Digital Consumer Behavior Recap of 2009

According to a recent comScore study recaping key trends in the U.S. digital media landscape, including e-commerce, search, online video, online advertising and mobile, total U.S. e-commerce spending reached $209.6 billion in 2009, down 2% versus the previous year and the first year on record with negative growth rates. Travel e-commerce spending dropped 5% to $79.8 billion, while retail (non-travel) e-commerce spending remained virtually flat at $129.8 billion.

Only a handful of retail e-commerce categories experienced growth. Books & Magazines topped the list of gaining categories bolstered by category-wide price-cutting and the release of numerous high-profile best-sellers. Computer software ranked second, followed by Sport & Fitness and Jewelry & Watches, which rebounded from an especially weak 2008.

The U.S. core search market grew 16% overall in 2009, driven by a 6% gain in unique searchers.
Social networking continued to gain momentum in 2009 with nearly 4 out of 5 Internet users visiting a social networking site in December 2009. The activity now accounts for 11% of all time spent online in the U.S., making it one of the most engaging activities across the Web.

2009 proved to be a landmark year in the U.S. social networking market, as category leader Facebook and upstart network Twitter both posted triple-digit growth. Facebook surged to the #1 position among social networks for the first time in May and continued its strong growth trajectory throughout the year, finishing with 112 million visitors in December 2009, up 105% during the year.

Twitter finished the year with nearly 20 million visitors to its website, up from just 2 million visitors from the previous year. Much of Twitter's extraordinary audience growth occurred during the first few months of 2009, at one point jumping from 4 million visitors to 17 million visitors between February and April.

Meanwhile, 2008 category leader MySpace has experienced some softening in its audience; however, a new strategic focus on entertainment content is exhibiting signs of success with MySpace Music having grown 92% in the past year.

Throughout the Year U.S. Internet users viewed a total of 4.3 trillion display ads (standard and non-standard IAB ads, includes both static and rich media, but not video) during the past twelve months, representing a growth rate of 21% versus year ago. These gains were driven by an 8-percent increase in the number of people exposed to display ads online and a 12-percent increase in average frequency.

The U.S. Online Video Market viewing accelerated in 2009, with 19% more people in the U.S. viewing more videos for longer periods of time, according to comScore Video Metrix. In December 2009, 86% of the total U.S. online population viewed video content. Americans also viewed a significantly higher number of videos in 2009 versus the prior year, due to both increased content consumption and a growing number of video ads being delivered. The average online viewer consumed 187 videos in December 2009 (up 95% vs. year ago), while the duration of the average video viewed grew from 3.2 to 4.1 minutes.
Key findings highlighted in the report include:

• The U.S. core search market grew 16% in 2009, driven by a 6% gain in unique searchers and a 10-percent gain in search queries per searcher. Google and Bing led among the core search engines in terms of increases in market share.

• Social networking continued to gain momentum in 2009 with nearly 4 out of 5 Internet users visiting a social networking site on a monthly basis and Facebook and Twitter propelling much of the growth in the category.

• Display ad impressions grew 21% in 2009 as the online advertising sector increased its share of media spending. Growth was driven by an 8-percent increase in ad reach and a 12-percent increase in average frequency.

• Total (retail and travel) U.S. e-commerce spending reached $209.6 billion in 2009, down 2% versus the previous year and the first year on record with negative growth rates. Nonetheless, e-commerce retail spending continued to increase its share of consumer spending in a challenging economic environment.

• Six out of seven U.S. Internet users now view online video content in a month, with YouTube and Hulu continuing to experience rapid increase in viewership.

l[In the past year, b]the mobile industry witnessed smartphone ownership increase from 11% to 17% of mobile users,]b while 3G phone ownership increased from 32% to 43%.]l

You can read the whole report here.