Online Real Estate Technology

Consumers of traditional media sources such as print and TV tend to be older than online media consumers, according to results of a new 24/7 Wall St./Harris Poll conducted by Harris Interactive.

55-plus See Most Need for Traditional Media
Overall, 81% of survey respondents said although printed news will continue to decline, there will always be a need for news in print. However, this figures is highest (87%) among respondents older than 55 and lowest (76%) among respondents 18-34 and 35-44.
More telling is the fact that while 67% of overall respondents still prefer to get their news from traditional sources, this figure jumps to 81% for 55-plus and drops to only 57% for 18-34.

Conversely, 50% of 18-to-34-year-olds tend to get almost all of their news online, compared to only 33% of those 55 and older.

Older Consumers Visit Traditional News Sources More Often
For all forms of traditional news media, older consumers are more likely to visit either all the time or occasionally than younger consumers, with the widest discrepancy existing between the oldest and youngest consumers.

For example, while 76% of overall respondents at least occasionally consume local TV news, this figure is 88% of 55-plus but only 63% of 18-34. Similar trends can be observed for local newspapers and network TV news. The discrepancy narrows a bit for cable TV news (60% overall, 67% of 55-plus, 51% of 18-34).

There is a milder reverse discrepancy when looking at usage of new news media sources. The widest difference exists in consumption of websites for national newspapers (36% overall, 40% of 18-34, 30% of 55-plus).

Older Consumers Increase Time with TV News
Consumers age 55 and older are more likely to have increased the time they spend watching cable TV news and network TV news in the past year than consumers 18-34 (rates of 22% and 17% compared to rates of 13% and 12%, respectively).

However, in addition to the expected higher rates of increasing consumption of new media such as visiting online news and information sites among younger consumers (29% of 18-34 compared to 22% of 55-plus), younger consumers are also more likely to have increased consumption of many traditional media, such as radio (24% of 18-34 compared to 13% of 55-plus).

Internet Dominates Young Adult Media Time
American young adults spend more time online than consuming other forms of media, according to a new study from Edison Research. “Radio’s Future II: The 2010 American Youth Study” indicates that during an average day, Americans age 12-24 spend two hours and 52 minutes on the internet, making the web the media format American young adults spend the most time consuming. Television closely follows with a daily average of two hours and 47 minutes.

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Social media is not making users less social, despite popular contrary opinion, according to a new white paper from ExactTarget and CoTweet.

Increased SocNet Use Leads to Increased Face-to-Face Interaction
“Social Mythbusting” research shows that individuals who are becoming more active on Facebook and Twitter are also interacting with friends in “real” (not virtual) settings more often, despite assertions to the contrary from many industry observers. ExactTarget data shows that among consumers increasing Facebook use, 27% are meeting friends in person more and only 13% are meeting friends less. The same consumers increasing Facebook use are calling friends on the phone more and less often (19% each).

Consumers increasing Twitter use show results substantially more skewed to increased personal interaction. Forty-six percent are meeting friends in person more and only 7% less, while 33% are calling friends on the phone more and 13% less.

Big Names Aren’t Leading to Increased Twitter Usage
Although an increasing number of celebrities are joining Twitter, ExactTarget research shows that they have not increased Twitter use among most people. In the last six months, across the 12 types of Twitter users identified by ExactTarget, only a range of 8-18% are using Twitter more. Meanwhile, the range of those saying they are using Twitter less varies from 10%-45%.

Facebook Fans’ Worth Hard to Measure
Recent findings from Syncapse indicate that the average Facebook fan is worth $136.38 to a brand and Facebook fans spend an average of an extra $71.84 on a product. However, previous ExactTarget research indicates only 17% of US consumers reported that they’re more likely to buy as a result of liking a brand.

So while Syncapse’s study does establish the average annual spend of a Facebook fan, ExactTarget advises it doesn’t suggest the increase in value that can be attributed to Facebook, since many of these consumers have already reached their limit to purchase additional products, goods, or services from brands.

ExactTarget recommends that marketers must resist the temptation to view Facebook as merely an acquisition or loyalty channel, where number of fans is directly linked to ROI. Fans are a valuable part of a marketing strategy, but must be empowered to act as viral advocates for a brand with their own friends and contacts.

