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comScore has released the stats for online video viewing in the United States for November 2008. Overall, the number of videos viewed was up 34% from November 2007.

YouTube-fueled Google sites saw almost the same number of visitors as they did in October, which saw 100 million unique visitors. This time, it was 98 million.

Other interesting tidbits:

• 77 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
• The average online video viewer watched 273 minutes of video.
• 97 million viewers watched 5.1 billion videos on YouTube.com (52.3 videos per viewer).
• 52.5 million viewers watched 371 million videos on MySpace.com (7.1 videos per viewer).
• The duration of the average online video was 3.1 minutes.
• The duration of the average online video viewed at Hulu was 11.9 minutes, higher than any other video property in the top ten.

You didn’t read that wrong. Online spending increased by 98% last weekend, compared to last year’s last weekend before Christmas.

A winter weather event in the Northeast likely caused the surge, which may have come at the expense of brick and mortar stores. But let’s take the good news where we can get it.

Even better news if you look at a historical context is that 2007 was an unusually high spending year compared to the years around it. It kind of bucked the trend. If the growth had been more steady, a lot of the nervousness about the online economy may not exist.

Here are the stats:

Related Reading:
Holiday E-Commerce Sales Flat Overall According to Latest comScore Data
Holiday E-Commerce Update: Spending Flat Last Week
Holiday E-Commerce Spending Up 7% Year-Over-Year Last Week
Cyber Monday Spending Up 15% to $846 Million
Online Black Friday Sales Up 1% Over Last Year
Preparing for the Worst: Bad Online Economic Data Just in Time for Black Friday

The Music Companies versus YouTube debacle continues to unravel one bit at at time. Now, Silicon Alley Insider is reporting that Warner, Universal, Sony and others are in talks to create their own Hulu-like site for music videos.

The music labels are “only” making a max of $25,000 per month off of ad revenues from YouTube. But that’s only half the story. The real money is made from a pay-per-play licensing deal.

To be making this kind of direct money off of music videos, which have only been used as a marketing tool up to this point, is a big shift in the music industry.

Universal makes tens of millions on YouTube and they expect to make even more next year. Overall, they expect to make $100 million next year from all of their agreements with various sites.

Since Hulu keeps NBC content on just two sites - Hulu and NBC.com, why would Universal want to restrict their offering to just one site?

Pulling from the world’s largest online video site means less exposure to millions of people. YouTube had 100 million unique visitors in October. Those visitors are concert-goers and merchandise-buyers.

Another factor is how YouTube is no longer just a video streaming site, but a bonafied search engine. YouTube is starting to pass Yahoo in searches conducted. On an anecdotal note, my son conducts searches via YouTube frequently. He hates reading; watching video is a much easier way for him to learn.

Bailing on YouTube would be pulling an entire, effective marketing channel. So, here’s my final warning to the music companies. The numbers speak for themselves.

With the economy in the pooper and 5 fewer holiday shopping days than last year, the latest data from comScore will show whether you’re a half glass full or half glass empty kind of person.

As the 2008 holiday shopping season draws to a close, online sales are trending flat for the year.

If you look at just Thanksgiving through December 19th, and remember, there were five fewer days in 2008, sales were up 5%. I’m half glass full, so I’m loving that number:

Cyber Monday wasn’t the top online shopping day of the year, either. It came in third:

Here’s our journey up to this point:
Holiday E-Commerce Update: Spending Flat Last Week (12/15/08)
Holiday E-Commerce Spending Up 7% Year-Over-Year Last Week (12/10/08)
Online Black Friday Sales Up 1% Over Last Year (12/1/08)
Preparing for the Worst: Bad Online Economic Data Just in Time for Black Friday (11/26/08)

comScore’s November 2008 search engine rankings are out and Google remains at the top, gaining on its share while AOL is the only other one to make gains, albeit slight, month-over-month.

November’s searches were down 3% from October, likely due to the elections being held at the beginning of the month. But unfortunately, the decline corresponds with online retail sales for the month.

By the way, YouTube is still giving Yahoo a run for its money:

If you are looking for corporate Christmas gift ideas (or Hanukkah gift ideas), let me recommend 10 business books, search engine marketing books and search engine optimization books (that you may also want to give yourself as a present).

