It's where users are engaged with two media at once
By Heidi Dawley Mar 11, 2008
When it was first discovered that multitasking was becoming a popular way to consume media--watching TV while surfing the web, say--it was read as bad news for marketers. People engaged with more than one media were likely too distracted to absorb ad messages on either one.
But now a new study suggests that when it comes to kids, multitasking could actually present opportunities for marketers.
The reason? Active multitasking.
When kids surf the net while watching television, nearly three quarters of them are engaged in what's being called active multitasking. That's to say their behavior with one medium influences what they do on the other, according to a new study by Grunwald Associates, a research company that focuses on kids and technology.
“It is both a threat and an opportunity for marketers,” says Peter Grunwald, president of Grunwald Associates.
The opportunity is that with the right messages, savvy marketers can engage kids to visit their sites when their attention might otherwise be wandering off to someplace else.
For example, a 14-year-old girl is watching a TV show when an ad comes on for a new makeup. The girl goes to the show's web site, then to the product's ad on the site, where she finds a contest in which the winner receives a year of free lipstick, and she enters.
The study, which looked at data from surveys of 1,277 young people aged 9-17, as well as 1,039 parents and 250 school leaders, found that overall 64 percent of kids go online while watching TV. Just under half do so frequently, between three times a week and several times a day.
It also found that 73 percent of those who are watching TV while online are engaged in active multitasking. That’s up dramatically from the 55 percent of kids who said they had engaged in active multitasking back in 2002.
Some 50 percent said they had visited a web site in direct response to something they'd seen while watching TV. That’s up from 41 percent.
Some 35 percent said they had sent an email or instant message to someone who was watching the same TV show, compared to 18 percent in 2002.
Further, one third said they went online to participate in polls, contests or games after television programs have directed them to while still watching the tube. That’s up from 21 percent.
Another interesting thing to come out in the study is that when kids are on the internet while watching TV, it’s the internet that tends to hold their attention as the primary medium.
“It is really striking, the percentage that tell us that they are paying more attention to the internet,” says Grunwald “It is really a one-to-four ratio.”
Grunwald attributes this to the fact that the internet is the more interactive and engaging media.
Nearly half, 47 percent, of these multitaskers said that their internet surfing absorbed most of their attention. That compares to 42 percent who said they focused equally on the TV and what they were doing online. The TV came out tops for only 11 percent of kids.
What’s more, 17 percent said that they actually have decided what to watch on TV based on what they were doing online. That’s up from just 10 percent in 2002.
This study comes just weeks after Blynkx, the video search engine, released its own look into adults who were online while watching TV. Their survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 78 percent go online while watching TV.
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Meanwhile, in online ratings for the week ended March 2, 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, Microsoft and AOL Media Network.
NexTag was the No. 1 advertiser with 7.4 million impressions, followed by No. 2 Experian Group Limited at nearly 6 million. With 32.8 million ads served, Yahoo was again the top advertising site, well ahead of No. 2 MSN at 3.7 million.
Sessions per person per week were even to the previous week at 17, and domains visited per person were even at 41. PC time per person was down 1 percent compared with the previous week, at 18 hours and 3 minutes.
Top 25 parent companies Through March 2
#
Parent
Unique Audience (000)
Reach %
Time Spent per Person (hh:mm:ss)
1
Google
90,993
64.8
0:33:42
2
Microsoft
86,088
61.3
0:46:00
3
Yahoo!
78,781
56.1
1:07:27
4
Time Warner
71,330
50.8
1:22:08
5
News Corp. Online
44,163
31.4
0:46:33
6
eBay
33,557
23.9
0:54:49
7
InterActiveCorp
29,648
21.1
0:13:33
8
Amazon
25,739
18.3
0:12:46
9
Wikimedia Foundation
24,690
17.6
0:09:29
10
Apple Computer
23,172
16.5
0:34:29
11
Walt Disney Internet Group
22,242
15.8
0:21:27
12
Landmark Communications
21,832
15.5
0:09:16
13
New York Times Company
21,566
15.4
0:10:44
14
AT&T Inc.
18,005
12.8
0:23:00
15
RealNetworks, Inc.
