in data security conversations in the last year, including the head of IT (43 percent), managing director (38 percent), and CEO (33 percent). This means that until recently, the head of IT was often notinvolved.
Headline-grabbing security incidents are impacting IT planning. More than 60 percent of IT managers concede that recent well-publicized security incidents have affected their planning. Most have made multiple changes: more than 40 percent have increased spending, focused attention internally on testing and overhauling existing policies, have implemented new solutions, and imposed new restrictions on users. Nearly a quarter have begun or accelerated a full DLP project.
Middle market retail executives are bearish on a short-term U.S. economic recovery, even though many expect their own companies to improve faster than the industry, according to the third annual Retail Finance Outlook study released by CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT), a provider of financing to small businesses and middle market companies.
While a majority of retail executives expect business to improve in the coming months, they remain cautious when it comes to increasing staff levels, building inventory, and assessing the availability of credit—especially for their customers.
These are some of the findings detailed in the research study, “Retail Finance Outlook 2011” , which was prepared in association with Forbes Insights. The study gathered the views of more than 100 middle market retail executives to assess their opinions on the U.S. economy and retail financing, as well as their views concerning prospects for their own companies and the retail industry as a whole.
“Retail executives maintain a sense of optimism about their own business growth prospects, even while they continue to sour on the idea of a quick recovery of the U.S. economy,” said Burt Feinberg, Group Head of CIT Commercial & Industrial. “This study highlights some of the key factors affecting the retail sector, including the price-conscious consumer, waning consumer confidence, the increased influence of social media, rising commodity costs, and consumer access to credit.”
Key Findings from the Study:
NO END IN SIGHT TO FINANCIAL CRISIS: Retail executives remain pessimistic about the U.S. economy, with three-quarters expecting the crisis to extend into 2012 or beyond. A return to growth in the financial markets is also seen as taking some time, as 58% of retail executives don’t see growth resuming until 2013 or later.
FUTURE SALES GROWTH TO INCREASE: Retail executives remain cautiously optimistic about their outlook for the coming 12 months. Nearly 60% predict sales will either grow (51%) or grow significantly (8%), with just 9% of executives predicting a sales decline in the next 12 months. Compared with the Retail Finance Outlook 2010 study, retailer optimism has been tempered. Last year, 22% of executives foresaw significant growth, and 68% predicted overall expected growth. The number of executives who predicted any decline in sales was just 2% in 2010.
CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON: Nearly three-quarters of executives see sales improving slightly (38%) or staying about the same (36%) as last year for the overall season. Sensing that price-conscious consumers will be looking for bargains this year, 37% of executives predict an increase in last-minute shopping, while 38% expect post-Christmas shopping days to be stronger. On a related note, nearly half of executives believe both broad discounting and the price of fuel will be driving factors in consumers’ decision to spend.
NEW MEDIA MARKETING LEADING GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES: Nearly six in ten executives report their companies are shifting marketing dollars away from old media toward new media, such as social media campaigns. As part of that shift, 68% of respondents report increases in marketing and deals through social media channels, including Facebook and Twitter. In addition, 63% report that their Web sales are growing (28%) or growing faster than other channels (35%).
SHIFT TO NEW MEDIA WILL CONTINUE: In a sign that this trend will continue, some 58% of retail executives believe they need to improve their new media marketing strategies, while a further 7% characterize their companies as “late starters” in the new media game.
HEALTH CARE COSTS AND REGULATIONS WIDELY SEEN AS NEGATIVE: More than any other topic presented, health care costs and regulations appear to weigh most heavily on the minds of retail executives. Over the next 12 months, nearly two-thirds of executives believe changes in health care costs and regulations will be negative (38%) or strongly negative (25%) for their businesses. Just 6% of executives view them as positive for their businesses.
RETAIL FINANCING READILY AVAILABLE: Nearly half of retail executives say their ability to secure financing has not improved or has worsened in the past year. For the year ahead, half of executives expect the availability of financing to be stable, while 30% expect availability to improve and only 10% expect it to worsen.
