medialifemagazine.com
For the young, this is a web campaign
By Heidi Dawley
Jan 15, 2008 - 1:05:06 AM
Young people are increasingly turning to the internet for their campaign news.
That's not a surprise. What is a surprise is just how much.
The number of 18- to 29-year-olds who turn to the web for news of the presidential campaigns has more than doubled as the campaigns have ramped up, according to a quadrennial survey from Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
Some 42 percent of this age group said that they regularly learn about the campaign from the internet, up from 20 percent. That topped cable news, the No. 2 source at 35 percent, and local television news with 25 percent.
That's a huge shift, and it becomes even more dramatic when compared to the role of the internet in campaign news for the next-oldest generation, those 30 to 49. Though often called the first internet generation, this demographic relies far less on the web for campaign news.
Only 26 percent told Pew researchers they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet.
“A lot of people who were watching this were expecting the age gap in internet use to decline over time more than it has. In political news it is increasing,” says Carroll Doherty, associate director of Pew Research Center for the People.
Doherty says at least some of the difference is that the under-30 set spends more time on social networking sites, where the campaigns are generating a lot of interest.
The survey, conducted in December, involved interviews with 1,430 adults. It found that people of all ages were getting more news from the internet than during the 2004 election. The percentage who said they regularly learn something about the campaign from the internet had nearly doubled, rising to 24 percent from 13 percent in 2004.
As it turns out, among all those interviewed, TV, including local, national and cable news, is still the primary source of campaign news, though it has slipped notably.
In 2004 and 2000, some 68 percent of all ages surveyed said that they got most of their news about the election from the television. Now only 60 percent say they do. In that same time, the internet has risen from 6 percent to 15 percent.
Among the younger set, social networks have surpassed newspapers as a campaign news source. Some 27 percent say they’ve been exposed to campaign news on these sites, as compared to 24 who cited newspapers as a major source of campaign news. Among 30- to 39-year-olds, just 4 percent say they have gotten campaign news or information on social network sites.
Interestingly, the main internet sites people visit for campaign news varied little across the generations. Three web sites dominated across all age groups – MSNBC.com at 26 percent, CNN.com at 23 percent and Yahoo News at 22 percent.
Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended Jan. 6, according to Nielsen Online, Google claimed the top spot among parent companies, followed by Microsoft, Yahoo, Time Warner and News Corp. Online. The top five brands were Google, Yahoo, MSN/Windows Live, AOL Media Network and Microsoft.
NexTag was the No. 1 advertiser with 7.2 million impressions, followed by No. 2 Experian Group Limited at 5.6 million. With 27.1 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, well ahead of No. 2 AOL.com at 1.4 million.
Sessions per person per week were up one from the previous week to 15, and domains visited per person were up two to 37. PC time per person jumped nearly 15 percent compared with the previous week, to 16 hours and 10 minutes.
|
Top 25 parent companies
Through Jan. 6 |
|
#
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1
|
Google
|
85,202
|
61.1
|
0:32:12
|
|
2
|
Microsoft
|
81,534
|
58.4
|
0:43:14
|
|
3
|
Yahoo!
|
75,894
|
54.4
|
1:01:58
|
|
4
|
Time Warner
|
67,108
|
48.1
|
1:18:22
|
|
5
|
News Corp. Online
|
43,230
|
31.0
|
0:56:18
|
|
6
|
eBay
|
33,986
|
24.4
|
0:54:51
|
|
7
|
InterActiveCorp
|
29,233
|
20.9
|
0:11:29
|
|
8
|
Amazon
|
28,282
|
20.3
|
0:13:49
|
|
9
|
Apple Computer
|
25,383
|
18.2
|
0:39:52
|
|
10
|
Wikimedia Foundation
|
22,320
|
16.0
|
0:09:18
|
|
11
|
Landmark Communications
|
20,441
|
14.7
|
0:08:55
|
|
12
|
New York Times Company
|
20,144
|
14.4
|
0:10:45
|
|
13
|
Walt Disney Internet Group
|
19,665
|
14.1
|
0:16:58
|
|
14
|
AT&T Inc.
