Word of mouth beats some traditional media

The Newspaper Society has reveal-ed the results of a major research project into consumers' motor purchasing decisions. Word of mouth - used by 26% of respondents - was the most important form of communication when consumers decided on the make of car, ahead of all traditional media formats.

Broadband take-up among UK adults reaches 70%

More than two out of three UK adults (70%) have an internet connection at home, according to new Ofcom research. Despite revealing such large take-up, Ofcom also looked at why take-up is not yet universal or near-universal. A significant 37% of 55 to 64-year-olds, for example, do not intend gaining web access in the next 12 months.

Daily Star and Telegraph lead the national pack in May

The Daily Star and The Daily Telegraph stood out among UK national papers in May. According to ABC data, the Daily Star was the only daily tabloid, mid-market or quality title to increase circulation year on year, up 15.8% to 840,701, as it continues to benefit from its reduced cover price of 20p since November.

Publishers look to online content to increase revenue

According to a survey of most UK publishers, revenue earned around online paid-for content is set to rise (see chart). This dovetails with a finding that about half the respondents expect revenue from print copy sales and print display ads to fall.

Guardian tops UK online newspaper league

Guardian.co.uk was the most popular UK newspaper website in April, with 23.2 million global unique users, up 47.3% year on year, overtaking the number one in March, Telegraph.co.uk, which posted 23.9 million global unique users last month. Closer analysis of the ABCe data reveals that Guardian.co.uk (9.7 million) and Telegraph.co.uk (8.1 million), were also top and second-ranked in terms of UK unique users.

In-game ads enhance experience for UK gamers

Last year, UK consumers spent £1.9bn on packaged games, implying a potentially huge market for in-game advertising. According to Continental Research, this emerging ad channel is beginning to benefit brands. It found average ad recall was 54%.

Affiliate market spend rises 22% in 2008

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The UK affiliate market was worth £3.82bn in 2008, a 22% increase from £3.13bn in 2007. According to the Affiliate Marketing Buyer's Guide 2009, a report by research outfit Econsultancy, an estimated £227m was paid last year in commission and fees to affiliates and networks, up from £186m in 2007.

Media owners seek better value during recession

Most media executives (68%) expect media owners to sell more directly than before to advertisers, instead of media agencies in 2009. According to a survey of media professionals by Accenture Marketing Sciences, with the recession biting, media owners will be forced to look for increasingly better value.

TMT investors stick with their choices

More than half (55%) of technology, media and telecom investors plan to invest the same resources - or more - in 2009 as they did last year, according to a survey by corporate finance specialist Cobalt. However, Cobalt reveals the vast majority of investors (83%) expect their average investment size to be smaller or similar to the deals cut in 2008 and nearly a quarter (23.2%) expect their operations to shrink in 2009.