And unlike the typical book reviews, you can decide which business, SEM or SEO books are worth buying and wrapping up for the holidays by checking out the video interviews with the authors below, who have all spoken at the Search Engine Strategies conference and expo series this year. I spoke with him after his keynote

Winning Results with Google AdWords by Andrew Goodman: This is at the top of my list because 97% of search engine marketers use Google AdWords, according to SEMPO’s most recent State of the Market survey. Andrew is also the world’s leading authority on Google AdWords. (He will be speaking about Ads in a Quality Score World at SES London on Feb. 18, 2009.) The forward was written by Danny Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief of Search Engine Land. Matt Cutts, head of Google’s Webspam team, likes Andrew’s book: “Review: Winning Results with Google AdWords.” (Plus, Andrew gave me an autographed copy at SES Chicago.) But, you can also make up your own mind by watching the video interview below, where Andrew talks about his book (and gives a sneak preview of what you can expect at SES Toronto 2009, which he will be organizing and hosting.)

Andrew Goodman on Google Adwords

Click: What Millions of People are Doing Online and Why it Matters by Bill Tancer: This is the book that I want to buy for myself for Christmas. Bill is General Manager of Hitwise, which reports on how more than 25 million Internet users (10 million in the U.S.) interact with over 1 million websites across more than 160 industries. I interviewed Bill after his keynote speech at SES Chicago 2008, which was entitled, “We Are What We Click.”

Bill Tancer on Search Patterns in 2008

Search Engine Marketing, Inc.: Driving Search Traffic to Your Company’s Web Site by Mike Moran and Bill Hunt: If this isn’t the bible of SEM, it is at least the new testament. I just recommended it yesterday to one of my brand name clients. The forward was written by David Meerman Scott, bestselling author of “The Rules of Marketing and PR.” I interviewed Bill following one of his presentations at SES San Jose 2008.

Greg Jarboe interviews Bill Hunt about his new book

Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy by Lawrence Lessig: A Stanford Law School Professor and Wired columist, Lawrence was also another one of the keynote speakers at SES Chicago 2008. Byron Gordon of SEO-PR interviewed him last week at the show.

Lawrence Lessig on Copyright laws at SES Chicago 2008

Web Analytics: An Hour a Day by Avinash Kaushik: Okay, so Avinash is a Buckeye from The Ohio State University (and I’m a Wolverine from the University of Michigan). Nevertheless, he’s also the author of the highly rated web analytics blog Occam’s Razor and the Analytics Evangelist for Google. So, I can overlook his alma mater and focus on his expertise in web analytics strategy. I interviewed Avinash after his presentation at SES New York 2008.

Web Analytics Recap with Avinash Kaushik at SES NY 2008

The Big Switch: Rewiring the World, from Edison to Google by Nicholas Carr: Nick was one of the keynote speakers at SES London 2008 and SES New York 2008. He is also a neighbor of mine — the next town over. I interviewed him back in February.

The Big Switch by Nicholas Carr

Always Be Testing: The Complete Guide to Google Website Optimizer by Bryan Eisenberg and John Quarto-von Tivadar: Bryan is a New York Times bestselling author and John is his chief scientist at FutureNow. They show you how to test and tune your site to get more leads, sales, and profit by using Google’s free A/B and multivariate website testing tool, Google Website Optimizer. Bryan will also be speaking at SES London 2009 at the Measuring Success in a 2.0 World session. Mitch Joel, President of Twist Image, interviewed Bryan following his keynote presentation at SES Toronto 2008.

Bryan Eisenberg Always be Testing: Google Website Optimizer

Against the Machine: Being Human in the Age of the Electronic Mob by Lee Siegel: After his keynote speech at SES San Jose 2008, I interviewed Lee. Actually, to be more precise, I attempted to interview Lee, who was more interested in beating up on Gawker.

Lee Siegel Punches the Internet

Landing Page Optimization: The Definitive Guide to Testing and Tuning for Conversions by Tim Ash: Before I interviewed Tim at SES New York 2008, I extracted a promise that he’d show me his best salsa dance steps. Hey, I don’t shill just anybody’s book.

Optimizing Landing Pages — Tim Ash’s Tips and… Footwork

Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel: Okay, so you can’t buy Mitch’s new book until next year. But I only had nine Christmas gift ideas so far and most lists have either the top 10 books or top 10 Christmas gifts. And it doesn’t hurt to get a sneak preview, right? Mona Elesseily of Page Zero Media interviewed Mitch at SES Totonto 2008 about his upcoming book.

