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Christmas Gifts Ideas from Lycos Before Thanksgiving Day

Okay, I understand that we’re all trying to “give a jolt” to the economy. But I was still surprised today when Lycos provided a list of Christmas gift ideas two days before Thanksgiving Day. Aren’t we all supposed to wait until Black Friday?

Nevertheless, for shoppers who like planning ahead — or for online retailers and etailers looking for what will be hot this holiday season — Lycos just announced its ninth annual list of the most popular toys and video games, based on web search activity.

(For a complete list and commentary of the Lycos Top Toys and Video Games of 2008, go to the Lycos 50. You can also voice your opinion on this year’s list, and weigh in on weekly Internet trends and pop culture on the Lycos 50 Blog or follow the Lycos 50 on Twitter.)

It shouldn’t come as a shock that Apple’s iPod holds the top spot as the #1 most-searched for toy this holiday season. But this year, the Apple frenzy includes hot-searched items like the iTouch and iPod Nano.

Harry Potter, at #11, makes a fifth consecutive appearance in 2008, with Harry Potter games, books and DVDs dominating Harry Potter-themed searches.

New in 2008 is KOTA, the Triceratops Dinosaur (#15), generating more search interest than Fisher Price’s New Elmo Live (#19). Meanwhile, not so hot in 2008 are Hannah Montana-related toy items, which made a big splash in 2007, but fail to make this year’s list.

Spongebob Squarepants (#14) takes over as the top licensed character-themed toy of 2008. Spongebob was last seen on the Lycos Top Toy list in 2005. And when it comes to dolls, Barbie (#6) continues to reign, extending her run on the annual Lycos list of Top Toys and Video Games to nine consecutive years of appearing in the Top 10. But there’s not enough data on Caribou Barbie to see if that will be a big hit this year — let alone in 2012.

Gaming consoles see a big resurgence in search popularity in 2008, with the Nintendo Wii (#10) capturing the most search interest, generating 25% more search activity than the Xbox 360 (#12) and Playstation 3 (#13). Also seeing a resurgence in 2008 are old school classics like Monopoly (#17), despite the current housing market.

Five of the top 25 toys in 2008 originate from the popular world of anime including Naruto (#3), Pokemon (#4), Dragonball (#5), Inuyasha (#7) and Gundam (#16). Meanwhile, one new toy making the 2008 list may be unfamiliar to most adults, but if search activity is any indication, expect the Bakugan Battle Brawlers (#24) to be flying off the shelves this holiday season.

On the video game front, the massive multi-player game RuneScape (#1) scores big with web users for the fourth consecutive year as the most-searched video game of 2008, while Final Fantasy makes its first appearance on the list since 2005, with Final Fantasy XIII (#3). Also racking up points online, making first-ever appearances on the top video games list, are war-themed games including Call of Duty: World at War (#9) and Gears of War 2 (#14), while Guitar Hero World Tour (#8) and Wii Fit (#15) are the most popular Wii-themed games based on web searches in 2008.

Also new in 2008 are Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games Fable 2 (#17), Fallout 3 (#18), Street Fighter IV (#10), Dead Space (#19), Far Cry 2 (#22) and BioShock (#25). This also marks the fourth consecutive year the Madden football-themed games fail to make Lycos’s Top Toys and Video Games list.

As for me, I don’t do any Christmas shopping until the very last minute. That way, I don’t have to figure where to hide presents where my three kids (or wife) can find them before December 24th. Yep, when I say “last minute Christmas shopping” I mean last minute shopping. You’d be surprised how simple decisions are on Christmas eve.

Microsoft Study Reveals Online and Digital Behavior of Women

Microsoft teamed up with Mindshare and Ogilvy Chicago to study the online and digital behavior of women. They surveyed 800 women of varying ages and careers, including stay-at-home and work-at-home moms. Here’s what they found:

22 percent shop once per day.
86 percent pass along interesting “finds” to others.
On average, they have 171 contacts in e-mail, social networking and cell phone address books.
E-mail is overwhelmingly, 85 percent, the most important tool.
They view tools such as rewards, loyalty cards, cell phones, coupons via the computer, TIVO and DVR, video on demand, opt-in daily e-mails, and handheld wireless devices to be “blessings” in their lives.
The majority views devices such as cell phones and computers as “extensions of themselves.”
More than half “never” unplug from their digital devices, even when sleeping.
Technology “curses” were few and centered on activities and types of communication that were “out of their control.”
If forced to, they would “throw out” their television or cell phone first; only 11 percent would throw out their personal laptop.
On average, they have 5.8 “screens” and 12 digital devices.

A special note about moms, which we already know are powerful influencers:

“For moms, the Internet serves as a link to the ‘outside world’ — especially moms with a new baby,” said Debbie Solomon, managing director, Business Planning of Mindshare. “And moms are really the future of content creation. They have an insatiable appetite to create and share content — posting more than twice the average U.S. adult, whether publishing, maintaining or updating a blog or Web page.”

93% of Americans Expect Companies to Have Social Media Presence

A new study is showing that 93% of Americans expect companies to have a presence in social media. 85% say companies should interact with consumers via social media, according to the data released by Cone, Inc.

Specifically, those surveyed believe:

Companies should use social networks to solve my problems (43%)
Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%)
Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%)
Companies should market to consumers (25%)

Men are twice as likely to interact with companies via social media than women. 33% will interact one or more times a week while only 17% of women will.

Two-thirds of households with 3 people or more and those making $75,000 or more feel a stronger connection to brands they interact with online.

