The UK Online Measurement Company (UKOM) published its first detailed figures on UK Internet users’ online behavior on May 19, 2010. The data relates to usage in April.

UKOM, launched earlier this year, was set up to deliver a common currency of information about Internet audiences in the UK, comparable to offline metrics such as the TV audience figures from the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB). This will enable marketers and media planners to assess more clearly the targeted reach and frequency achieved by digital ads, and should help preserve the positive momentum of online ad spending in the UK—up 5.7% in 2009, according to the Advertising Association and the World Advertising Research Center.

The scheme has had overwhelming buy-in from agencies, publishers and other industry firms, according to UKOM, although its software product and user interface will not be finalized until the second half of this year.

The first raft of UKOM results indicated that UK Web users spent 884 million hours online in April 2010—65% more than in April 2007. Almost 23% of that time was apparently spent on social networks and blogs, with the number of hours rising from 40 million to 176 million in three years.

The next most popular categories after social networks and blogs were personal e-mail (56 million hours in April 2010) and online games (53 million hours).

Portals, often thought to be in permanent decline, put in a surprisingly good showing; UKOM found that UK Web users spent 31 million hours on sites such as Yahoo! and MSN in April 2010.

For those of you unfamiliar with American Express OPEN Forum, here’s a primer: The site, which originally launched in 2007, is an online resource and social networking hub for small-business owners and entrepreneurs searching for practical information and tips for industry experts. According to Compete, OpenForum.com passed 1 million monthly unique visitors for the first time in March.

This success, in part, is due to Jason Rudman, who leads OPEN Forum’s content strategy and development. We recently spoke to him about the evolution of the platform and how American Express OPEN is using social media to arm small business with the information they need. Here’s a snippet from the full-interview on eMarketer Total Access. (Read more…)

We know mobile advertising is effective. The question is: how effective? Recent studies suggest pretty solid results for both direct response and branding metrics, better, in fact than some online ads.

The lead article in yesterday’s eMarketer newsletter, for example, reported low ad recall but high response rates for location-based service ads, based on results of a recent Luth/Mobile Marketing Association study. On the other hand, the same survey indicated fairly high recall rates (and correspondingly lower response rates) for display ads seen while browsing or using applications, particularly among mobile users ages 18 to 34.

The 11th installment of InsightExpress’ Digital Consumer Portrait likewise indicates impressive branding and direct response metrics for mobile ad campaigns. In a podcast interview with MobileBeyond, Joy Cicman Liuzzo, InsightExpress’ senior director of marketing & mobile research, noted that banner ads on mobile websites generate the highest click-through rates and the lowest annoyance factor, although among “mobile intensives,” 68% of whom have smartphones, app banners (appearing in both the top and bottom of the application) also generated favorable results.

In an earlier interview with Mobile Marketer, Ms. Liuzzo discussed how, in some cases, particularly where brand favorability and purchase intent are concerned, mobile ads can be five-to-six times more effective than online ads. Overall, mobile display ads outperformed SMS and mobile video in every category other than aided awareness and brand favorability.

These findings add weight to the interviews eMarketer conducted last fall with executives from Razorfish, JumpTap and Admob, who indicated that response rates to their display campaigns were as much as 10 times as high as those on the desktop Web. Patrick Moorehead (then with Razorfish but now VP and director of mobile platforms at Draftfcb) told eMarketer he had seen click-through rates for sponsored SMS campaigns go as high as 10%. Note that full versions of these interviews are available to eMarketer Total Access clients only.

One of the main points of last fall’s “Mobile Marketing and Advertising: Change Is in the Air” report was that the lack of on-screen clutter (relative to the desktop) and the ability to reach people at their point of interest contribute to mobile ad effectiveness. Higher response rates and better branding metrics, in turn, help make the medium more appealing to advertisers. As indicated by studies cited here, these trends—along with the ongoing mobile app frenzy—continue to drive the market forward.

How successful can a B2B business be using social media? Fairly successful, at least in the case of IBM. We recently chatted with Ed Linde II, whose team is responsible for building Web assets to support the IBM.com sales channel and organic Web visitors, about IBM’s social media efforts and successes. He spoke about their Listening for Leads program, which he says has “uncovered millions of dollars worth of sales leads” so far, and is expected grow even more. Here’s a clip from the full interview available on eMarketer Total Access. (Read more…)

To watch playback from this Webinar, click here.

Social media has certainly got the attention of marketers today. In fact, over one-half claim they’re “participating” in the social media realm, and a majority expect to boost their social media expenditures this year.

However, when it comes to actually measuring a return on their social investment, fewer than one-fifth do so. There are many obstacles, not the least of which is a dizzying array of social media metrics to choose from. But the tide is turning. Marketers are figuring out how to justify the dollar and time expenditures required to engage with consumers in social media, both on large social networks such as Facebook and marketers’ own social microsites.

In this engaging, informative webinar, eMarketer CEO Geoff Ramsey will walk you through the seven guidelines for making and measuring a social media payout, all based on hard data, case studies and a cross-section of best practices culled from leading experts and marketers.

In this session, you’ll find out:

• Why fewer than one in five marketers currently measure social ROI
• Why 2010 will be the year social media gets an ROI mandate
• How the leaders in social media measurement enjoy a competitive advantage
• What the seven practical solutions for driving bottom-line results from your social media investment are

About Geoff Ramsey

Geoff Ramsey is one of the Internet’s most exciting digital marketing visionaries. As CEO and co-founder of eMarketer, Geoff is on the cutting edge of new research statistics, trends and best practices, covering every aspect of marketing in the digital age.

He is frequently quoted in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, CNN, BusinessWeek, Business 2.0 and Advertising Age. A highly regarded speaker with an engaging presentation style, Geoff speaks at major industry and corporate events around the globe, including ad:tech, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), The Conference Board, the Economist Conferences, Yahoo!, Google, OMMA and the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).

Prior to starting eMarketer, Geoff worked at several large New York ad agencies, including TBWA and Ogilvy & Mather, where he ran multinational accounts for brands including Procter & Gamble, Kraft General Foods, M&M Mars and AT&T.

To watch playback from this Webinar, click here.

Speaker: Geoff Ramsey, eMarketer CEO
What: Seven Guidelines for Achieving ROI from Social Media
When: Thursday, April 29, 2010, 1 PM ET

Sponsored by Unica.