|
16,766
|
12.0
|
0:19:43
|
|
15
|
RealNetworks, Inc.
|
16,339
|
11.7
|
0:15:09
|
|
16
|
E.W. Scripps Company
|
14,898
|
10.7
|
0:07:46
|
|
17
|
Comcast Corp.
|
12,936
|
9.3
|
0:27:31
|
|
18
|
Bank of America
|
12,608
|
9.0
|
0:22:35
|
|
19
|
Verizon Communications
|
12,569
|
9.0
|
0:18:47
|
|
20
|
CNET Networks
|
12,144
|
8.7
|
0:05:58
|
|
21
|
Viacom Digital
|
11,605
|
8.3
|
0:22:58
|
|
22
|
United Online
|
11,367
|
8.1
|
0:30:58
|
|
23
|
Facebook
|
11,361
|
8.1
|
0:29:47
|
|
24
|
Target Corp.
|
9,727
|
7.0
|
0:05:15
|
|
25
|
Gannett
|
9,691
|
6.9
|
0:11:06
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online
|
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Top 25 brands
Through Jan. 6 |
|
|
Parent
|
Unique Audience (000)
|
Reach %
|
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss)
|
|
1 |
Google
|
77,747
|
55.7
|
0:23:40
|
|
2 |
Yahoo!
|
75,310
|
54.0
|
1:02:04
|
|
3 |
MSN/Windows Live
|
58,636
|
42.0
|
0:41:55
|
|
4 |
AOL Media Network
|
54,625
|
39.1
|
1:28:05
|
|
5 |
Microsoft
|
52,711
|
37.8
|
0:19:25
|
|
6 |
Fox Interactive Media
|
37,828
|
27.1
|
1:00:29
|
|
7 |
YouTube
|
30,660
|
22.0
|
0:24:44
|
|
8 |
eBay
|
29,377
|
21.1
|
0:56:35
|
|
9 |
Apple
|
25,383
|
18.2
|
0:39:52
|
|
10 |
Amazon
|
23,664
|
17.0
|
0:12:40
|
|
11 |
Wikipedia
|
22,277
|
16.0
|
0:09:16
|
|
12 |
Weather Channel
|
17,683
|
12.7
|
0:09:20
|
|
13 |
Ask Search Network
|
17,627
|
12.6
|
0:13:23
|
|
14 |
Real Network
|
16,339
|
11.7
|
0:15:09
|
|
15 |
CNN Digital Network
|
14,931
|
10.7
|
0:16:48
|
|
16 |
Blogger
|
14,562
|
10.4
|
0:07:07
|
|
17 |
AT&T
|
12,897
|
9.2
|
0:22:36
|
|
18 |
About.com
|
12,531
|
9.0
|
0:03:26
|
|
19 |
Bank of America
|
12,182
|
8.7
|
0:22:51
|
|
20 |
Facebook
|
11,361
|
8.1
|
0:29:47
|
|
21 |
Comcast
|
9,870
|
7.1
|
0:33:58
|
|
22 |
Target
|
9,590
|
6.9
|
0:05:10
|
|
23 |
Chase
|
9,020
|
6.5
|
0:16:26
|
|
24 |
IMDb - Internet Movie Database
|
8,717
|
6.3
|
0:10:25
|
|
25 |
Craigslist
|
8,654
|
6.2
|
0:38:06
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online |
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Top 25 advertisers
(excludes house ads)
Through Jan. 6 |
|
#
|
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
NexTag, Inc.
|
7,223,921
|
|
2 |
Experian Group Limited
|
5,596,690
|
|
3 |
Netflix, Inc.
