The most recent study by Pew Internet & American Life Project, “Home Broadband Adoption 2006,” has some encouraging things to say about the creation of User Generated Media (UGM).  Pegging the number of online users in the US creating UGM at almost 50 Million, the Pew study indicates that it isn’t just the “broadband elite” that are creating content, but a wide variety of users.  Young and old Americans in a variety of income levels have blogged, created websites, contributed to web sites and blogs, or submitted artwork, photos stories or videos.  However the availability of at-home broadband makes users more likely to do so - and my guess is this will increase as some of these activities become even more mainstream.

Blogging: The Generation Gap (New York Times via Slashdot) - for some  interesting reading, check out the comments on the Slashdot article.

YouTube views, ads, tv math and that dancing guy (Engadget)

Happy three day weekend to all!

A survey passed my desk this morning by BoldMouth, a fellow Word of Mouth marketing company, called “Perceptions, Practices and Ethics in Word-of-Mouth Marketing.” This extensive survey touches on many aspects of the WOM universe, including importance and planned use of WOM, evaluating WOM and an issue near and dear to me, Ethics and WOM. The study underscores how important disclosure is to all WoM practitioners. Disclosure practices are not only good form, but also allow for much more effective results (such as the Dr. Walter Carl /Northeastern University study). Huge props to Todd and his team at BoldMouth for this incredibly valuable study!

Even more on Google Video (Clickz via AdJab)

Yahoo & eBay get together (Wired)

SwarmThe - See what sites Firefox users are seeing (Digg)

MarketingVox is reporting that Martha Stewart plans to launch a Social Network for women. The network will allow women to share things like scrapbooking information, pictures, recipes, etc. There’s been a lot of discussion about this - Bloggers Blog and Micropersuasion sum it up nicely - and one has to wonder exactly how many women in 2007 (when the site is set to launch) will jump ship from the other social networks they’ve joined to go over to Martha.

Just a few short bits tonight, as everyone we know is awaiting the LOST finale.
Cadillac jumps into Xbox Live (AdJab)

BMW commisions and distributes free audiobooks (Boing Boing)

Coming to YouTube - the candiadates? (Micro Persuasion)

Apple + Nike Team integrate your shoes and your iPod (Slashdot)

Plaxo offers VOIP (CNET)

Are Magazine Ads Engaging? (Marketing Blurb)

Yesterday, Google annouced that video ads would be available to AdWords advertisers, which will not start playing until the viewer actually clicks on the ad. The big pull, on Google’s part, is that it “makes video ads much more accessible to all advertisers.“  (Their example was of an owner of a “bed & breakfast in Lake Tahoe can put a video tour of his beautiful chalet right next to an article that talks about skiing the epic slopes of Squaw Valley” Yesterday, I found it interesting - if possibly a pain in the neck for smaller advertisers to pull a video together. (After all, there is a difference between throwing up a video of  your pets running around on YouTube and putting together a  tour video that makes people want to come visit your B&B.)
This afternoon, I find that others have much more negative opinions. TechCrunch has a discussion that includes six reasons why it might not work all that well. While blog Virtual Economics notes that while Google might be calling the service “Pay per Click” - its not. Since video is such an interesting field to watch, this will be an interesting service to see pan out (or not).

Adverblog has a great story about a UK paper (City AM) that is delivering podcasts via Bluetooth. They call the initiative - and I agree - “an explosive mix of technology (bluetooth), media (mobiles + outdoor) and content (podcasts).” This is one of those exciting experiments that I hope really works - because the prospect of being able to mix media in this manner - especially out in the open - is just such an interesting idea and one I plan to follow.

One billion served - with net acess (Yahoo!)

4 out of 10 Americans play video games and for some, this impacts their TV time (eMarketer)

Nikon signs on as Flicker sponser (AdRants)

One of the biggest kerfuffles in podcasting right now is about the lack of podcasting support in Windows Media Player 11. Some (like Geek News Central) were pretty scathing regarding the lack of podcast support after a year of iTunes support - saying that “their inaction will slow the growth of podcasting in a big way.” Others (like notably Robert Scoble) think that the lack of podcasting will slow WMP 11’s growth instead.

I have to agree with Scoble. I think that Microsoft may see WMP users who learn about - and want to listen to - podcasting switching to a player that does support podcasts. During my time off last week, I introduced someone to podcasting who has only ever used Windows Media Player - and was suprised to learn WMP doesn’t support podcasting. Their choice was to either not listen to podcasts, or to switch to iTunes in order to download podcasts (or use both until it gets to be too cumbersome).

As mentioned a few weeks ago, iTunes is offering pdf files for download for your iPod. Building on this offering, AdJab reported today that Lexus and Slate are offering “Textcasts” of the days headlines that can be viewed on a video iPod. While it is an interesting offering (and one I was excited to learn about) I agree with AdJab that looking at text on the wee little screen might be a strain on the eyes. At the same time, the rumors of the larger screen video iPod may make these an easier read.

MySpace Launches IM client (Micro Persuasion)

Warner is going to sell both movies and tv via BitTorrent (NY Times)

Too much news from E3 to winnow down here (Connected Wii? The 360 DVD player?) But Engadget has some spectacular blow-by-blows of all the events.