6 in 10 SocNet Users Feel More Connected
Six in 10 (59%) of social network users say they feel more connected to people now than previously, according to a recent Harris Poll. That figure is highest among 18-to-34-year-olds (63%) and females (61%). Similar percentages (58% overall, 63% of 18-to-34-year-olds, 60% of females) say they keep in touch with friends more now than in the past.

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Consumers researching online data about netbook computers for possible purchase are also considering other devices, according to analysis from Compete.

Aspire One Shoppers Research Handsets, Other Netbooks
Analyzing online research habits of consumers considering purchase of the popular Acer Aspire One netbook as part of a two-year AT&T data plan, Compete found that 13% also researched the Apple iPhone 4 mobile handset.

In addition, 6% researched the Palm Pixi Plus mobile device and 5% got information on the Apple iPhone 3GS handset. Consumers also viewed data on competing netbooks; for example 11% researched the HP Mini 110 and 8% looked up the Samsung GO.

HP Mini 110 Shoppers Also Consider Smartphones
Consumers considering purchasing an HP Mini 110 netbook as part of an AT&T two-year data plan demonstrated a slightly different cross-shopping pattern. Thirty-seven percent researched a competing netbook, the Samsung GO.

However, a still significant 15% looked up the Samsung Captivate mobile device and 11% researched the iPhone 4. The Samsung a777, a refurbished feature phone offered free with a two-year AT&T data plan, also proved popular with prospective Mini 110 buyers (13%).
In addition, 13% of potential HP Mini 110 shoppers researched the Pantech Ease mobile computing device.

Smartphones, Mobile Devices Pose Serious Netbook Threat
Compete notes that these results, collected in September 2010, reflect long-term trends rather than a one-month spike in smartphone and smaller mobile device interest among prospective netbook buyers. Considering that smartphones not only offer 3G mobile web browsing but also mobile entertainment and file storage in an interface that feels less like an inconveniently small computer and more like a conveniently powerful phone, and that tablet computers are rapidly growing in popularity, Compete advises that netbook sales may drop.

More Americans Own Mobile Phones than Computers
A higher percentage of US adults owns a mobile phone than owns a computer, according to new data from the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. Pew data indicates that 85% of Americans now own a cell phone. Cell phone ownership rates among young adults have reached 96% of 18-to-29 year olds. Meanwhile, three-quarters (76%) of Americans own either a desktop or laptop computer. Since 2006, laptop ownership has grown dramatically (from 30% to 52%) while desktop ownership has declined slightly.

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Although about a third of US mobile phone subscribers used a downloaded application in August, according to comScore, and app downloads have shown impressive growth, many mobile device users appear to think browsers offer the better user experience.

Mobile users polled by Keynote Systems for Adobe reported a preference for mobile browsers to access virtually all mobile content. Games, music and social media were the only categories in which users would rather use a downloaded app than browse the mobile web.

Their preference for mobile browsers extended to the retail category, with users showing a strong bias toward mobile browsers for accomplishing every mobile shopping task mentioned. Whether it was researching product and price info or sharing that information socially, mobile users would rather fire up a browser than a dedicated app.

These preferences may surprise mobile experts who consider apps to offer the best content and shopping experiences. And marketers may be frustrated as well; getting an app on a user’s home screen is a constant reminder of the brand, but it doesn’t make sense to offer an app users don’t want.

Consumers may simply be unimpressed by the mobile-optimized efforts they have seen so far. When the Adobe survey asked about a preference for using regular or mobile-optimized websites on their mobile device, they preferred regular sites in both the consumer products-shopping and media-entertainment categories. According to the report, this preference suggests “a low awareness of optimized experiences for the mobile web,” but users could also be frustrated with the limited functionality many mobile-optimized sites provide.

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This morning I received an email from a company suggesting I try out their new WordPress plugin on my blogs, the email stating that by adding this plugin to my blogs I will generate 100’s of backlinks, the plugin by the way is called Blog Press SEO, now having done this for some time, my nose started twitching and I’ve researched this plugin.

First of all, there is a word for plugins like this one, and it’s called “link scheme” and let me tell you, Google does not like link schemes and you run the risk of having your blog banned, there is also a paid version available which effectively buys links and we all know that Google definitely does not like that, so beware and do not get conned into using this plugin.

If you would like to read more on this, here is  a link to a great article on the subject, http://yoast.com/blogpress-seo-plugin-spam/.

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Trust and credibility are the gold standards by which relationships are measured. This is true of personal relationships as well as connections between people and brands.

