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Gaming remains most popular online entertainment activity

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Playing games is still a more popular online activity in the U.S. than watching short video clips or visiting social networking websites, according to Casual Gaming Market Update, a new report from Parks Associates. Thirty-four percent of U.S. adult Internet users play online games on a weekly basis, compared with 29% who watch short online videos and 19% who visit social networking sites with the same frequency.

The year-over-year growth rate for frequent online gamers was 79%, significantly higher than the growth rate for users of social networking (46%). However, the growth rate for frequent users of video streaming sites was 123%, which could pose a significant challenge to the gaming industry in capturing the online leisure time of Internet users.

“Despite the growing popularity of YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook, gaming remains the king of online entertainment, driven largely by casual gaming activities,” said James Kuai, a research analyst at Parks Associates. “Gaming also has business advantages. Unlike sites for social networking and video streaming, which rely solely on advertising revenue, casual gaming has more mature and heterogeneous revenue models, including web-based and in-game advertising, try-before-you-buy, subscriptions, and micro-transactions.”

Originally posted on August 16, 2007 @ 5:07 pm

Web users now spend half their time visiting content as against search, communications and commerce

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Internet users are spending nearly half their online time visiting content, a 37% increase in share of time from four years ago, according to the Online Publishers Association (OPA). The OPA today announced a four-year analysis of its Internet Activity Index (IAI), a monthly gauge of the time being spent with e-commerce, communications, content and search.

“When the OPA created the IAI, our goal was to provide a reliable, ongoing measure of the time being spent with key online activities,” said OPA president Pam Horan. “For the last four years, the IAI has identified important trends in Web use and added to our understanding of consumer engagement online. As seen by Nielsen//NetRatings’ recent introduction of the ‘Total Minutes’ metric, time spent helps to define engagement and serves as a valuable supplement to other key measures.”

According to the OPA’s IAI, conducted by Nielsen//NetRatings, communications accounted for 46% of consumers’ time online in 2003. A dramatic shift has taken place since then, with consumers now spending 47% of their time with content, compared with 34% four years ago. The 37% gain in share for content is followed closely by a 35% gain in share for search. However the total time being spent with search remains relatively low, accounting for just 5% of Internet users online time in 2007.

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Originally posted on August 13, 2007 @ 12:48 pm

Yoomba reaches milestone with 50,000 members in less than a month

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yoomba.jpgYoomba Ltd. announced that its new open communications experience has reached the landmark user base of 500,000 people since the official launch of Yoomba less than one month ago.

“We are very pleased with such rapid growth, accompanied by such positive user feedback. There is nothing else out there like Yoomba, and more and more people are discovering us every day,” said Elad Hemar, Co-founder and CEO of Yoomba. “Yoomba’s email calling and email chat features are now being used to reach half a million users all over the world. We haven’t seen a communications network grow this quickly since Skype.”

Yoomba’s open peer-to-peer application sits on top of every email network and turns any email address into a phone or instant messenger at the touch of a button. Once Yoomba is activated, buttons appear inside a user’s chosen email application, providing one-click access to talk to friends, family or colleagues around the world and on any network for free.

Originally posted on August 14, 2007 @ 11:22 am

Echoboost.com launches social music network

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echoboost.jpgEchoboost.com, a social music network, announced its launch today. The site helps people discover music made by unsigned musicians in their own communities and across the country. Formerly RadioFire.net, Echoboost.com premieres with over 6,000 registered artists and 12,000 songs.

Offering a new alternative for fans of online radio, Echoboost’s custom music player encourages listeners to Boost the songs they enjoy and Drop the songs they don’t. Songs that receive the most Boosts will continue to be played at random on the Music Player according to genre and location, while Dropped songs will make way for new tracks. In addition to assisting musicians build their local fan bases, songs receiving the most Boosts will be featured on regional and national Echoboost play lists.

Originally posted on August 13, 2007 @ 12:03 pm

No to Hillary for President domain to be auctioned

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hillary.jpgNew Dimensions Media Group (NDMG) announced today that it will sell the Internet domain No to Hillary for President.com via eBay auction at 2pm (PST) on August 15, 2007.

“The domain name speaks for itself,” says John Nuccio, President of New Dimensions Media Group. “We are not trying to may a political statement here. We’ve chosen the auction method to sell our domains because of the worldwide success of this proven sales method. The Internet has become the information superhighway for the buying public. Most persons prefer the hassle free transactions that Internet auctions can offer. As a result, the Internet has become our most powerful selling tool.”

The domain has a “Buy It Now” price placed at $50,000.

Originally posted on August 10, 2007 @ 2:30 pm