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Women are planning to spend less according to two surveys released today.

In a survey by the Marketing to Moms Coalition, moms plan to cut spending on holiday gifts. Offline is expected to be hit the hardest, with an 8% drop over last year. Online will decline by 2%.

• 87% of moms plan to shop at big discount retailers like Wal-mart and Target
• Department stores come in second at 37%.
• Shoe and specialty clothing retailers come in third at 35%.

“Older kids tend to want expensive presents like cell phones, video games, trendy clothes and computer equipment,” says Maria Bailey, a founder of the Marketing to Moms Coalition, and author of the book, Mom 3.0, Marketing with Today’s Mother by Leveraging New Media and Technology. “Moms are telling their older kids that this year, they’re just going to have to wait.”

Another survey from Frank About Women shows that women (not just moms) are planning to cut holiday spending. First on the chopping block? Themselves.

62% of women are asking friends and family to forgo buying them a gift this year due to the economy.

They asked survey participants who would be cut from the gift list that normally would be on.

• 57% of those who normally give gifts to their neighbors plan to forego the gift this year
• 53% will skip their bosses
• 52% will cut employees and service providers (i.e. hairdressers) from their list
• 50% won’t give gifts to co-workers this year

So, who is getting a gift this year?

• 96% said they won’t let a bad economy stand in the way of giving gifts to their kids
• 86% will give gifts to their parents
• 85% will give gifts to their spouse or partner (Stay out of the dog house, guys!)

“Not only are women planning to spend less on others, they are actively encouraging their friends and family to omit them from the gift list this year,” says Nicole Green, senior strategic brand planner at FAW. “This self-sacrificing mindset represents a significant cultural shift as a renewed sense of fiscal responsibility and frugality trump spending and splurging for many women. Marketers who speak to the real meaning of the holidays are more likely to resonate with women this season and benefit from their spending power.”

Related Reading:
Microsoft Study Reveals Online and Digital Behavior of Women
Mom Bloggers Prove Powerful Resource to Marketing and Branding Success
Moms See Search as Task-Oriented; Websites as Entertainment

Microsoft is attempting to pull the rug out from under Google’s talks with Verizon to be the default search engine on its mobile phones. And they’re doing so by dishing out the dough.

It’s no secret that Microsoft has a bunch of cash on hand. They’ve been using some of it to create incentive programs like Cashback and SearchPerks to essentially pay people to search.

Now, it looks like they’re willing to shell out some green by offering Verizon a larger piece of the revenue-sharing pie than Google has thus far offered.

Could this be why Google was unwilling to spend moolah on a costly court battle defending its now-defunct search advertising deal with Yahoo? Both Google and Yahoo said they could have won the suit, but Google declined to pursue it.

Could this be why Steve Ballmer is saying he’s not interested in acquiring Yahoo anymore (depsite the blue light special)?

Mobile is hot and it’s only going to get hotter. Becoming the default search engine on the largest mobile carrier in the U.S. (Verizon recently won approval for their acquisition of Alltel) is prime real estate indeed.

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.”

Local business publisher Yellowbook has launched a new mobile application for the G1, the brand new Android-powered phone. Yellowbook already has apps for Windows Mobile, Blackberry, Palm, and the iPhone.

If you want to download it to your phone, follow these instructions:

1. Tap the Browser icon on the home page.
2. Tap Go to URL.
3. Enter yellowbook.com in the URL bar.
4. Tap Go.
5. Tap the pictures of the phones on the lower right side of the page.
6. Expand the screen to view instructions for this phone, located at the top right.
7. From your phone, TAP HERE to start the download process.
8. Follow your phone prompts for downloading the application.

For more information on Yellowbook’s mobile apps, visit http://www.yellowbook.com/iphone-windows-mobile-blackberry/.

AzoogleAds, a division of Epic Advertising, today announced the beta launch of an iPhone publisher reporting platform, iMobilePublisher. The platform will be available as an iPhone and iPod Touch application.

