Online ad spending is expected to increase just a little less than 20% 2008, from $19.9 bln in 2007 to $23.8 bln. By 2013, Jupiter expects total online ad spending to hit $43.4 bln.

The worldwide relational database management systems market saw a 12.6% growth spike in 2007 to $18.8 bln compared to $16.7 bln in 2006, according to IDC. Oracle took the top spot, capturing 44.3% of the market with revenue growth of 13.3%. IBM came in second with a 21% share, also logging a 13.3% revenue growth rate. It was followed by Microsoft, with 18.5% of the market and a 14% jump in revenue. iSybase and Teradata rounded out the top five, garnering market shares of 3.5% and 3.3%, respectively.

ZenithOptimedia says global internet ad spend will grow 26.7% and break through the 10% share barrier in 2008. By 2010 online ads will attract 13.6% of all advertising. ZenithOptimedia sees worldwide online ad spend of $52.2 bln in 2008, $64 bln in 2009 and $78.1 bln in 2010.

66% of users used at least one of the listed ways to find out information on places to live, and one-third used two or more, according to Pew Internet Project. Broken out by buyers versus renters: 60% of buyers consulted the internet during their search, compared to 43% of renters who did this; 60% of buyers consulted friends, family, or co-workers, compared to 16% of renters who did this; 49% of buyers used a real estate agent, while 48% of renters did; 39% of buyers used the newspaper in their search, while 57% of renters did; 19% of buyers cited a source not mentioned, while 18% of renters did; 12% of buyers consulted the radio or TV in their search, compared to 17% of renters.

Total revenue of Internet advertising increased by 23.9% to $7.1 bln in Q1 2008 compared to $5.7 bln in Q1 2007, according to IDC. Google continued to extend its leadership position in the U. S. Internet advertising market in Q1 2008: the company’s estimated net advertising market share was 24.8% in Q1 2008, up from 23.1% in Q1 2007.

Total sales of thin clients in H1 2007 in the Asia/Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ) reached 282,667 units, representing an increase of 37.3% over 2007, according to IDC. Revenue likewise increased 29.2% over H1 2007. The APEJ thin client market is expected to grow strongly over the next five years, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.4%.

According to IDC’s Asia/Pacific Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals (HCP) Tracker, the combined printer and MFP market grew 6.3% YTY to reach 6.5 mln units in Q1 2008. Prices of A4 monochrome and color laser MFPs hit new low at $160 and $250 respectively following aggressive trade-in and end-user promotions. The A3 laser MFP market grew 16.4% sequentially in conjunction with the fiscal year-end closing of most Japanese vendors.

3G iPhone is expected to take 7.38% of the converged device market by the end of 2012 in Australia, according to IDC. Nokia maintains market dominance at 51.9%. Nokia’s 6110 Navigator continues to outsell 99.4% of all mobile devices on the market, despite being available in Australia for almost a year. Strong demand is expected to continue until the introduction of its successor, the Nokia 6210 Navigator, later this year. Other vendors such as HTC, Samsung and Sony Ericsson are also focusing more on GPS-enabled devices.

Worldwide PC microprocessor shipments slowed notably in Q1 2008, resulting in sequential growth of -9.2% over Q4 2007. In YOY comparisons, overall unit shipments and market revenue grew by 25.7% and 15.9% respectively, according to IDC. Shipments of processors for desktop PCs led the slowdown in Q1 2008, with sequential growth of -11.9%. Processors designed for mobile PCs and servers faired slightly better, with growth of -5.9% and -6.0% respectively compared to Q4 2007. All three segments experienced solid YTY growth, however, led by a 42.8% increase in microprocessor shipments for mobile PCs.

IDC forecasts that the small and medium-sized business (SMB) enterprise applications market will grow to $80.3 bln by the end of 2012, representing a 10.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2008-2012 period.

In terms of processor vendor shares, Intel experienced a small gain over AMD in Q1 2008. On an overall unit basis, Intel earned 78.9% market share, a gain of 2.2%. AMD earned 20.9% market share, a loss of 2.2%, according to IDC. Similar shifts in market share were evident by form factor. In the mobile processor segment, Intel earned 85.3% market share, a gain of 3.4%, and AMD captured 14.5%, a loss of 3.3%. In the PC server processor segment, Intel earned 87.0% share, a gain of 1.6%, while AMD earned 13.0%, a loss of 1.6% share. Finally, in the desktop PC processor segment, Intel captured 73.1% share, an increase of 1.0%, and AMD earned 26.7% share, a loss of 1.0%.

In Q1 2008 2.02 mln mobile devices were shipped to Australia, with 0.57 mln of these being converged devices. IDC expects that by 2012 converged devices will account for almost 50% of all mobile devices shipped in Australia. Australia’s mobile replacement rate is expected to exceed 42.9% in 2008, up from 40.7% in 2007.

IDC finds overall Internet advertising revenue will double from $25.5 bln in 2007 to $51.1 bln in 2012. The Internet will go from the number 5 medium all the way to the number 2 medium in just 5 years, making it bigger than newspapers, bigger than cable TV, bigger even than broadcast TV, and second only to direct marketing, according to IDC. Video advertising will be the principal disruptor of Internet advertising over the next five years by attracting the most new marketing dollars. Its revenue will grow sevenfold from $0.5 bln in 2007 to $3.8 bln in 2012 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.4%.

33% of black parents feel that writing on a computer makes their child more likely to have a short attention span-significantly higher than the comparable figure for whites (19%), according to Pew Internet Project. Fathers are more ambivalent than mothers on the issue of effort and taking short cuts. 42% fathers feel that computers make no difference in the short cuts or overall effort their child puts into his or her writing, compared with 30% of mothers. Finally, there are some statements over which parents are split, with large numbers of parents feeling positively, and equally large numbers responding negatively. For instance, 40% of parents feel that writing on a computer makes their child more likely to use poor spelling and grammar, 28% feel that using a computer for writing makes this outcome less likely. Similarly, parents are evenly divided as to whether using a computer for writing makes their child more likely (22%) or less likely (18%) to have a short attention span.