SKEPTICISM AROUND CONSUMER ACCESS TO CREDIT: Retail executives expressed concern about consumers’ ability to finance their own purchases and household costs. When looking ahead to the next 12 months, a third of retailers see consumer access to credit worsening and 22% see it improving, while the remaining 44% expect little change. Interestingly, 22% of executives expect to increase the lines of credit they can extend to consumers in the coming year as well. A smaller percentage (17%) foresees restricting credit to their customers.
COMMODITY COSTS CAUSING CONCERN: More than half of retail executives see rising energy costs as being negative (47%) or strongly negative (8%) for business in the 12 months ahead. When asked about raw materials costs, 59% of executives said they feel either negative (48%) or strongly negative (11%) about non-energy commodity costs in the coming year.
Coke is it! Especially on Facebook says Covario Inc., the nation’s largest independent provider of global search marketing services and technology solutions, in a just released white paper reporting on how leading global advertisers are faring with their fans on the world’s largest social media platform.
With the number of global Facebook users exceeding 750 million, its importance as an advertising medium is undeniable and growing fast. In a Covario study focusing on the Facebook health of 100 leading advertisers, Coca-Cola ranked the world’s No. 1 brand.
Coke has a huge following on Facebook of more than 34 million fans, which is growing at a monthly rate of nearly 3 percent. The leading beverage brand also has strong fan engagement, typically seven posts a month that each garners more than 235 comments and nearly 1,750 “likes.”
Coke came out on top
Coca-Cola came out on top, slightly ahead of second-place Hyundai. Rounding out the top five brands were MTV (Viacom), Disney and Bayer. The study included the top 100 spending advertisers as reported in Advertising Age magazine.
The study broke out Facebook leaders by vertical industry segments, including automotive, consumer packaged goods — sundries (Johnson & Johnson), consumer packaged goods — food and beverage (Coca-Cola), entertainment and media (MTV/Viacom), financial services/insurance (American Express), pharmaceuticals (Bayer), restaurants (Wendy’s), retailers (Victoria’s Secret), technology (Hewlett Packard), and telecommunications (DirecTV).
Covario used a proprietary, weighted model to profile each brand’s reach (number/ growth of followers), engagement (monthly posts, likes, comments and applications), technical aspects of its Facebook page (brand name usage, linkage to a brand’s website, use of the word “official,” etc.), and reputation (particularly negative, user-generated Facebook sites about a brand).
“Reach and engagement are particularly revealing,” said study co-author Craig Macdonald, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Covario. “Several advertisers — Bayer and SC Johnson — have built followers, but their engagement statistics are relatively low. This is a huge branding opportunity for the firms.”
“There is another situation with advertisers like AT&T, Wal-Mart, Dr. Pepper and, surprisingly — given their business — Fox, where they have excellent engagement, but lower than expected reach statistics,” Macdonald continued. “This is a content generation opportunity.”
Wal-Mart ranked on top for overall engagement. The nation’s largest retailer has huge engagement with its Facebook fans. Wal-Mart receives an average of 7,390 comments and 726 “likes” on every post, which far exceeds all of the other advertisers in the study.
Interestingly, Apple is the only company among the nation’s top 100 advertisers that does not have an official Facebook page. The top Apple listing is a user page with 188,000 followers.
The white paper concludes with insights for driving Facebook interaction and engagement.
Having many outbound posts is not an optimization factor. Less is more with Facebook. Quality is what counts.
Quality is measured by the number of “likes” and comments received per post. The best brands at engagement obtain upwards of 750 comments and 1,500 “likes” per post.
There is no magic to the type of posts being run by successful brand advertisers. While promotions are rampant in advertiser posts, often posting generalized questions is more successful than hard promotions.
Complete study findings, further insights, and the research methodology are available in a complementary white paper, which can be downloaded from the Covario website at www.covario.com.
OmniTouch, a wearable projection system developed by researchers at Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University, enables users to turn pads of paper, walls or even their own hands, arms and legs into graphical, interactive surfaces.
OmniTouch employs a depth-sensing camera, similar to the Microsoft Kinect, to track the user’s fingers on everyday surfaces. This allows users to control interactive applications by tapping or dragging their fingers, much as they would with touchscreens found on smartphones or tablet computers.
Can project onto any surface
The projector can superimpose keyboards, keypads and other controls onto any surface, automatically adjusting for the surface’s shape and orientation to minimize distortion of the projected images.
