IT Facts

51% of US small business owners said conditions for their businesses were getting worse, up from 44% in August, the credit card firm said. Another 73% said the U.S. economy was getting worse, up from 60%. Only 7% said they felt the economy was improving, an all-time low for the monthly surveys.

Broadband adoption in the United States continues to exhibit steady growth, with 17% more American adults having broadband at home in April 2008 than was the case roughly a year earlier. Fully 55% of Americans reported having a high-speed internet connection at home in April 2008 survey, up from 47% in March 2007. The share of Americans with broadband at home in our April 2008 survey is little changed from the 54% of Americans who said they had broadband at home in our December 2007 survey, according Pew Internet Project.

28% of rural adult Americans without home high-speed say broadband isn’t available where they live, in contrast to 22% of non-rural Americans without broadband who say this. Moreover, 24% of dial-up users in rural areas say having the service available where they live would prompt a switch to broadband; this compares to the 14% figure for all respondents, according to the Pew Internet Project.

Almost 60% of Americans interact with companies on a social media Web site, and 25% interact more than once per week, 2008 Cone Business in Social Media Study says. 93% of Americans believe a company should have a presence in social media, while an overwhelming 85% believe a company should not only be present but also interact with its consumers via social media. 56% of American consumers feel both a stronger connection with and better served by companies when they can interact with them in a social media environment. Americans believe that companies should use social networks to solve my problems (43%). Companies should solicit feedback on their products and services (41%). Companies should develop new ways for consumers to interact with their brand (37%). Companies should market to consumers (25%). Men, a much sought-after target in the online space, are twice as likely as women to interact frequently (one or more times per week) with companies via social media (33% to 17%, respectively).

The number of mobile phone subscriptions in the world will reach 4 bln by the end of 2008 driven by growth in developing economies, the International Telecommunications Union said.

Kearsarge Global Advisors says that so far in 2008, $20,826,032 have been spent on 55,019 spots in 33 states, along with minimal national cable placements. Year-to-date spending increased more than 100% in the first three weeks of September. From September 1st through the 23rd, campaigns spent $10,872,849, as compared to $9,953,183 in the prior eight months combined. KGA initially forecast that a minimum of $66 mln will be spent on negative ads related to issues such as outsourcing, tax breaks, trade with China, NAFTA/CAFTA, foreign ownership, and “unfair” trade policies.

Global subscriptions to Internet-based TV are on track to reach 19.6 mln subscribers in 2008, a 64% increase, according to Gartner. Revenue from worldwide Internet protocol television is forecast to reach $4.5 bln, up 93.5% from a year earlier, with Western Europe boasting the largest number of IPTV subscribers and North America the largest market for IPTV revenue. 1.1% of households worldwide would be using IPTV in 2008, and expects that to rise to 2.8% by 2012.