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The economy may have come back from the brink, but demand for digital coupons appears to be picking up steam, according to new data released by Coupons.com. The company said savings from coupons printed out or loaded to a loyalty card from its online properties doubled to more than $1 billion from $529 million a year ago. The value of savings in June alone hit $110 million, the highest total to date for any single month via Coupons.com. That increase has come despite traffic to the site actually dropping in the last year from 18.2 million monthly visitors to 14.5 million. Read more at www.mediapost.com

According to new data from The Nielsen Company, airing an ad both on TV and online greatly increases its effectiveness. In a Nielsen study of direct-to-consumer drug advertising, exposure on TV and online was more than twice as likely to prompt patients to ask their physician about the drug than on TV or internet alone. Compared to consumers who had only seen a TV ad for a specific drug, consumers who had seen both a TV and online ad were 100% more likely to ask their doctor about it.

Consumers who had been exposed to the ad both online and on TV in the last seven days were 157% more likely to ask their doctor about the drug than consumers who had only been exposed online in the last seven days.

Ad Exposure on TV Plus Online (Index vs. 100)   Internet & TV vs. Internet Only (Past 24 Hours) Internet & TV (Past 7 Days) TV & Internet Exposure vs. TV Only Memorability 89 87 100 Brand communication 88 91 103 Intent to ask doctor 212 157 100 Source: The Nielsen Company, July 2010 Read more at www.mediapost.com

Attitudes Toward Online Video Ads (% of US Online Video Viewers, May 2010) Agree That: % of Respondents Ads in Online videos more acceptable 7% Ads in Online videos just as acceptable as ads in TV shows 48 Ads in Online videos less acceptable 24 Not sure 22 Source: Magid Associates, “Media Futures,” June 2010 Read more at www.mediapost.com

Apparently, in-text advertisements, those seemingly annoying little ads that pop up when someone moves a cursor over a hot-linked piece of text in an article, can create impactful campaigns. According to a comScore study, Kontera’s in-text targeted ads delivered five times greater brand awareness than traditional display ads, and twice as much lift in brand purchase intent.

The study suggests 34% of consumers strongly felt Kontera in-text ads “clutter the page,” compared with 61% for interstitials, 52% for video ads, 45% for rectangle ads, and 36% for banners.

Twenty-one percent of consumers strongly agreed the in-text ads are “related to content,” compared with 14% for rectangle ads, 14% for interstitials, 10% for video, 15% for Google text ads, and 11% for banners.

Thirty three percent say in-text ads a less intrusive ad format, compared with 40% for rectangle ads, 53% for video ads, 63% for interstitial ads, and 29% for banners. Read more at www.mediapost.com

According to the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans’ use of the Internet by Princeton Survey Research Associates International for the Pew American Internet and American Life Project, six-in-ten American adults are now wireless internet users, and mobile data applications have grown more popular over the last year.

The definition of a wireless internet user includes the following activities:

Going online with a laptop using a wi-fi connection or mobile broadband card. Roughly half of all adults (47%) go online in this way, up from the 39% who did so at a similar point in 2009.

Use of the internet, email or instant messaging on a cell phone. Two-in-five adults (40%) do at least one of these using a mobile device, an increase from the 32% of adults who did so in 2009.

Taken together, 59% of American adults now go online wirelessly using either a laptop or cell phone, an increase over the 51% of Americans who did so at a similar point in 2009. Read more at www.mediapost.com

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A flurry of paid-search reports released Tuesday may have marketers’ heads spinning, but each provides insights into specific parts of the process.

SearchIgnite released the Q2 2010 U.S. Search Market Report Tuesday. Year-over-year paid-search spend increased 14% in the U.S., following an 11% YoY increase, sequentially.

Similar to Efficient Frontier’s report, SearchIgnite found retailers spent more — about 7% — compared with the prior year. Microsoft’s search engine Bing gained market share by 26% from the year-ago quarter, but declined 9.6% sequentially. Overall, Bing dropped slightly to 6.2% share of search spend in the U.S., while Google and Yahoo reached 78.4% and 15.4%, respectively.

Google increased the average number of paid-search ads shown per search session by 15%, followed by Yahoo at 22% and Bing at 11%. More premium ads in sponsored listings and down the right rail don’t necessarily suggest good news, however. Increasing ad coverage can diminish returns, and result in a poor experience for consumers, according to the report.

Relying on Google for metrics, the report suggests that consumers can withstand between 5.5 and 6.0 ads per search query. Yahoo now serves up 6.85, making it unlikely the increase in ads will lead to additional revenue. Bing serves up about 3.85 ads per keyword, so it’s “extremely” likely that this will reflect in better-than-expected revenues for the search engine. Similarly, Google went from 4.97 to 5.72, so they could report healthy increases as well.

Google now monetizes nearly 8% more of their keyword searches. Stokes says keywords searched with no ads decreased from 43.6% in Q1 to 39.7% in June, making the inventory easier to monetize.