|
4,342,143
|
|
4 |
InterActiveCorp
|
1,460,600
|
|
5 |
Echostar Communications Corporation
|
1,019,672
|
|
6 |
GiftFreebies.com
|
916,928
|
|
7 |
Countrywide Financial Corporation
|
890,546
|
|
8 |
Verizon Communications, Inc.
|
679,531
|
|
9 |
Hughes Electronics Corporation
|
634,000
|
|
10 |
General Motors Corporation
|
610,841
|
|
11 |
Privacy Matters
|
587,212
|
|
12 |
Blockbuster Inc.
|
496,503
|
|
13 |
Xadvantage
|
462,070
|
|
14 |
Scottrade, Inc.
|
457,555
|
|
15 |
United Online, Inc.
|
435,737
|
|
16 |
HSBC Holdings plc
|
435,290
|
|
17 |
Low Rate Source
|
418,109
|
|
18 |
Low.com
|
403,092
|
|
19 |
Vonage Holdings Corp
|
366,966
|
|
20 |
Hydroderm Beverly Hills
|
347,991
|
|
21 |
E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp.
|
343,726
|
|
22 |
Pfizer, Inc.
|
324,691
|
|
23 |
Sears Holdings Corporation
|
317,222
|
|
24 |
Wachovia Corporation
|
306,361
|
|
25 |
Microsoft Corporation
|
293,110
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service. |
|
Top 25 advertising sites
(excludes house ads)
Through Jan. 6 |
|
|
Company
|
Impressions (000)
|
|
1 |
Yahoo!
|
27,081,933
|
|
2 |
AOL.com
|
1,381,129
|
|
3 |
MSN
|
1,297,881
|
|
4 |
MySpace
|
1,206,448
|
|
5 |
eBay
|
1,160,635
|
|
6 |
Comcast.net
|
624,064
|
|
7 |
MSNBC
|
597,562
|
|
8 |
Facebook
|
549,052
|
|
9 |
Juno
|
528,890
|
|
10 |
IMDb
|
482,644
|
|
11 |
The Weather Channel
|
438,878
|
|
12 |
FOXNEWS.COM
|
438,293
|
|
13 |
New York Times
|
393,366
|
|
14 |
NetZero
|
335,002
|
|
15 |
Photobucket
|
295,410
|
|
16 |
NeoPets
|
270,645
|
|
17 |
Amazon
|
270,011
|
|
18 |
MyPoints
|
207,481
|
|
19 |
CNN
|
203,981
|
|
20 |
Excite
|
176,561
|
|
21 |
iWon
|
153,542
|
|
22 |
ESPN.com
|
145,732
|
|
23 |
Drudge Report
|
145,630
|
|
24 |
EarthLink
|
138,427
|
|
25 |
Classmates
|
127,433
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance
Note: Nielsen Online, AdRelevance service estimated online advertising expenditures account for CPM-based image-based advertising. All reported estimated expenditures and impressions do not account for the following placement types: text only, paid fee services, performance-based campaigns, sponsorships, barters, in-stream ("pre-rolls") players, messenger applications, partnership advertising, promotions and email campaigns. AdRelevance currently does not report estimated spending for paid search advertising. Above data does not include any house advertising activity. Also, Nielsen Online, AdRelevance reporting data reflects advertising activity served on pages accessible via the World Wide Web and not within AOL's proprietary service. |
|
Average use
Through Jan. 6 |
|
|
Current Week
|
Last Week
|
% Change
|
|
Sessions/Visits per Person
|
15
|
14
|
7.14
|
|
Domains Visited per Person
|
37
|
35
|
5.71
|
|
PC Time per Person
|
16:09:58
|
14:04:30
|
14.86
|
|
Active Digital Media Universe
|
139,572,396
|
136,655,459
|
2.13
|
|
Current Digital Media Universe Estimate
|
218,788,505
|
218,718,349
|
0.03
|
|
Source: Nielsen Online |
© 2010 Media Life
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