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December 18th, 2009
Top Toys for Boys, 2009Video games, Legos and Transformers lead the way
December 17th, 2009
Top Toys for Girls, 2009Barbie, Hannah and Dora trump the Easy Bake Oven
I chuckled (to myself, since I wasn’t actually part of the conversation) and recognized that the landscape of gifts for girls has changed a lot since the days when girls just wanted toy ovens that cooked cakes with lightbulbs. iPod Touch aside, here are the other most popular gift items for girls this holiday season, according the National Retail Federation’s 2009 “Top Toys” survey: December 16th, 2009
Getting into the GameVideo game console and game sales are through the roof again this year
According to the Entertainment Software Association, video game hardware, software and peripheral sales climbed to $22 billion in 2008, a 22.9% jump over the previous year. And that record was primarily set by the strength of video game sales in December of 2008, which came to $5.3 billion. That’s somewhat staggering when you consider that as recently as 1997, the industry generated only $5.1 billion over the entire year. December 14th, 2009
2009 Holiday Shopping TrendsAs expected, consumers are tightening their budgets and looking hard for good deals
Careful consumer spending will be in full effect going forward, and the 2009 holidays will likely be no exception to the “new normal” of consumer caution. Here are some of the trends being reported among shopping-savvy consumers this holiday season… December 9th, 2009
Where the Green Things AreThe who, what, where and how of green targeting
Whether you are new to the idea of green products and business practices, have already begun to promote your green offerings, or have been green all along, you still may be wondering how to target the new growing green market and this very particular new consumer. Who are all these green people? December 8th, 2009
Random Acts of Kindness, Yahoo! Style
Bob Hope once said, “If you haven’t any charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.” Truer words were seldom spoken. At Yahoo!, we strive not only to not be evil, we want to do a little good. That’s why, during this year’s season of sharing, we’ve launched the year-end giving campaign “You In?”. And without necessarily spending a dime. December 7th, 2009
Black Friday Anything But BleakOnline spending during the early part of the holiday shopping season is strongest ever
A jump that high is worth taking notice of, especially when you consider that the increase in brick-and-mortar sales from 2008 to 2009 was only 0.5%. Of course, brick-and-mortar spending greatly overshadowed online spending for Black Friday weekend, but the huge disparity between yearly increases for both areas of sales is interesting to note. December 4th, 2009
Right Media is Open for Premium Business
Right Media will discontinue supporting the Direct Media Exchange (DMX)—our self-serve platform for small publishers looking to monetize their sites. The DMX site will serve ads through Jan. 31t and DMX participants can access their reports through March 1. For more on this anncouncement, see the full post on the Right Media blog by Stephanie Dorman, Senior Director, Client Services and Operations. —The Team December 3rd, 2009
Yahoo! and Facebook Teaming UpYahoo!-Facebook deal makes 2010 even more promising for users and advertisers
This is a natural partnership—52% of Yahoo! users visit Facebook and 84% of Facebook users visit Yahoo!. (comScore, US, Oct 2009) You will be able to see your Facebook friends’ activities on Yahoo! and share Yahoo! content—ratings, photos, article comments, and more—directly on your Facebook stream, and update your status in both places. We’re doing this by deeply integrating a service called Facebook Connect across Yahoo! properties worldwide, which we announced today. As the place where over 500 million people visit every month, Yahoo!’s goal is to bring together social experiences from across the web, and provide one place for people to access information and stay in touch with the people they care about most. The move promises to make Yahoo! even more attractive to users—and advertisers. For more, visit Yodel Anecdotal. December 1st, 2009
Share Your Memories of 2009Tweet your fave raves for the past year with Yahoo! By all accounts, 2009 was pretty rough year: economic meltdowns, persistent war, piracy on the high seas, fires and floods. You name it, we endured it. But not all the news was bad. This year saw a new world land speed record for a steam-powered car; America’s first commercial Zeppelin—yeah, you heard that right: Zeppelin—service took off into the wild blue yonder over the San Francisco Bay Area; NASA enjoyed a flawless Space Shuttle record and discovered water on the moon; the Large Hadron Collider set a world record in accelerating protons to near light speed and, here at Yahoo!, we announced a dazzling new brand relaunch that promises to be a boon for both our users and advertisers. This year, you can share your own experience in 140 characters or fewer by Tweeting it on Yahoo’s 2009 Year in Review site, or view the 2009 Rewind video. For more details, visit Yodel Anecdotal. —The Team |
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With the holidays as close as they are, anyone still shopping for toys is either a great parent or a glutton for punishment. If you’re finding yourself in this conundrum, you might like to get an idea of the top toys for boys this season, according to the National Retail Federation’s 2009 Top Toys survey. Knowing these most-wanted boys’ gifts won’t make shopping any less insane, but it might save you a few precious minutes:
The other day I was on an elevator with three women who were discussing the toys their children wanted for the holidays. One woman expressed concern that her daughter wanted an iPod Touch, and said “a two-hundred dollar electronic item for an eight-year-old girl? Whatever happened to the Easy Bake Oven?!”
When it comes to holiday gifts, video games have been at the top of many people’s wish lists since Pac-Man first started gobbling power pellets in the early 1980s. As gaming technology has grown, so has the demand for the systems, games and add-ons that it takes to keep gamers happily mashing buttons (until the batteries run out).
Though 2009 wasn’t the financial nightmare that many predicted it would be, there’s no denying that it hasn’t exactly been a pleasant night’s sleep, either. And while many pundits predict it’s nearing an end, the recession has changed the consumer landscape and forced shoppers to totally rethink the way they shop; how much they spend, where and when they spend, and, most importantly, why they spend.
There’s no doubt that “going green” has reached far beyond a trend to become a lifestyle standard on Main Street. People are now demanding the supply of not just environmentally friendly products, but companies who walk their talk.
“You In?” program encourages acts of good during the holiday season
Brick-and-mortar stores weren’t the only recipients of consumer love, as the holiday season kicked off with Black Friday and Cyber Monday following Thanksgiving. Even before Cyber Monday (the biggest online shopping day of the year) actually began, shoppers were heading online to get great deals. According to the analytics firm comScore, U.S. online spending on the Black Friday weekend was the strongest it’s ever been, up 11% over the prior year, with $595 million spent online.
An Announcement from Right Media
We have good news to share with everyone who uses Yahoo! and Facebook—in the first half of 2010 we will open the door between two of the Internet’s largest online communities.
