Despite the slowdown in the travel industry, online travel sites are still able to capture the attention of Web users, according to findings by Nielsen/NetRatings.

The findings, released in April, showed that spring airfare promotions and vacation packages lured nearly 43% of all Web surfers to an online travel site in March, and that for the month traffic to those sites increased 12% compared with February.

Nielsen/NetRatings found that 51.2 million consumers accessed online travel sites such as Expedia, Orbitz and Hotwire, compared with 45.9 million in February, and that nine out of the top 10 online travel sites achieved double-digit gains.
--Ad Age

Email: Effective For Customer Retention, Sales

Godfrey Vaughan Touts Success via email The London based Property specialist continues to blaze a trail in the industry by turning to online media to spread news of its recent accomplisments. 3W Studios designed and sent this email to new and potential customers alike.

Although many marketers cut back traditional media budgets last year, an increasing number used e-mail marketing to retain customers and drive sales, according to the Direct Marketing Association.

Those findings, released today, are part of the DMA's State of the E-commerce Industry Report 2001-2002, which was done in conjunction with the Association of Interactive Marketing.

The two groups surveyed 700 companies involved in direct and interactive marketing.

E-mail marketing promotions led to an increase in sales for 66% of respondents, and 63% said e-mail was the most effective customer-retention tool. E-mail is less effective for customer acquisition, however, with only 37% of respondents indicating its usefulness in attracting new consumers. Respondents also identified e-mail as a cost-efficient medium: investing only 13% of their total marketing budgets in e-mail generated 15% of total net interactive sales.
--Ad Age

2001 Online Ad Slump Not So Bad

Fluid Campaign a Success 3W Studios recently ran a successful awareness campaign for the Agency for Workforce Innovation. A series of ad banners were run across the state directing users to the Fluid Now website, in conjunction with traditional media provided by The Kidd Group. As a result of the campaign, online applications increased from 20% to 50% of overall applications received.

Online advertising slumped on a par with the overall ad market and by some accounts fared better than the broadcasting industry, the Internet Advertising Bureau said.

The IAB cites data compiled by business statistics provider Emarketer showing a 20 percent loss in national radio advertising dollars and broadcast television losses ranging from 12 percent to 14 percent for the year.

"The industry fundamentals - growing installed base of Internet users, more attractive demographics, and higher accountability - are firmly entrenched, enabling it to more than hold its own through its first acid test of a slow ad market," IAB's CEO Greg Stuart said in a news release.

What's more, 71 percent of online ad sellers will show a profit this year compared to 42 percent in 2001, according to a report by Thomas Weisel Partners cited by the IAB. That number will grow to 90 percent next year, it said. Banner ads, which accounted for 48 percent of all online advertising in 2000, held a 36 percent share last year, the report said. Classified ads more than doubled their share from 7 percent to 16 percent.

And there are signs of brighter days ahead for the online ad business. Neilsen//NetRatings said last week that the number of unique ads on the Web had jumped 33 percent since the beginning of the year, while a report by Emarketer said Internet ad revenue will rise more than 11 percent to $8.1 billion this year.
--Newsbytes.com

Consumers Take Plunge Into Online Health Research

According to research, 73 million U.S. adults go online to research prescription drugs, learn about weight loss, or simply prepare themselves for doctor's appointments. "Many say the Internet has helped them or someone they know and very few report harmful effects from acting on bad information they found online," the study says.

The study says 72% of women who use the Internet have gone online for health information, while 51 percent of online men have done the same thing. Seventy-one percent of Internet users between the ages of 50 and 64 years have searched the Web for health information, compared to 53% of Internet users aged 18 to 29.

In other findings:

• 93% of health seekers have looked up information about particular diseases.
• 65% have sought information pertaining to exercise, weight control and nutrition.
• 64% have looked for prescription drug information.
• 55% have gathered information prior to seeing a doctor.
• 48% have looked up alternative or experimental treatments or medicines.

--Washington Post

Outreach resource Center goes online

The Outreach Resource Center for Culturally Diverse Elders (ORCCDE) launched its new website this month. ORCCDE is a program of the Florida Department of Elder Affairs, and provides communications assistance in the form of advice and materials to those needing to communicate with the elderly about their healthcare needs. The nationwide site will soon be available in French and Spanish, and features a searchable resource library and message board. Visit ORCCDE online and check it out.

CTA Has Award-Winning Site

The Association of Educational Publishers (AEP) announced the finalists for the 2002 Distinguished Achievement Awards. Chosen from over 900 entries in 43 categories, the finalists represent the best in the industry. 3W Studios is pleased to announce that the California Teacher's Association (CTA) website was among the finalists.

The three main Awards programs are Instructional Materials, Print Publications, and Technology. Within each program there are subcategories for areas such as books, periodical design, software, and Web sites.

The Internet: Architectural Philosophy, Not Just Technology.

Robert Kahn, one of the fathers of the Internet, laughs when he hears people describe the network in modern-day terms. Many, he says, see it as being synonymous with AOL.

"There are a lot of people who think the Internet happened in the '90s," says Kahn. Actually, its history is far more extensive. By the same token, present-day AOL does not begin to define the almost boundless future of the medium. All great inventions take years to be explored and appreciated, he says. The age of this technology has only just begun.

He sees the evolution of the Internet as similar to that of electricity. First, technologies emerged that replaced services and products. Then new concepts were introduced.

Kahn thinks of the Internet in terms of chronological phases, and he drew them out for me on a large whiteboard. From about 1973 to 1983, it was in a stage of design, development, testing and experimentation. From 1983 to 1987, the Internet became operational. Then from 1987 to 1994, the early commercial providers emerged. Starting in 1994 and continuing through today is an expanded commercial phase in which the markets have been open to everybody and Web applications have been introduced. The Internet, Kahn says, will exist for a long time and morph in ways that are now unimaginable.