Six Pixels of Separation and Universal Search by Mitch Joel

comScore has been providing weekly updates on holiday e-commerce spending and the reports have been like a roller coaster.

First, we started down, with November spending down 4% over last year. Then we took a gentle climb on Black Friday (1% increase) followed by a steeper incline on Cyber Monday, which saw sales rise 15% over last year. The week that started with Cyber Monday had an overall lift of 7%.

But what goes up must come down, with last week’s sales falling flat year-over-year.

Looking at the glass half full, considering last week’s downright awful economic news, it’s almost a miracle the sales were flat instead of down. Unemployment increased and a $50 billion ponzi scheme was exposed. (Those unemployment numbers didn’t even include the thousands of layoffs announced/performed last week.)

It’s starting to get a bit late to have anything ordered online delivered to your door, so if you’re looking to stay in the game, you might want to consider expedited shipping offers. Or if you have brick and mortar stores, drive foot traffic through the doors with printable coupons or mobile coupons if you’re especially awesome.

You don’t need to read most of the 10 top stories from Day 4 of SES Chicago 2008. You can watch them. In fact, one of the photos that I hope someone took the week was the battery of online video crews interviewing speakers between sessions.

The rest of the coverage from the only major Search Marketing Conference and Expo in the Midwest was provided by online journalists and bloggers. In fact, the “dog that didn’t bark” at Search Engine Strategies was the print media. Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but the Chicago Tribune filed for bankruptcy this week. And earlier this month, PC Magazine decided to go “all digital.”

I don’t know about you, but I think I saw the future of journalism this past week – and it was already “all digital.”

Personalizing Video Analytics for Campaign Success - Interview with Omniture’s CEO Josh James
ReelSEO’s Contributing Reporter Erika Blackwell interviewed Josh James, CEO and Co-Founder of the online analytics and business optimization firm Omniture. Erika spoke with Josh after his keynote presentation at Search Engine Strategies Chicago, Avoiding the Chasm of “Anticipointment, and asked him, is it possible to do a video ad campaign that offers personalized, relevant online experience for each visitor, and how could it be tracked?

SES Chicago: Profitable Opportunities for CPG Marketers
Abby Johnson of the WebProNews Video Blog interviewed Eli Goodman, Search Evangelist for ComScore, who says 73% of searchers are now becoming more specific with their search queries and are looking for information and help. She adds, “Although these observations strengthen a paid strategy, comScore is seeing a shift in traffic to social media enhancers such as Yahoo! Answers, Google Blogger, and About.com.

Paid Links: A Black Hat/White Hat Discussion
Kevin Newcomb of Search Engine Watch writes, “Those expecting a knock-down, drag-out brawl at the ‘Black Hat/White Hat’ session at SES Chicago may have left a bit disappointed. It looked like the sparks could fly, with Dave Naylor, director of search marketing at Bronco, and Todd Friesen, VP of search at Position Technologies there representing the black hat side, and Eric Enge, president of Stone Temple Consulting and Doug Heil, owner of ihelpyou there defending the white hat side. But, as Friesen so eloquently said, ‘As it turns out, Doug’s actually a nice guy.’”

Gary Stein on Battle of the Browsers
I interviewed Gary Stein, the Director of Strategy at Ammo Marketing, who elaborates on search engine data analysis after the heated SES Chicago Orion Panel “Battle of the Browsers- Personalization or Privacy.”

SES Chicago: SEO Through Blogs and Feeds
Lee Odden of the Online Marketing Blog writes, “Yesterday I presented at SES Chicago in a session on SEO Through Blogs and Feeds with Stephan Spencer and Sally Falkow. I went first and presented the slideshow embedded below, a presentation in two parts:
1. Why blogs created solely for SEO purposes will inevitably fail.
2. Tips on how to create a successfully optimized company blog that will last.”

Lawrence Lessig at SES Chicago 2008
Sage Lewis of SageRock.com talks about Lawrence Lessig, a professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of its Center for Internet and Society. Lessig, who was the opening keynote speaker at SES Chicago, is also a founding board member of Creative Commons. According to Sage, Lessig “sheds some really provocative insight into the world of copywrite and how it is negatively affecting today’s culture.”