In the Americas, paid-search spending by tech companies increased 12% during the second quarter, while the Asia/Pacific region rose 33%, sequentially. Combined, spending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa grew 25%. Google’s China strategy and move to serve content from Hong Kong has influenced performance. During the second quarter, Google’s share in the region dropped from 69% to 61%, while Baidu’s share of paid-search spending rose to 22% from 12%, sequentially. Read more at www.mediapost.com

Amazon on Monday said sales of e-books have surpassed hardcover sales. In fact, e-books took the lead three month ago, since which time Amazon says it’s sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books. What’s more, leaving their physical counterparts in the proverbial dust, e-books have outsold hardcovers at a rate of 180-to-100 over the last four weeks. The news marked “a day for the history books — if those will even exist in the future,” quipped The New York Times. The shift is “astonishing when you consider that we’ve been selling hardcover books for 15 years, and Kindle books for 33 months,” Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos said in a statement. Read more at www.mediapost.com

Top U.S. Online Video Content Properties by Videos Viewed May 2010 (Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations) Property Videos (000) Share of Videos (%) Total Internet Audience 33,950,891 100.0 % Google Sites 14,628,095 43.1 Hulu 1,174,844 3.5 Microsoft Sites 642,027 1.9 Vevo 430,257 1.3 Viacom Digital 346,755 1.0 Yahoo! Sites 336,314 1.0 CBS Interactive 333,189 1.0 Turner Network 331,897 1.0 Fox Interactive Media 328,492 1.0 Facebook.com 245,120 0.7 Source: comScore Video Metrix Google Sites attracted 144.6 million unique viewers during the month, followed by Yahoo! Sites and Vevo. Top U.S. Online Video Content Properties by Unique Viewers May 2010 (Total U.S. - Home/Work/University Locations) Property Unique Viewers (000) Average Videos per Viewer Total Internet Audience 182,918 185.6 Google Sites 144,550 101.2 Yahoo! Sites 46,031 7.3 Vevo 45,579 9.4 Facebook.com 45,492 5.4 Fox Interactive Media 44,266 7.4 Hulu 43,541 27.0 CBS Interactive 41,028 8.1 Microsoft Sites 39,416 16.3 Turner Network 35,307 9.4 Viacom Digital 34,572 10.0 Source: comScore Video Metrix Read more at www.mediapost.com

Gays and lesbians are heavier users of social networks than the population at large, according to a new national survey from Harris Interactive, which also found they are more likely to read blogs than their heterosexual counterparts. These findings aren’t particularly surprising, basically confirming earlier studies showing that — like young adults and ethnic minorities — gays and lesbians tend to index higher in social network use. But in the case of gays and lesbians there is an interesting issue of correlation versus causation (at least, I find it interesting). According to the June survey of 2,412 U.S adults — including 271 identifying as gay or lesbian — 73% of the gay and lesbian respondents reported having a Facebook profile, compared to 65% of heterosexuals. Meanwhile 32% of gays and lesbians said they were members of MySpace, versus 22% of the heterosexual respondents (the proportion of both groups is declining). In the professional arena, 22% of gays and lesbians said they are members of LinkedIn, versus 16% of heterosexuals. 29% of gays and lesbians are on Twitter, versus 15% of heterosexuals. Read more at www.mediapost.com

Time spent on Yahoo sites hit a new U.S. low in June, according to traffic data released by comScore today. Citi analyst Mark Mahaney compiled the data in a report today and produced the chart below.

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According to the findings of the 2010 Digital Influence Index, by Fleishman-Hillard International Communications with Harris Interactive, when it comes to driving consumer decisions about a range of products and services, the Internet is by far the most influential media channel, but marketers have yet to capitalize on that influence.

Of the seven nations the study addressed, four reported the Internet to be the most important source of information. China ranked the web highest in importance, followed by Germany, Japan, and the U.K., placing it above advice from friends, family or coworkers, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, postal mail and e?mail. And though respondents spend a significant amount of time on the web, they still reported peer advice as an important information source. The Internet and peer advice tied in importance among Americans.

Net Importance Of The Internet Compared To Other Media (Net % of Respondents Considering Selected Media to Be Absolutely Essential or Extremely Important)     TV Radio Newspapers Magazines  Internet (not e?mail)  E?mail  China 3% ?18% 35% 6% 84% 68%  U.S. ?28% ?53% ?34% ?68% 1% ?4%  Japan 9% ?30% 8% ?22% 36% 16%  Germany 17% 9% 18% ?14% 52% 30%  U.K. ?26% ?54% ?54% ?66% 15% ?14%  France ?39% ?32% ?22% ?24% 10% ?18%  Canada ?36% ?43% ?26% ?62% 3% ?16% Source: Fleishman-Hillard International, June 2010; Net Importance calculated by subtracting Bottom 2 importance scores (not at all/somewhat) from top?three importance scores (Essential, Extremely, Very)   Detailed findings of consumer behavior in an average week: In the U.S., 42% of online consumers do not read magazines and 40% do not read a printed newspaper. In Canada, 42% of online consumers do not read magazines and 28% do not read a printed newspaper.  In the U.K., 36% of online consumers do not read magazines and 33% do not read a printed newspaper.  In France, 31% of online consumers do not read magazines and 28% do not read a printed newspaper.  In Japan, 29% of online consumers do not read magazines and 24% do not read a printed newspaper.  In Germany, 28% of online consumers do not read magazines and 26% do not read a printed newspaper.  In China, 5% of online consumers do not read magazines and 6% do not read a printed newspaper.     Read more at www.mediapost.com