Users will be able to payment history, leads, stats, clicks and effective CPCs. Publishers will also be able to sort by offers and a variety of date ranges, with a user-interface that can display data in graphical format.

“We have found that our publishers increasingly use iPhones, and so this product was born out of marketplace opportunity,” said Greg Bayer, Senior Director of Product Management for Epic Advertising. “We wanted to build something that makes life even easier for the publishers that work with us, and we strive to deliver innovative tools to them which set us apart from other networks.”

Related Reading:
AzoogleAds Branches Into SEM with Bazaar Acquisition
Epic Hires Cyber Fraud Inspectors to Burnish Image

The G1, a new mobile device from HTC available and featuring Google’s brand spankin’ new mobile platform Android, is now officially available at T-mobile.

But should you ditch your Blackberry, Palm, iPhone, etc to get one?

The G1 has a touch screen, similar to the iPhone, but it doesn’t have multitouch. It has a mobile application version of the Amazon mp3 store, which I love and use all the time for DRM-free music.

Unfortunately, you’ll need an adapter for that headphone jack to listen to all that music. Plus, you’ll have to purchase a memory card to store your music, and you can only do so up to 8GB.

The G1 does have a slider keypad, which I would love. I’ve had my iPhone for months, but typing on it is still a pain. Prior to that, I had the Samsung Glyde for a couple of weeks and loved the slider keypad. (It was just everything else that was a pain.)

So, should you or shouldn’t you? Here’s what the reviewers who have are saying:

Gizmodo

The G1 phone and the Android operating system are not finished products. There are only three working Google Apps here—Gmail, Maps and Calendar—while Google Docs, Google News, Google Reader, Google Shopping, Google Images, Google Video, Blogger and Picasa are nowhere to be found. What’s the deal?

We have high hopes for third-party coders to fill in gaps Google intentionally or unintentionally left in this OS. There’s already a video player, and we’re sure VLC will try and port some kind of version over. But your question is not whether the phone will be great down the line, it’s whether or not it’s good enough for you to buy it now.

The answer depends most on who you are. Despite all the UI quirks and bad design decisions, it’s still better than other smartphone OSes out there. It’s not perfect, but for people who like tinkering, its cons are outweighed by its pros such as Gmail and the Marketplace. Hopefully Android updates and more ports of Google apps will augment not just future phones but this one too. This isn’t something you’re going to give your mom for Christmas, but if you’re an adventuresome gadget guy with some money to spend ($179) on a totally new, pretty exciting venture, then why not?

CrunchGear

If you’ve been waiting for Android then I suggest you keep waiting. The overall OS seems to be held together by duct tape and needs a lot of work. Apple focuses on the minute details to enrich the overall experience for iPhone users and Android could learn a lesson or ten from it. The hardware design is dated and while the touch-screen and keyboard are great you can’t just forget about the wretched battery life, horrible GPS and the overall ergonomics of it. I wish the G1 were better in every respect because I don’t think the iPhone is that great, but I find myself wishing it were more like it. It’s the best alternative to the iPhone, but it’s just not there yet.

CNET

While we’re not in love with the design and would have liked some additional features, the real beauty of the T-Mobile G1 is the Google Android platform, as it has the potential to make smartphones more personal and powerful. That said, it’s not quite there yet, so for now, the G1 is best suited for early adopters and gadget hounds, rather than consumers and business users.

Engadget

When you put the G1 up against, say, a Sidekick LX, it seems like a no-brainer for T-Mobile customers looking for a powerful QWERTY device — especially at $20 less. You don’t need to be a cutting-edge mobile geek or a pundit to do that math. When facing off with platforms like the iPhone and Windows Mobile devices, it holds its own, but has a lot of ground to cover before it’s really making the competition sweat. Still, if you’re just excited to be a part of a platform that’s likely going to be around for a very, very long time, the G1’s a totally reasonable day-to-day device to make it happen, and we expect some pretty great things from this corner of the market down the road.

Walt Mossberg at All Things Digital

Overall, the G1 is a very good first effort, and a godsend for people who prefer physical keyboards or T-Mobile but want to be part of the new world of powerful pocket computers.