Blogging To Build Buzz About Your Business
Mike Sachoff of WebProNews writes, “While blogs are now considered mainstream with more businesses using them to get their message out, just how are they building buzz online? The SES session ‘Blogging For Business’ has the answers.”

SES Chicago 2008: Sally Falkow and Shari Thurow
Sally Falkow of ExpansionPlus and Shari Thurow of Omni Marketing Interactive discuss content syndication, link development, and news search optimization at the 2008 Search Engine Strategies Conference and Expo in Chicago.

YouTube’s Guitar Hero
Anna Maria Virzi of ClickZ writes, “As a marketer, what YouTube video do you wish you had dreamed up? I posed that question to participants of the SES Chicago panel, ‘The Next Wave for Online Video,’ which I moderated yesterday. Gregory Markel, founder/president, Infuse Creative, pointed to this one featuring JerryC, which has 55 million page views and counting. It’s snagged the number-two spot on Google’s search engine results page for the search term ‘guitar,’ appearing higher than Gibson, Fender, and Guitar Hero.”

Jordan Kasteler: PocketCam Interview at SES
Manny Rivas of the aimClear Blog writes, “Yesterday at SES Chicago 2008 I met up with Jordan Kasteler a.k.a Utah SEO Pro. Not one to miss a cool opportunity, I whipped out my pocketCam to ask him a few questions. At age 26, Jordan has made quite a name in the search community and consistently contributes valuable content and thought-leadership that can’t be overlooked.”

It seems as time goes by and concerns over the economy get worse, tracking the economy becomes more frequent and dare I say micro.

Thankfully, I have good news to report. E-commerce spending last week was up 7% year-over-year, according to comScore.

Even better news is that the gains from Black Friday, Cyber Monday and last week have made up for the 4% drop in sales for most of November which marked the beginning of the holiday shopping season.

There is a caveat for some of you search marketers, however. Many advertising budgets are shifting dollars towards paid search - possibly making e-commerce more competitive and ad bid prices higher.

Another thing e-tailers are using are incentives, such as free shipping, and coupons. They’re using them because they work. All of this can cut into your margins, but perhaps not as bad as missing out on sales altogether.

This holiday may have to be the most fluid and flexible one in recent memory for search marketers. Keep an eye on your analytics and on your paid search accounts. Don’t assume the ad that was there yesterday is working fine and dandy today. Vigilance is the name of the game in this volatile economy.

Tell us what you’re seeing in your industry and niche by leaving a comment!

The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC discusses some under reported “Holy Mackerel” stories each evening. Well, I’d like to share a “Holy Mackerel” story from SES Chicago 2008.

I’m one of the speakers at the Video Search Engine Optimization session on Wednesday, Dec. 10, from 12:45 to 2:00 p.m. And tonight, I did a double-check to see if there was any last-minute news about online video that I should be aware of before tomorrow’s panel.

And I read this: “YouTube Attracts 100 Million U.S. Online Video Viewers in October 2008.” Holy Mackerel!

Here are the details: According to comScore Video Metrix, more than 147 million U.S. Internet users watched an average of 92 videos per viewer in October. Google Sites attracted a record 100 million online video viewers, or more than two out of every three Internet users who watched video during the month. This means that Google Sites once again ranked as the top U.S. video property with nearly 5.4 billion videos viewed, with YouTube.com accounting for more than 98% of all videos viewed at the property.

Specifically, 99.5 million viewers watched 5.3 billion videos on YouTube.com (53.2 videos per viewer).

But, YouTube isn’t a video search engine. It is a video sharing site. Which means that YouTube doesn’t crawl the videos on your website. You need to upload your videos to YouTube in order for them to be found when someone conducts a “YouTube Search.”

Fortunately, I have a YouTube case study to present at tomorrow’s session. It’s a follow-on story that I shared at SES San Jose on a similar panel. Li Evans of KeyRelevance interviewed me after that session a couple of months ago. So, you can see that this “Holy Mackerel” story has been told before.

VSEO - Video Search Engine Optimization - with Greg Jarboe

Still, I can’t tell you how many times people ask me how to optimize video for Google Video. Ummm. How do I say this? If YouTube is accounting for more than 98% of all videos viewed at Google Sites, then Google Video accounts for less than 2%. Right?

So, video search engine optimization appears to be round-off error. What is more important is optimizing video for YouTube. That’s what I plan to talk about tomorrow. It may be a little surprising. But no more surprising than the latest data from comScore.