Email marketers searching for subject lines that will grab their recipients’ attention should look to highly relevant, time-based messages for the best results, according to data from Experian Cheetahmail.

The email marketing services company conducted a study of more than 40,000 messages in March 2010 and discovered that, overall, almost half of transactions and about three-quarters of opens and clicks happen within a day of receiving a marketing email. So good results will often come fast.

One of the fastest ways to get email recipients to open and click on messages is to send notices of abandoned carts. As Sara Ezrin, senior director of strategic services at Cheetahmail, explained to eMarketer, recipients of such messages are already thinking about the items in their cart, and that they are in the market for those products will spur them toward quick response.

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Companies in retail, travel and auto industries dug into budgets during the second quarter in 2010 to spend 24% more on paid-search ads overall, compared with the prior year, and 9.7% sequentially, according to the Efficient Frontier Q2 2010 Executive Summary released Tuesday.

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More than one-third — 39% — of women 18-34 are now self-proclaimed Facebook addicts, Lightspeed found after surveying a nationally representative sample of 1,605 U.S. adults who use social media.

Indeed, 57% now report talking to people online more than face-to-face, while 34% say checking Facebook is the first thing they do in the morning — even before brushing their teeth or using the bathroom. Read more at www.mediapost.com

The Nielsen Company reported in June that, on average, the global consumer spends about 1 in every 4.5 minutes online on blogs or social networking sites. According to a report by market researcher Morpace, among US Facebook users time on Facebook rises to 1 in 3 minutes spent online.

Unsurprisingly, despite Facebook’s growing appeal to older users, 18- to 34-year-olds spend the most time on the site per week, at 8.5 hours out of 22.4 spent online. Weekly Facebook time drops to 4.6 hours among users ages 55 and older, representing a lower proportion of that group’s average of 21.5 hours per week on the internet.

Broken down by race and ethnicity, Morpace found Facebook usage heaviest by Asians. Not only did that group spend the most hours per week on the site, but they also devoted the greatest percentage of their weekly internet time to Facebook (39.6%, compared with 35.1% among blacks, the second-highest group). Hispanics spent the fewest hours on Facebook, and even compared with their low average time online came in last.

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Top Display Advertising Site Categories (April 2010 Total U.S. Home & Work Locations) Publisher Total Display Ad Impressions (MM) Share of Impressions Estimated Spending ($ 000) Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM) Total Internet Audience 354,636 100.0% 893,681 $2.52 Social Networking 98,176 27.7% 54,684 $0.56 Portals 69,664 19.6% 181,266 $2.60 Entertainment 38,104 10.7% 181,147 $4.75 e-mail 34,327 9.7% 32,370 $0.94 Community 15,884 4.5% 33,435 $2.10 General News 12,542 3.5% 77,055 $6.14 Sports 10,850 3.1% 68,214 $6.29 Newspapers 8,506 2.4% 59,441 $6.99 Online Gaming 7,929 2.2% 21,234 $2.68 Photos 7,391 2.1% 7,953 $1.08 Source: comScore Ad Metrix, June 2010 Read more at www.mediapost.com

According to a new comScore release, more than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57% of the total U.S. Internet audience, as the New York Times Brand led the category with more than 32 million visitors and 719 million pages viewed during the month. The average visitor viewed 22 pages of content on the New York Times. Tribune Newspapers ranked second in terms of audience with 24.8 million visitors, followed by Advance Internet and USA Today Sites. Top Newspaper Groups (May 2010 Total U.S. Home & Work Locations)   Total Unique Visitors (000) Total Pages Viewed (MM) Average Pages per Visitor Total Internet Audience 215,691 592,519 2,747 Newspapers 123,897 5,339 43    The New York Times Brand 32,530 719 22    Tribune Newspapers 24,753 359 14    Advance Internet 18,053 326 18    USA Today Sites 16,771 154 9    WashingtonPost.com 16,677 178 11    McClatchy Corporation 13,987 216 15    MediaNews Group 13,362 141 11    NYDailyNews.com 12,502 122 10    Hearst Newspapers 12,017 195 16    Wall Street Journal Online 11,325 115 10 Source: comScore Media Metrix , June 2010 Read more at www.mediapost.com