Yahoo had its third quarter earnings call yesterday and the news wasn’t pretty. I’m not really sure how much the economy can really be blamed for how dismal the news was. Search advertising should be one of the last sectors within advertising as a whole to be affected by the economy.

Here’s something else to consider: While companies are looking to streamline their operations in order to save costs, they often look to technology. Companies like Google who are investing in cloud computing or other technologies that create efficiencies are making the most of this unique opportunity and coming out ahead. They beat the street with their Q3 earnings. Apple had a good earnings call yesterday with their sales of laptops and iPhones.

So when you read the quote by Jerry Yang blaming the economy, don’t be surprised if your eyes roll.

We already know that Yahoo is cutting 10% of its workforce. But many have been saying for a long time that the workforce was already bloated. I feel for the Yahoo’s because it is maddening to work at a place where layoffs are imminent. Productivity goes down and everyone speculates whose job is safe and who needs a box for their things.

The press release with all the data points for the earnings is below. All the major news organizations are focused squarely on the 64% decline in net income.

Click to read the rest of this post…

ChaCha has been selected by Rock the Vote to provide SMS search for the duration of the 2008 elections. Rock the Vote is the effort by MTV to make voting cool among youth.

Users can text questions RTVOTE (788683) on their cell phones and receive nonpartisan answers from “politically-trained ChaCha Guides.” Texters can learn where their polling place is, candidate issues, and whether or not it’s possible to remain nonpartisan in this election anymore.

“As the presidential election continues to heat up, we’ve seen a sizable increase in questions about the election,” said ChaCha Co-Founder and President, Brad Bostic. “ChaCha has rapidly become a popular, trusted resource for young people who want information while on the go. By making credible answers easy to access on virtually any mobile phone, ChaCha and Rock the Vote are providing unprecedented access to the information voters need to make informed choices.”

Related Reading:
ChaCha is Fastest Growing Mobile Text Search Service
ChaCha Launches Enterprise Mobile Answers Service

When it comes to conducting a local search, where do people begin their searches? This is the topic of a recent survey conducted by TMP Directional Marketing. They found that search engines top the list of sources used first in local search. Here’s the breakdown:

• Search Engines (31%)
• Print Yellow Pages or White Pages (30%)
• Internet Yellow Pages Sites (19%)
• Local Search Sites (11%)

People searching for local businesses online has increased from 26% in 2007 to 30% in 2008.

90 percent of those surveyed find Yellow Pages directories a valuable source for business information, however, Yellow Pages usage experienced a 3 percent decline from 2007 to 2008.

20% of shoppers with standard cell phones have conduct a local search on their mobile device, while 60% of shoppers with Wi-Fi enabled phones have conducted local mobile searches.

What do you think of this data? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

Related Reading:
Getting to Know Local SEO
For Local Search, It’s All About the Online-Offline Gap
Universal Thoughts on Local Search

Since Hurricanes Gustav and especially Ike, a slowdown in Gulf Coast refineries have created gas shortages in the southeast. The gas station near my house runs out every other day, it seems.

But in tough times come rare opportunities. Web and audio conferencing companies are being looked to for increased communications when travel by car has literally been brought to a halt.

Copper Conferencing is one such company.

“Our phones are busier than ever as current and new customers ask for help in setting up telecommuting practices and expanding their use of conferencing as a best practice for smart business, but in particular among workers who are in the affected areas,” said Kathleen Thompson, Manager of Customer Care for Copper Conferencing.

Search engine marketers should watch out for these unique opportunities, especially during these volatile economic times. Do you have a client that can extend services such as these in the wake of natural disaster and in the midst of an economic crisis?

In an expert column today, Kevin Ryan encouraged search marketers to not spend less but to spend smart. I couldn’t agree more. Search remains quite affordable compared to traditional marketing efforts and takes the cake in ROI compared to some methods, especially branding ones.

So, while the water in the glass may have dropped with the stock market on Monday, it’s not completely dry. What can you do with what remains? Share your inspiration in the comments.