Hitwise: GM won web employee discount battle
All of the major car manufacturers rolled out
some variation of the employee discount program this summer, but the big
winner online was General Motors. GM launched its program in June, which helped increase
the total market share of U.S. visits to GM.com by 477 percent during the
week ended June 11 versus the two previous weeks, the internet measuring
company Hitwise said yesterday.
The company says site traffic has since leveled off but visits are
still double what they were before the program began. During the week
ended July 9, a week after Ford launched a similar program, the
market share of visits to FordVehicles.com increased 37 percent and
Ford.com 55 percent versus the two weeks prior. That same week, the
market share of visits to Chrysler sites Chrysler.com, Dodge.com and
Jeep.com increased 15 percent, 4 percent and 31 percent, respectively.
Overall, the market share of visits to Hitwise’s
Automotive-Manufacturers category was up 9 percent in June, 13 percent in
July, and 9 percent in August versus a year ago.
Report: Youngsters make up a fifth of internet users
Children 3-18 are the first to be truly born into the internet age, and
that’s become more evident in the current makeup of the online universe.
Kids and teens account for 19 percent of all U.S. internet users, or 18.8
million teens and 14.1 million children, according to an eMarketer report
released yesterday called “Kids & Teens: Blurring the Line Between
Online and Offline.” The report says about 73 percent of teens ages
12-17 and 39 percent of kids ages 3-11 are online regularly. Though it’s
a given that most teens are online for a good portion of time, that
doesn’t mean they’re shaping the content of the sites they visit. The
report suggests sites should figure out how to let teens have
some say in the content.
iPod burnout?
Not yet. Apple unveils new gadgets
Some have questioned whether the popularity of Apple’s iPod has peaked.
Apple doesn’t think so. Yesterday the company introduced two new
versions of its popular digital music player: the iPod Nano, a
full-feature version that’s thinner than a pencil, and the Motorola Rokr
phone built with iPod technology. The Nano uses flash memory, is
capable of holding 1,000 or 2,000 songs, and is smaller than an iPod Mini.
The Nano, which should be widely available by this weekend, also features games,
photo storage and a calendar. Rokr phones, now on sale for about $250
apiece, hold up to 100 songs, have a color screen and feature a
built-in camera. The unit has built-in stereo speakers and stereo
headphones that work as a mobile headset—music automatically turns off
when a call is coming in. The phone can only be used by Cingular Wireless
mobile phone service customers.
Muggles
rejoice, Potter's now available in e-audio
Harry Potter has finally joined the digital age. In an attempt to curb
piracy, “Potter” author J.K. Rowling has produced audio versions of
all six books in the series, writing on her web site, “Many Harry Potter
fans have been keen for digital access for a while, but the deciding
factor for me in authorizing this new version is that it will help combat
the growing incidents of piracy in this area.” The series' audio was
released by Random House Audio Trade Group and is available via
Apple’s iTunes Music Store. The digital audio versions cost $32.95
apiece or $249 for the digital box set “The Complete Harry Potter,”
which includes exclusive audio clips of Rowling reading, a digital booklet
highlighting each of the six books, and more. The audio versions are
narrated by Grammy winner Jim Dale. |