The rise of social media has reinforced the importance of trust. Successful and enduring social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are built on a foundation of trust and transparency. But social media has also distorted the notion of trust and put an emphasis on the size of a person’s network and connections.

“Most people’s decisions are shaped by word-of-mouth input, whether online or offline, from a tight circle of close friends and relatives,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “Word-of-Mouth Marketing: Leveraging Trust Online and Offline.” “Marketers seeking to maximize their reach should focus on the quality of social network connections rather than their sheer size.”

According to Invoke Solutions, quantitative measures such as the volume of content and participation, the length of time people have been fans or followers, or the raw number of followers or fans mattered far less in inspiring trust than the openness of the dialogue, the quality of the comments, and the responsiveness of the sponsor or author.

And Vision Critical found that among US consumers overall as well as daily social network users, friends and family were trusted for product recommendations far more than brand-originated content or people consumers did not know.

And marketers around the world agree that popularity does not equal influence on social media sites.

“The level of influence over one’s friends, followers or fans is the real key, and influence does not necessarily correlate to the size of the network,” said Verna.

In addition, there is a feedback loop between online and offline word-of-mouth, and marketers must understand the connections and differences between the channels.

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Google admitted in a blog post Friday that external regulators have discovered that e-mails, URLs and passwords were collected and stored in a technical mishap, while the vehicles for Google’s Street View service were out documenting roadway locations.

According to Google, data was mistakenly collected in more than 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, some of Europe, and parts of Asia.

In the blog, posted by Alan Eustace, senior vice president of engineering and research, he noted "we failed badly here" and added that Google has spent months analyzing how to strengthen their internal privacy and security practices.

"We want to delete this data as soon as possible, and I would like to apologize again for the fact that we collected it in the first place," Eustace wrote.

Google announced in May that it had collected unencrypted WiFi data by mistake through its Street View service, but the severity of the situation was unknown.

According to a Google spokesperson, the company first became aware of the problem when the Data Protection Authority in Germany asked Google to review all of the data collected through its Street View cars as part of a routine check. The spokesperson added that in addition to street locations, Street View cars also collect WiFi data about hot spots in order to improve the location database for things such as Google Maps for mobile.

When Google went back and looked at the data, it turned out that in addition to WiFi hot spots, they were mistakenly collecting information that was being sent across unencrypted networks.

For the information to have been collected by Google, a person had to have been sending something over an unencrypted network at the same time that a Street View car was collecting data in that same location.

According to Google, the vast majority of the data is in fragments, but in the past week several countries have issued reports that they have found entire emails and passwords.

The data has since been segregated and secured, and WiFi data is no longer being collected from Street View cars.

Google has deleted the data collected from Ireland, Austria, Denmark and Hong Kong, but other countries have opened their own investigations, and Google has not been given permission from authorities to delete the data.

In a statement, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said, "This alarming admission that Google collected entire e-mails and passwords validates and heightens our significant concerns. Our multistate investigation, led by Connecticut, into Google’s alleged invasion of privacy through wireless networks is continuing."

In the blog post, Eustace outlined the steps that Google is taking to strengthen its internal privacy and security practices including appointing a director of privacy across both engineering and product management and enhancing the core training that engineers and employees responsible for data collection receive.

"We are mortified by what happened, but confident that these changes to our processes and structure will significantly improve our internal privacy and security practices for the benefit of all our users," Eustace wrote.

Story by Marina Landis, CNN – www.cnn.com

Females care more about relating positive vs. negative word-of-mouth

Marketers looking to spur brand advocacy among women—or those worried about the possibility of negative brand buzz facilitated by social media—have another piece of evidence that good experiences are a key motivator of brand discussions.

A survey of online women in North America by female-focused marketing and communications firm Harbinger found that 92% of them turn to friends and family for product information, making word-of-mouth their top source. They consider it important to seek and share information on a variety of product categories, with appliances, restaurants, automobiles and entertainment leading the list.

In the food and beverage category, which more than two-thirds of female internet users said they were likely to share information about, 58% said they would do so because of a good experience. A bad experience would motivate 46% of respondents to speak up.

Experiences with appliances—which 80% of women surveyed said they would spread the word about—were even stronger motivators. Four in five respondents reported they would share good experiences with others, while just under three-quarters said the same of bad experiences.

