| 24% increase in UK Internet searches for property abroad |
A recent study comparing UK Internet searches for overseas property and estate agents for the four weeks ending 4th August 2007 with the same period in 2006, has revealed that searches for property to buy overseas have increased by 24% and now account for one-third of property searches.
France and Spain are still the top destinations for Brits looking to buy property abroad; however this year interest in other Mediterranean countries has seen a resurgence, with searches for Italy, Portugal and Cyprus significantly increasing.
France remains the strong favourite overseas location for Brits seeking to move abroad or buy a second home. Of the top five regional searches within France, four are related to Brittany, making this the most popular French region followed by Normandy.
Cyprus saw the largest increase within the top 10 overseas locations searched for by UK Internet users, with searches more than doubling year-on-year.
Searches for the Republic of Ireland have increased by 33% year-on-year, with the region entering the top 10 overseas destinations at #10, pushing out Australia which saw searches decrease by 43%.
Searches for the less mainstream locations of Bulgaria and Turkey fell by 9% and 1.5% respectively this year.
New Zealand is the top non-European destination this year above Australia, the USA and Dubai. This has been driven by extensive marketing campaigns from Air New Zealand and New Zealand Tourism. The profile of the country has also been raised through the popularity of films such as Lord of the Rings and The Last Samurai.
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| More interest in iPod Touch than iPhone in the UK |
According to Hitwise UK, daily UK Internet visits to www.apple.com were 23% higher on Wednesday 5th September as the new iPod Touch was launched, than on January 9 when the iPhone was announced. UK Internet visits to store.apple.com doubled from Saturday 1st September to Wednesday 5th September and the website was the 33rd most visited website in the Shopping & Classifieds industry.
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| Industry Search Terms Report for Music - Bands and Artists |
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The following report lists the most popular terms typed into a search engine over the 4 weeks ending 22/09/2007 that resulted in traffic to websites classified by Hitwise within the 'Music - Bands and Artists' industry. For example, the most popular search term was 'led zeppelin' representing 2.52% of all search terms that delivered users to websites classified by Hitwise in the 'Music - Bands and Artists' industry.
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| 1. |
led zeppelin |
2.52% |
| 2. |
britney spears |
1.03% |
| 3. |
foo fighters |
0.95% |
| 4. |
girls aloud |
0.90% |
| 5. |
mcfly |
0.82% |
| 6. |
kanye west |
0.67% |
| 7. |
amy winehouse |
0.59% |
| 8. |
shayne ward |
0.58% |
| 9. |
sugababes |
0.57% |
| 10. |
leona lewis |
0.51% |
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| Transport for London - www.transportforlondon.gov.uk |
Position for 30th August: #412
Position for 3rd September: #120
Positions Jumped: 292
Daily UK Internet visits to the Transport for London website (www.transportforlondon.gov.uk), ahead of the tube strikes starting on the 3rd September, increased by 220% from the 30th August to the 3rd September. Fifty percent of all downstream visits went to the Transport for London journey planner on Monday 3rd as commuters searched for alternative travel options.
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| Lifestyle - Dating |
This category includes any sites related to dating or relationships, including online advice columns and Internet personals services. The data below is based on All sites » Weekly rankings for the week ending 22/09/2007 » Ranks by 'Visits'.
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| 69.7% |
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of traffic to this category was directed at domestic sites.
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| 1. |
Computers and Internet |
65.17% |
| 2. |
Email Services |
22.75% |
| 3. |
Search Engines |
20.62% |
| 4. |
Lifestyle |
13.60% |
| 5. |
Net Communities and Chat |
12.35% |
| 6. |
Dating |
11.78% |
| 7. |
Entertainment |
5.35% |
| 8. |
News and Media |
3.91% |
| 9. |
Shopping and Classifieds |
3.09% |
| 10. |
Gay and Lesbian |
2.48% |
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| 1. |
Computers and Internet |
42.74% |
| 2. |
Lifestyle |
24.18% |
| 3. |
Net Communities and Chat |
17.47% |
| 4. |
Dating |
15.34% |
| 5. |
Entertainment |
8.78% |
| 6. |
Gay and Lesbian |
8.74% |
| 7. |
Search Engines |
8.20% |
| 8. |
Email Services |
6.92% |
| 9. |
Shopping and Classifieds |
5.69% |
| 10. |
Business and Finance |
5.17% |
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| HSBC, Cadbury's and Facebook |
The positive or negative impact of social networks on other websites has been highlighted in the media this month. On the positive side was the news from Cadbury's that it was re-introducing the Wispa bar following an online campaign via Facebook. According to Pixelblog, over 14,000 people signed up to the various 'bring back Wispa' Facebook groups.
HSBC, however, was subject to a different kind of campaign following its decision to scrap interest-free overdrafts for students leaving university this summer, and the bank has now abandoned its plan. At first glance it wouldn't seem like there is an obvious link between chocolate bars and bank accounts, but the demographics of Facebook hold the key. The HSBC plans would have affected students and new graduates, who are currently Facebook's core users. They are also the sort of people who are starting to get nostalgic about aspects of their childhood, from fondly remembered TV shows to their favourite sweets and chocolate bars.
Both of these examples nicely illustrate the increasing influence of social networks on brand owners. Four percent of traffic leaving Facebook currently goes to a retail website - and this number has doubled during 2007.
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