According to new research by comSore, more than 123 million Americans visited newspaper sites in May, representing 57% of the total U.S. Internet audience, as the New York Times Brand led the category with more than 32 million visitors and 719 million pages viewed during the month. The average visitor viewed 22 pages of content on the New York Times. Tribune Newspapers ranked second in terms of audience with 24.8 million visitors, followed by Advance Internet and USA Today Sites.

This is great news for all print publishers that are concerned about dwindling circulation and readership.  News and content is still a priority for consumers, but new technology is simply changing the way readers consume information.  Publishers who understand how to use the Web to their advantage will reap the rewards.    A couple of weeks ago we reported that online has not been as hard hit as print.  According to the annual global entertainment and media outlook from PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. consumer magazines will continue to earn increasing digital ad revenue over the next few years, but not enough to erase their troubles selling print advertising.   U.S. consumer magazines’ digital ad revenue never declined in the recession – just grew at a far slower rate: 1.6% last year compared with 114.5% in 2008. Their digital ad revenue will grow 8.5% in 2010 and post double-digit percentage increases after that, according to the outlook. U.S. consumer magazines can expect digital ad revenue of $1.6 billion in 2014, up from $902 million in 2009 and $414 million in 2007.

What’s more, according to the study, digital readers are more likely to be engaged with advertising.  The report says that comScore research conducted last year for the Online Publishers Association showed that visitors who are exposed to display ads on news sites are more likely than average to visit the advertiser website, are heavier online buyers and tend to have higher household income.

In what is sure to be a ground-breaking research study across the marketing and advertising industry, new data reveals consumers’ attitudes toward behavioral targeting are more complex than indictaed in previous research.

Many studies and pundits have pointed to consumers’ complete disdain for targeted ads due in part to privacy concerns.  However this research was based on straight-forward questions that did not put the actual situation in context to real-world scenarios.  If someone simply asked me if I would be willing to make an extra $20,000 a year, my answer would be a resounding yes.  However, if the question was followed by the fact that in order to do so, I would have to work nights and weekends, my answer would probably change.  This type of questioning has provided false views on consumers attitudes towards advertising.

Adhering to a more realistic and accurate methodology, PreferenceCentral, a consumer ad preference management solution, has discovered that Internet users are more likely to prefer targeted online ads when they are asked to make real-world, value-for-value trade-offs, such as free access to Internet content. The study also shows that attitudes and preferences significantly shift when consumers are provided with education about behavioral targeting or when they can control targeted ad exposure.

70% OF INTERNET USERS ARE INTERESTED IN USING A CONSUMER CONTROL SOLUTION, 33% STATING THAT THEY ARE VERY OR EXTREMELY INTERESTED

Certain factors do play a material role in consumers’ comfort level with online advertising. When educated about behavioral targeting, 29 percent of respondents became less comfortable with the trade-off of free content for targeted ads. However, when subsequently informed that behavioral targeting information is anonymous, non-personally identifiable, 35 percent of these Internet users became more comfortable, indicating a need for consumer education on this topic. The high-level results are very interesting and can be found on the PreferenceCentral Web site.

It is smart research like this that is going to help our industry grow and thrive.  Together, we need to educate consumers and continue to listen to what they have to say.

Last week, both Amazon and Barnes and Noble announced plans to slash the price of their e-readers in response to the threat posed by Apple’s iPad.  Apple fans like me are hoping to see similar price cuts for their iPad, but we are not holding our breaths.

The e-reader war is clearly underway and this is great news for consumers and publishers alike. The more people using the device, the more content is going to be produced and consumed, because it is a cheaper, faster way to digest the written word than ever before.  And for publishers clearly struggling, this is good news.

While traditional print publications have been hurt by the recession, online has not been as hard hit.  According to the annual global entertainment and media outlook from PricewaterhouseCoopers, U.S. consumer magazines will continue to earn increasing digital ad revenue over the next few years, but not enough to erase their troubles selling print advertising.   U.S. consumer magazines’ digital ad revenue never declined in the recession – just grew at a far slower rate: 1.6% last year compared with 114.5% in 2008. Their digital ad revenue will grow 8.5% in 2010 and post double-digit percentage increases after that, according to the outlook. U.S. consumer magazines can expect digital ad revenue of $1.6 billion in 2014, up from $902 million in 2009 and $414 million in 2007.

This research, coupled with the increase of e-readers in the market, should have publishers planning digital versions of their publications for these devices.

The biggest hurdle to the rapid adoption of the e-reader is nostalgia.  According to a stat reported at DPAC last week by The Harrison Group, nearly 70 percent of respondents in the top two spending brackets said “they just prefer holding print editions of books, magazines and newspapers.”   This is certainly an understandable argument.  But how soon before these numbers change dramatically?  Just ten years ago if you asked consumers if they would prefer digital music versus physical albums, I bet no one would be willing to forgo that incredible feeling you get when you tear open up a new album from your favorite band.  Yet, today, digital music is clearly on the way to outpacing physical album sales.

It’s time to face the fact; companies like Barnes & Noble, Amazon and Apple are the newsstands of the 21^st century.  This is where the next generation of readers will look to consume their content.

If you’re looking to reach consumers that are ready and willing to do business, set your sights on the affluent market.  According to research firm eMarketer, affluents are expected to drive online spending this year.  The reason behind the growth is said to be that affluents are recovering from economic problems more quickly than the general population.  In fact, much of the recent growth in online sales during Q1 2010 is attributed to this market, according to comScore.

