Consumers are spending an increasing amount of time performing various activities on mobile devices, finds comScore in its “US Mobile Future in Focus” [download page] report. In fact, in December of last year, comScore finds that 37% of total time spent online was via a mobile device, a far greater amount than the 23% GfK indicated in an earlier study. Among the categories that were above-average in mobile share of internet time were maps (84% mobile), weather (60%), music (57%), and social networking (55%). The increasing use of mobiles for social networking has been well-documented recently: for example, a study from the NPD Group revealed that 27% of tablet and 20% of smartphone users are migrating their Facebook time from their PCs to their mobile devices. An earlier Nielsen study indicated that 40% of social networking consumption in July 2012 was via a mobile application or via the mobile web.

via 55% of Social Networking Consumption Occurs on A Mobile Device.

Top brands spend a limited amount of time reaching out to influencers for marketing purposes, but these individuals—generally bloggers or social media users with a greater than average reach among consumers—still have a significant presence in the marketplace. And they are prized by marketers for their ability to spread the word about products or services they believe in.According to a Technorati Media study from December 2012, 65% of top US brands reported participating in influencer marketing. And a similar 64% of those deemed influencers by Technorati Media—meaning they had greater than average reach in a particular marketplace—made revenue from blogging, whether from ads on their site or sponsored endorsements from brands.

via Brands Leverage Influencers’ Reach on Blogs, Social – eMarketer.

Senior marketers are lukewarm about mobile’s importance to their local marketing agendas, according to [download page] results from a new study by the CMO Council. Asked how mobile will impact their local marketing mix in the year to come, a plurality 33% said they are still investigating the opportunity in mobile. Separately, just 6% rated mobile as important to the success of their local marketing strategies.

via Mobile Hasn’t Yet Found Its Place in the Local Marketing Mix.

US travel e-commerce sales exceeded $100 billion for the first time last year, reaching $103 billion, according to new figures from comScore. To put that figure in context, last year’s record retail (non-travel) e-commerce spend stood at roughly $186 billion, meaning that the online travel market is more than half the size of the retail market online. Overall, online travel sales grew by 9%, while retail e-commerce sales increased by 15%.

via Consumers Spent More Than $100 Billion Online on Travel Last Year.

Marketers worldwide are continuing to invest in making sense of the surge of data produced by digital interactions with customers—68% said they will increase data-related marketing spending in 2013 and just 3% planned to decrease spending, according to a study by Infogroup Targeting Solutions and Yesmail Interactive.

via Marketers Use Social Media Data to Drive Campaigns – eMarketer.

A late 2012 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project shows that young adults are more likely than others to use major social media. At the same time, other groups are interested in different sites and services.Internet users under 50 are particularly likely to use a social networking site of any kind, and those 18-29 are the most likely of any demographic cohort to do so 83%. Women are more likely than men to be on these sites. Those living in urban settings are also significantly more likely than rural internet users to use social networking.

via The Demographics of Social Media Users — 2012 | Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project.

The appetite for online video among US viewers appears far from satiated. According to research from video monetization firm FreeWheel, total video views among internet users in the US were up 23% year over year in Q4 2012. That growth has paralleled an increase in video ad volume, which grew 47% over the same time period, according to FreeWheel. (FreeWheel’s data covers only rights-managed videos, and does not include user-generated content.)

via Longer Online Videos See More Ads, Higher Completion Rates – eMarketer.

As marketers deal with an increasingly fractured media landscape, they will continue to shift their focus away from traditional media to digital channels, according to a poll of US marketing professionals conducted by Inavero for staffing firm Aquent and the American Marketing Association (AMA).

via In 2013, Mobile, Social Lead Shift From Traditional Media to Digital – eMarketer.

No one knows for sure how many individual pages are on the web, but right now, it’s estimated that there are more than 14 billion. Recently, though, Hungarian physicist Albert-László Barabási discovered something surprising about this massive number: Like actors in Hollywood connected by Kevin Bacon, from every single one of these pages you can navigate to any other in 19 clicks or less.

via Any Two Pages on the Web Are Connected By 19 Clicks or Less | Surprising Science.

The proportion of internet users aged 18-29 who reported using social networking sites dropped to 83% in December 2012, according to results from a study by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project. That represents a 10% decline from just 4 months earlier, and is the lowest proportion in roughly 2 years. Overall, after rising steadily for several years, the percentage of internet users who reported using social networking sites dropped for the first time between August and December 2012, down from 69% to 67%. (It’s worth noting that because the data refers specifically to internet users, the actual number of Americans using social networking sites may have increased, depending on the speed of growth of the online population.)

via Social Networking Adoption Leveled Out in Late 2012.