14,734
10.5
0:17:27
16
E.W. Scripps Company
14,123
10.1
0:06:13
17
Verizon Communications
13,866
9.9
0:18:18
18
CNET Networks
13,105
9.3
0:05:05
19
Bank of America
12,623
9.0
0:25:27
20
Comcast Corp.
12,561
8.9
0:30:53
21
United Online
12,437
8.9
0:27:43
22
Viacom Digital
12,012
8.6
0:25:17
23
Gannett
10,858
7.7
0:11:00
24
Facebook
10,747
7.7
0:36:06
25
CBS Corporation
10,504
7.5
0:11:08
Source: Nielsen Online
Top 25 brands Through March 2
Parent
Unique Audience (000)
Reach %
Time spent per person (hh:mm:ss)
1
Google
83,639
59.5
0:26:21
2
Yahoo!
77,977
55.5
1:07:43
3
MSN/Windows Live
63,805
45.4
0:47:07
4
Microsoft
56,605
40.3
0:16:29
5
AOL Media Network
56,418
40.2
1:32:48
6
Fox Interactive Media
38,275
27.3
0:49:43
7
YouTube
35,335
25.2
0:20:20
8
eBay
27,739
19.8
0:59:57
9
Wikipedia
24,465
17.4
0:09:26
10
Apple
23,172
16.5
0:34:29
11
Amazon
20,872
14.9
0:12:07
12
Weather Channel
19,820
14.1
0:09:33
13
CNN Digital Network
17,749
12.6
0:18:35
14
Blogger
16,792
12.0
0:06:14
15
Ask Search Network
16,644
11.9
0:12:39
16
Real Network
14,730
10.5
0:17:27
17
About.com
14,426
10.3
0:02:52
18
AT&T
12,769
9.1
0:28:22
19
Bank of America
12,023
8.6
0:25:52
20
Facebook
10,747
7.7
0:36:06
21
Chase
10,359
7.4
0:15:26
22
Craigslist
10,289
7.3
0:43:24
23
Comcast
10,136
7.2
0:36:45
24
Disney Online
9,565
6.8
0:23:35
25
Verizon
9,239
6.6
0:14:33
Source: Nielsen Online
Top 25 advertisers (excludes house ads)
Through March 2
#
Company
Impressions (000)
1
NexTag, Inc.
7,351,374
2
Experian Group Limited
5,985,730
3
Vonage Holdings Corp
3,696,506
4
Netflix, Inc.
3,552,630
5
Toyota Motor Corporation
1,511,969
6
Apollo Group, Inc.
1,405,396
7
Verizon Communications, Inc.
1,331,259
8
CoolSavings, Inc.
1,281,413
9
InterActiveCorp
999,250
10
Wachovia Corporation
970,652
11
Free-Games-Online.com
837,121
12
AT&T Corp.
760,008
13
Echostar Communications Corporation
704,166
14
General Motors Corporation
664,949
15
Deutsche Telekom AG
648,736
16
HSBC Holdings plc
614,765
17
Bank of America Corporation
560,247
18
Scottrade, Inc.
546,500
19
Time Warner Inc.
477,800
20
Intuit, Inc.
447,543
21
E*TRADE FINANCIAL Corp.
394,917
22
Fidelity Investments
364,701
23
TaxACT
309,437
24
United Online, Inc.
304,780
25
Privacy Matters
303,484
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 March 2
Company
Impressions (000)
1
Yahoo!
32,842,153
2
MSN
3,671,220
3
MySpace
2,054,735
4
AOL.com
1,300,376
5
eBay
991,088
6
MSNBC
823,961
7
Facebook
698,378
8
Comcast.net
599,457
9
The Weather Channel
581,073
10
New York Times
539,764
11
NeoPets
476,344
12
FOXNEWS.COM
457,471
13
CNN
428,882
14
IMDb
378,458
15
Amazon
358,456
16
Photobucket
315,169
17
Juno
305,922
18
NetZero
295,495
19
MyPoints
280,447
20
CNN Money
205,326
21
EarthLink
181,712
22
ESPN.com
178,636
23
Excite
174,327
24
FOX Sports on MSN
163,935
25
Verizon Online
163,563
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.