That’s certainly great news for marketers, but without understanding how and where to reach affluents, it really won’t mean much in the long term.  Marketers must leverage verified demographic data to engage the right audiences.  Simply spending media dollars in hopes that your message will find this affluent market is not a sound strategy.  This is just another great opportunity for me to drive home the importance of targeting and measurement.  Want to find affluents right now?  Check out our neat little targeting tool.

Apple fans were in awe when Steve Jobs introduced the iPad earlier this year.  I must admit, I surrendered to the Apple hype machine and made it a priority to purchase by the end of the year.  (FYI, I have not made the purchase just yet, so anyone looking to buy me a gift, I’d gladly accept.) Do I need it?  No.  But, it’s just so dang cool.  The biggest game changer is not the mobility or the book reader – I love my books and I am not about to use my bookshelf for knickknacks and chochkies – it’s the new way I can consume newspapers and magazines on it.

Consumers shouldn’t be the only ones excited.  Digital publishers that have struggled with ways to monetize their media should find plenty of opportunities from the iPad.  Just think about the kinds of interaction they can offer advertisers; interactive ads that jump off the screen versus static pages readers would normally flip through.  That is enough to help give a boost to digital ad rates don’t you think? So it was not really surprising when a recent study came out hyping the effectiveness of ads viewed on the iPad.

According to the recent study of rich media ads from textPlus, pointRoll and AdMarvel, in the first four weeks of the iPad’s release, ad interaction times were 30 seconds, ad interaction rates range from .9 to 1/5% (6X higher than desktop ads) and 67% of users who viewed the ads’ video component watch all the way though as compared to 53% for the desktop.  Not too shabby.  Of course it is still too early to see the effect the iPad will have, but there is no question digital publishers need to incorporate iPad versions of their publications to stay relevant.

Wow that title is a bit of a tongue twister.  Any who, according to a new study by Econsultancy and analytics firm Lynchpin, marketers still face many challenges in using Web analytics and measurement effectively, but some are taking steps to address those problems and move toward more coherent and integrated measurement strategies.

Naturally, lack of budget was cited as one of the biggest barriers to effective measurement, although budgets are beginning to ease.  About 40% of companies said they were planning to increase budgets in the next year for internal staff and technology to improve their use of analytics, and almost one-half are planning to increase the number of internal employees working in the area.  After budget, lack of coordination, strategy, and overall understanding of online measurement were cited as barriers in the study.  This comes as no surprise.  A couple of months ago, Datran Media’s 4^th annual marketing and media survey revealed there was a great deal of improvement needed in the area of online audience measurement.

According to our study, while marketers continue to embrace digital channels to reach a targeted audience (84.2 percent), generate quality leads (73.6 percent), and retain existing customers (56.8 percent), there is a significant gap between the percentage of marketers that claim that they engage in online audience measurement and those that claim to take action on what they measure. With all the rich data offered by digital campaigns, you’d think marketers would figure out how to use metrics to their advantage.

So what gives? Accuracy topped the list of marketers’ biggest challenges around measurement. The lack of ability to take action on data and lack of standards are also key barriers. This is hardly a surprise. Looking back to a few recent brand measurement studies, better, common, and more meaningful metrics for online audience measurement are in high demand. The industry first needs to understand what audience measurement actually means. Simply stated, audience measurement is the process of monitoring consumer behavior across all touchpoints, throughout their daily routines, across the web. As campaigns are executed across diverse multi-channel platforms, piecing the measurement story together is imperative. On the other side, digital media measurement — the process of tracking media placement to conversion and establishing an ROI — is a closed-loop process and just one piece of the overall measurement plan.

Marketers agree they need to increase their investment around audience measurement.  They just need to know how to use it to their advantage.

There is quite a large crowd gathered at Min’s second-annual Bottom-Line Leadership Conference for Magazine Brands here in New York this morning.  And it’s really no surprise so many publishers have converged to hear industry experts from some of the biggest publications in the industry share their ideas and strategies for success in today’s multi-platform world.

Readers are shifting to digital content in record numbers.  New platforms like e-readers and the iPad, coupled with emerging channels like social and mobile, are making it easy for consumers to engage with the type of content that is meaningful to them when and where they want it.  While all of this should offer incredible opportunities for digital publishers, many still struggle with effective ways to monetize their content.  Hence the reason shows like MIN’s Bottom-Line Conference attracts such a big crowd.

As a sponsor of this year’s event, Datran Media will be sure to offer a show summary for those unable to attend.  And in the meantime, we’ve compiled a list of ten tips every digital publisher needs to know.  Take a look.  We’ve also just crafted an insightful whietepaper that explores some of these strategies in detail.  Be sure to check it out.

• Think like a retailer, and manage your “readers” as “customers”
• Measure the composition your audience at every stage of engagement & consumption
• Leverage audience behavioral, demographic & transactional data
• Embrace the “Freemium” model
• Distribute and monetize content beyond the borders of your site
• Build accretive, scalable and valuable reach in the inbox: email, SMS and social
• Monetize inbox inventory beyond newsletter ad placement
• Don’t give away site or inbox ad space to protect print
• Create consumer engagement for your advertisers
• Be as local and topical as possible