While 44 percent of existing iPhone users already want to buy it, only 20 percent of all smartphone users in the sample said they would to upgrade to the new iPhone without needing any further information about the product. Nielsen reports that two-thirds of handsets sold in Q2 2012 were smartphones, which means smartphone penetration in the U.S. The new Apple iPhone dominates the news today, but will the new model allow Apple to grow its share of ad impressions and remain ‘the’ device developers and brands need to factor into their mobile strategies? Android rules. MORE >>

Nielsen’s Global Online Consumer Survey , which sampled 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 different countries, demonstrates the value of word of mouth, with 90% of respondents trusting recommendations of people they know. Last year, Guy Kawasaki ,  wrote a guest post for the LinkedIn Blog about how small businesses can use LinkedIn. In his post, Kawasaki advised companies to be transparent in order to attract both prospective clients and employees. While the post focuses on small businesses, some of the points he raises can be applied to businesses of all sizes. Currently 17.8 MORE >>

What Americans Do Online: Social Media And Games Dominate Activity by Nielsen Wire. 40% of Facebook users said their motivation for liking a brand there was “to receive discounts and promotions,&# 36% said it was to get a freebie (sample, coupon, trial etc.), For anyone in marketing or PR being asked to make “data-driven&# decisions “based on the numbers&# (and doesn’t that include pretty much everyone in marketing and PR these days?), How are consumers and b2b decision makers using social media in their buying processes? Social Media Facts and Stats. MORE >>

Yahoo teamed up with Nielsen to interview 8,384 U.S. Of this sample: 5,313 were mobile Internet users who access information related to at least one of 12 product categories. The retail experience has changed forever now that people rely on their mobile devices for product information while they shop. The impact of mobile on shopping and commerce was also the focus of proprietary research I introduced last June in an in-depth interview with Peggy here on MobileGroove. The result (as I point out in my own blog ) is profound impact on sales and loyalty. million in 2010. MORE >>

Heartbeat is the closest to Radian6 and Alterian is that its just the most recent news and social mentions, where as MAP can operate on a much larger sample of historical data on an unlimited basis (at a higher cost than Heartbeat). NMincite – This is the artist formerly known as BuzzMetrics, which is owned by Nielsen who is now in partnership with McKinsey.  So I spent the better part of January looking at every social media listening, monitoring, analytics, intelligence and insights firm I could get my hands on. looked at dozens of dashboards, and reams of reports. MORE >>