According to PubMatic’s second monthly Adprice Index, US economic slow down drag the ad sales fall about 23%, however accordingt to IDC, revenue from U.S. online advertising increased by 23.9 percent to $7.1 billion in the first quarter compared to $5.7 billion in the first quarter of last year.

Despite the sluggish economy, IDC expects Internet advertising to continue to expand rapidly during 2008, even though advertising across all media will most likely be cut back as advertisers look to save money and find more effective marketing channels.

Google continued to extend its leadership position in the U.S. online advertising market in the first quarter. Its domestic net revenue continued to grow faster year over year than most other companies, even as its growth rate continued to decline as the company’s major market, search advertising, continues to mature.

Google’s estimated net U.S. advertising market share was up 24.8 percent in the first quarter of 2008, up from 23.1 percent in the first quarter of 2007.

“What happens is that the current economic crisis puts pressure on advertisers to save money and find more effective marketing channels,” said Karsten Weide, program director, Digital Marketplace and New Media at IDC. “Effectively, the crisis accelerates the shift of advertising budgets from traditional media into new media.”

IDC says that the threat of a potential recession will decrease expenditure across all media by as much as 7 percent in 2008. The firm believes that online advertising growth will still increase at rates around 15 - 20 percent IDC predicts Internet advertising will more than double in five years.

So, what are the questions that you should ask yourself before making any changes of your life (Have you wonder that before?).

Try these series of questions, I know most of them are very lame, but they are effective to reveal the true-self of you when answering them honestly.

Hope they may help:

1) What are the three things I most want to achieve?

2) Why are they so important to you?

3) Which do I want to deal with first and why?

4) When is it realistic for me to have achieved each of them?

5) Where must I start and what are the first, small steps I must take?

6) How can I measure my progress and keep on track?

7) Who else do I need to involve?

What can they gain by helping me?

9) How will I know I have achieved them and how will I celebrate?

10) Once I have got there, what might I then want to do next?

Your answer will help you understand quite clearly the direction in which you want to head. For one thing, you are introducing your own values because what is important to you may not be as vital to someone else in your situation. You will also be starting to identify the people around you whose support will make the whole process much easier.^^;

More than one-third of US female Internet users surveyed either contributed to or read blogs in March 2008, according to the BlogHer/Compass Partners‘ “2008 Social Media Study.”

In the study, a full 29% of female blog readers said they had made a decision to buy a product based on information found in a blog post.

Female blog publishers—defined as those who read, post and publish blogs at least once a week—were apparently even more influenced by blogs: 38% said they had decided to buy something after reading a blog post. Blog influence cuts both ways, however. Nearly three out of 10 female blog readers said they had decided not to buy something based on a blog post, as did 32% of female blog publishers.

Via the source.