What do you think about this survey? Does it change the way you think about social media as an advertising medium? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-17

New Blog Post - 27 Million People Watched Over 3 Billion Videos Online in the U.K.: .. http://tinyurl.com/55q9t7 #
New Blog Post - Google Makes “My Location” Circle Smaller, Larger Depend.. http://tinyurl.com/5mjmjq #
New Blog Post - Social Networking Taking Market Share from Dating, Adult Entertainme.. http://tinyurl.com/5jyw2m #
New Blog Post - Google Discusses Search Evaluation Process: Google [...]

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-16

New Blog Post - Sometrics Releases Social Media Advertising Management Platform: Som.. http://tinyurl.com/5z24vl #
New Blog Post - Omniture Launches Analytics-Driven Site Search: Web analytics provid.. http://tinyurl.com/6jz38r #
New Blog Post - Concerns Over Google’s Monopolistic Actions Make Their Way to .. http://tinyurl.com/5h37qn #
New Blog Post - Less is More: What Social Media and Electronics Can Teach [...]

Social Networking Taking Market Share from Dating, Adult Entertainment Sites

Juniper Research is projecting social networking is expected to overtake dating in 2009 to become the largest revenue generating segment.

Social networks are projected to generate $7.3 billion in advertising revenues by 2013. That will amount to a steady rise in revenues over 2008’s projected $1.1 billion.

According to report author Dr. Windsor Holden, “It’s clear that we have seen an industry wide shift regarding the implementation of business models in this area. Whereas initially there was a perception that users would pay a small mobility premium to access social networks on their handsets, it rapidly became clear that to achieve truly mass adoption, it would be necessary to offer free membership and then to augment that with advertising and the sale of premium content.”

Meanwhile, Hitwise general manager of global research, Bill Tancer, is saying that searches for pornography are down about 50% due to increase in searches for social networking.

“My theory is that young users spend so much time on social networks that they don’t have time to look at adult sites,” Tancer told Reuters.

Tancer analyzes search behavior and its reflection on society in his new book, Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why It Matters.

What do you think of the rise in social networking? Is it changing societal behavior? Give us your thoughts in the comments.

Twitter Updates for 2008-09-06

New Blog Post - Google Analytics Now Shows When a Visitor Uses Chrome: Want to know .. http://tinyurl.com/6z9s8p #
New Blog Post - Google AdWords Separates Content and Search Network Stats - FINALLY!.. http://tinyurl.com/6lrzpt #
New Blog Post - Incentives Key to Mobile Marketing Success: Incentives can help mobi.. http://tinyurl.com/55ajh6 #
New Blog Post - xRank and the [...]

Judge Throws Out Copyright Infringement Suit Against Online Video Site Veoh

A California federal court judge, Judge Howard Lloyd, has thrown out a copyright infringement suit against online video site Veoh. The suit was brought by adult entertainment company IO Group.

The judge’s reasoning was that Veoh is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act’s (DMCA) safe harbor provisions. Since Veoh takes quick action in light of copyright issues, they are not acting illegally.

“Veoh has a strong DMCA policy, takes active steps to limit incidents of infringement on its website and works diligently to keep unauthorized works off its site,” wrote Judge Lloyd.

Guess who loves this ruling? Google. It’s currently facing its own copyright infrigement suit brought against YouTube by Viacom. Because the Veoh case was heard in California, it doesn’t set precedent for the YouTube case in New York. But Google hopes the Veoh ruling is still influential.

via NYT

Online Security Fears Larger than Actual Risk, Survey Finds

In the wake of a Senate Commerce Committee hearing on online advertising and privacy, Mintel has released survey data revealing Americans are more concerned than they were 5 years ago about online security.

65% are more concerned than they were 5 years ago
28% are significantly more concerned than they were five years ago

But the actual risk is declining. The number of American identity thefts declined 12% from 2003 to 2006 (10.1 million to 8.9 million), according to US Justice Department data. Of the 8.9 million cases in 2006, only 8.3% of them were related to online activity, such as computer viruses, hackers or phishing. Mintel reports that less than 1% of emails they tracked were phishing scams.

“The actual risk of having your identity stolen online is not as high as many people think,” states Menke. “Financial services companies are trying to reassure consumers of this fact, but our research suggests their marketing messages aren’t sticking. Companies need to find innovative new ways to convince Americans that their identities are secure online and when using email.”

Financial service companies already have a solid base to work from to achieve that goal. 71% of American adults report managing at least one financial services account online. The average American manages 3 financial services via email and the web.

SEMPO Institute to Develop Career Opportunities for Young Chicagoans

The SEMPO Institute is teaming with SIM Partners and i.c. stars to create search marketing career opportunities for young adults in Chicago. The president of SIM Partners, Jon Schepke, sits on the board of the SEMPO Institute. His company has been working with i.c. stars for over four years.

“As co-chair of the SEMPO Institute, it made perfect sense to connect these two organizations when the SEMPO Institute launched in 2007,” says Schepke.

i.c. stars is a nonprofit organization designed to develop community leaders in Chicago. The organization uses project-based learning to groom adults (who have at least a high school diploma or GED) for careers in business and technology.

“The i.c.stars partnership with SEMPO and SIM Partners has enabled a new and growth-oriented career option for graduates in the area of Internet Marketing,” states Eric Lannert, vice president of i.c. stars. He continues, “the volunteer efforts of SIM Partners have enabled us to modify our internal curriculum so students can manage their own Google Adwords campaigns for startup websites and gain experience. At a time of economic uncertainty, we see this partnership as a strategic initiative to continue providing meaningful and challenging job opportunities for our students.”

Earlier in the year, SEMPO Chairperson Dana Todd included expanding the Institute’s baseline for education in her mission for the industry organization.