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Blogging 'to peak' in 2007
The number of internet users utilising blogs is likely to peak during the early part of next year, according to a new forecast.Gartner predicted that the new media phenomenon would reach its highest level during the beginning of 2007 as part of the research firm's ten key predictions for IT organisations.
According to the report, there are now around 200 million 'ex-bloggers' – on the basis of "the average life span of a blogger and the current growth rate of blogs".
Therefore, the study concludes that there are likely to be 100 million bloggers worldwide in the first half of 2007.
In addition, some 25 per cent of results returned on Google searches for the 20 largest global brands are user-generated content, according to research from Nielsen BuzzMetrics, Media Post reports.
Vice president of Nielsen BuzzMetrics Max Kalehoff said, during the Word of Mouth Marketing Summit & Research Symposium in Washington, that such consumer-generated material "is a diverse and fast-growing part of the online conversations" and that it could provide useful insights for online advertising purposes.
And Rob Key of Converseon added that search engines are a first-stop for customers seeking more details on a product or service, making search "the connective tissue between information seekers and information publishers". He added that online advertisers can learn much by 'listening' to both the positive and negative material posted about their product.
Also among Gartner's key points for the IT industry in 2007 is the prediction that Vista will be the last major product released from Microsoft Windows and that the average total cost of ownership of new PCs will fall by 50 per cent between now and 2010.
Online Advertising news posted on 15 December 2006