In every product category studied, sharing good experiences, and often a desire to help other consumers make smart purchases, came ahead of sharing bad experiences as a word-of-mouth generator. A truly negative brand experience may still garner negative buzz online or offline, but the women surveyed were more inspired by the positive.

And despite the popularity of social media among women—and marketers’ propensity to target them there and turn them into online brand advocates—those studied preferred to share information with friends and family face-to-face (92%). They were also more likely to share info in person with strangers or acquaintances (36%) than via a website (32%) or social networking site (27%).

Becoming fully incorporated into media and marketing

Blogging has been around for well over a decade—an eternity in internet time. Whereas blogs used to be a thorn in the side of traditional journalism, today they’re an essential ingredient in the media mix. Hardly a news organization exists that does not have a blog where its journalists post updates to breaking stories, offer personal commentary and engage in a dialogue with readers and viewers.

Similarly, blogging has grown into a vital marketing tool for all types of companies, including Fortune 500 marketers and mom-and-pop retailers. eMarketer estimates that 34% of US companies will use a blog for marketing purposes this year, a proportion that will continue to grow to 43% by 2012.

“Businesses are increasingly using the blogosphere to further a variety of corporate functions, such as communications, lead generation, customer service and brand marketing,” said Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst and author of the new report “Corporate Blogging: Media and Marketing Firms Drive Growth.”

While blogging still tends not to rate such high usage as newer forms of social media like Facebook and Twitter, it still has many strengths, including full control over branding and advertising, integration with all corporate web properties, no limits on post length and the existence of a full, easily searchable repository of information. And studies have noted blogging’s usefulness for lead generation.

In addition to marketing, blogs have also become more fully integrated into the world of communications. In the early days of blogging, the established media showed a definite distrust of such nontraditional publishing. By October 2009, according to a Cision-led study, nearly two-thirds of US journalists reported they used blogs to publish, promote and distribute what they wrote. And according to PRWeek and PR Newswire, about a third of journalists used corporate blogs as research sources in 2010, up from a quarter last year.

“This confluence between established and emerging media is making blogging an integral part of the news cycle,” said Verna. “As consumers assimilate blogs into their media consumption, they are less likely to distinguish between a blog and a traditional news outlet.”

Investors in the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector are preparing for a bumpy last quarter of calendar 2010 caused by rising interest rates and the next round of office and retail property valuations.

Property trust analysts have predicted another round of consolidation among the trusts is not far away as predators look to take advantage of the continued low share prices for many of the listed trusts.

Deutsche Bank’s Matthew Bertram has earmarked Mirvac’s residential business as a prime target for any consolidation within the REIT sector.

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”In our view, Mirvac’s residential brand would be saleable, if REITs were to enter a consolidation phase,” he said.

”If Mirvac’s return on capital remains below its weighted average cost of capital in the medium term, on our estimates a sale of the residential division would be accretive to funds from operations, reduce debt and potentially facilitate a return of capital to shareholders.”

Other deals being worked on are the sale or internalisation of the management rights of the ING Group’s listed trusts, while Stockland is closer to securing the retirement group Aevum.

Investors are debating whether Stockland will launch a bid for FKP’s retirement assets.

Reflecting the fluctuating sentiment among REIT investors was the S&P/ASX 300 A-REIT Accumulation Index, which underperformed the broader equity market by 5.5 per cent, returning a negative 0.9 per cent for September. That compared with August, when the same index outperformed the broader market by 3.5 per cent, returning 3.5 per cent over the month.

The managing director of Maxim Asset Management, Winston Sammut, said over the past year to 18 months, Australian REITs had been concentrating on improving their balance sheets as well as refinancing their debt facilities.

Where possible, a number have been actively disposing of ”non-core assets”. As a result, most of the A-REITs have moved back to basics, becoming the traditional defensive asset class it should always have been.

Mr Sammut said that as a consequence of these changes, the longer-term outlook for A-REITs was positive.

”Over the short term, we expect the sector to trade around current levels before moving ahead as investors become more comfortable with the reformation of the A-REITs that has taken place over the last year or so,” Mr Sammut said.

He added the recently launched Maxim Income Fund benefited from the volatile financial markets, generating a return of 3.29 per cent from July 15 (the date of the last distribution) to September 30th.

Story by Carolyn Cummins COMMERCIAL PROPERTY EDITOR www.smh.com.au