The OmniTouch device includes a short-range depth camera and laser pico-projector and is mounted on a user’s shoulder. But Harrison said the device ultimately could be the size of a deck of cards, or even a matchbox, so that it could fit in a pocket, be easily wearable, or be integrated into future handheld devices.
“With OmniTouch, we wanted to capitalize on the tremendous surface area the real world provides,” said Benko, a researcher in Microsoft Research’s Adaptive Systems and Interaction group.
An evolutionary step
This what the wearable projector looks like.
“We see this work as an evolutionary step in a larger effort at Microsoft Research to investigate the unconventional use of touch and gesture in devices to extend our vision of ubiquitous computing even further. Being able to collaborate openly with academics and researchers like Chris on such work is critical to our organization’s ability to do great research — and to advancing the state of the art of computer user interfaces in general.”
“It’s conceivable that anything you can do on today’s mobile devices, you will be able to do on your hand using OmniTouch,” said Chris Harrison, a Ph.D. student in Carnegie Mellon’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute. The palm of the hand could be used as a phone keypad, or as a tablet for jotting down brief notes. Maps projected onto a wall could be panned and zoomed with the same finger motions that work with a conventional multitouch screen.
The optical sensing used in OmniTouch, by contrast, allows a wide range of interactions, similar to the capabilities of a computer mouse or touchscreen. It can track three-dimensional motion on the hand or other commonplace surfaces, and can sense whether fingers are “clicked” or hovering. What’s more, OmniTouch does not require calibration — users can simply wear the device and immediately use its features. No instrumentation of the environment is needed; only the wearable device is needed.
New global e-commerce research from Pitney Bowes Inc. (NYSE: PBI) reveals that one-size does not fit all when it comes to consumers’ online shopping preferences around the world.
The majority of small business owners believe Internet security is critical to their success and that their companies are safe from ever increasing cyber security threats even as many fail to take fundamental precautions, according to a new survey of U.S. small businesses sponsored by Symantec and the National Cyber Security Alliance and conducted by Zogby International.
Small businesses are leaving customer data open to hackers – despite encrypting databases – allowing even long passwords to be cracked in as little as 7 seconds.
Chicago-based Groupon, the leader in the online daily deal space, says in regulatory documents filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to raise up to $540 million in an initial public offering of stock, less than the $750 million it said it planned to raise in a June filing.
Advertising showed its resiliency this quarter by achieving solid gains consistent with spending trends from third quarter 2010, according to a new STRATA quarterly survey of leading advertising agencies. Digital, aided by social and mobile, was up by 43 percent in the quarter, almost matching local TV.
Technology is creating closer family relationships rather than pushing families apart, according to research presented at the 7th Annual M2Moms … The Marketing to Moms Conference, at the Chicago Cultural Center.
Online Gambling sites witnessed the strongest lift in traffic in September with sports betting front-and-center as the NFL season kicked off, according to comScore’s (NASDAQ:SCOR) Media Metrix Service.
Senior IT professionals are experiencing an information void that is leading to increased risk in critical decision making. according to a new report from Austin-based start-up Wisegate, a social knowledge network.
The Internet’s profound effect on how U.S. businesses operate is even more pronounced among young companies, according to a research report released today by the
Data from comScore’s MobiLens shows that 72.2 million Americans accessed social networking sites or blogs on their mobile device in August 2011, an increase of 37 percent in the past year.
Who’s attending
The Symantec 
All those highly publisized security breaches at major firms such as Sony, CitiBank, and others may have had one good effect: it called attention to the woefully inadequate counter-measures.
Middle market retail executives are bearish on a short-term U.S. economic recovery, even though many expect their own companies to improve faster than the industry, according to the third annual Retail Finance Outlook study released by 
Coke is it! Especially on Facebook says Covario Inc., the nation’s largest independent provider of global search marketing services and technology solutions, in a just released white paper reporting on how leading global advertisers are faring with their fans on the world’s largest social media platform.
OmniTouch, a wearable projection system developed by researchers at Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University, enables users to turn pads of paper, walls or even their own hands, arms and legs into graphical, interactive surfaces.
