The Internet is a good resource that can help patients make better-informed treatment decision, the quality of content on health related Web sites is not monitored and studies have shown that some Web site offer inaccurate information.

More than 110 million adults in the United States have searched online for health information, and two-thirds of these patients get information through a search engine instead of directly accessing a specific Web site.

“Empowering patients with a trusted source of information will lead to better informed patients and, in turn, improved expectations of surgery outcomes,” said Clifford Ko, MD, FACS, Professor of Surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles. “Surgeons should steer patients to high-quality medical Web sites until an accepted, widely used seal of credibility is established.”

An analyses found usponsored sites scored higher in quality, than sites sponsored by commercial organizations such as law firms and representing advertisements (50.6 percent versus 25.0 percent).

The study found more than 80 percent of Americans say they have a firewall to prevent hackers from stealing personal information installed on their computers. In reality only 42 percent had adequate firewall protection. The majority (95%) of Americans did have anti-virus software installed.

“As we begin National Cyber Security Month, this national study of America’s cyber security protections provides us with a critical baseline of understanding of how we conduct ourselves and protect ourselves online,” said NCSA Executive Director Michael Kaiser.

“Great strides have been made but our citizens, economy and national infrastructure will remain at unnecessary risk until every computer user in America has anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software on their computers.”

The study found almost no difference between the percentage of Americans who had anti-spyware software installed (82%) and the percentage that said they had it installed (83%). Still, almost one- fifth of all users are not running adequate spyware defenses. Spam filters though are a different story. Seventy-five percent of poll respondents said they were using spam filters, compared to only 52 percent who had them installed to prevent unwanted email.

“Anti-virus, anti-spyware and firewall software are the front-line basic protections that all Americans should have, and they are critical to keeping your computer, personal information and your family safe online,” said Adam Rak, senior director of public affairs for Symantec.

“To continue raising much-needed awareness around this important topic, Symantec has launched several education initiatives this year making it a priority to connect parents and educators with the resources they need to protect themselves and their family online.”

The positives are the increased connectivity and flexibility that the Internet gives them at work but the downside is many workers say the Internet has added stress and new demands to their lives.

The survey found that the overwhelming majority (96%) of workers use the Internet, email or have a cell phone for some purpose in their lives. Eighty percent say these technologies have improved their ability to do their job.

Close to three quarters (73%) say these technologies have improved their ability to share ideas with co-workers. More than half (58%) say these tools have allowed them more flexibility in the hours they work.

Just under half (49%) say these technologies increase the level of stress in their job and 49 percent these technologies make it harder for them to disconnect from their work whne they are at home and on the weekends. Forty-six percent say these tools increase demands that they work more hours.

“American workers have a love-hate relationship with technology,” said Mary Madden, Senior Research Specialist with the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project and co-author of the report.

“Along with the benefits of increased connectivity comes a host of new issues into workers’ lives. How do you strike a work-life balance when you are always reachable by the boss? What counts as overtime work when you are ‘on the clock’ at all hours? How much personal online browsing can you do while you are sitting in your cubicle? These challenges pervade many work places today.”

The majority (72%) of online retailers believe that the online channel is better suited to weather an economic slowdown than offline channels, according to The State of Retailing Online 2008, from Shop.org conducted by Forrester Research.

“Internet retailers have good reason for optimism as budget-focused shoppers head to the web for value and convenience,” said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. “Online retailers are well-positioned to make the best of a potentially lean holiday season.”

Thirty-five percent of online retailers surveyed said they expect their online business to perform better than expected in the next 12 months and 33 percent believe their online business will perform the same as expected.

This optimistic outlook is mainly due to past results. According to the report, 81 percent of online retailers said their ecommerce business was profitable in 2007, and 75 percent were also more profitable last year than in 2006.

Close to half (49%) of online retailers said their average conversion rate in 2007 was higher than in 2006, and that 36 percent of total sales for online retailers were due to repeat customers. Because of their outlook for the US economy, 37 percent of survey respondents indicated that they’ve lowered their expectations for their online business performance in the next 12 months.

“Although the online sales growth rate will be lower than in years’ past because of lowered consumer confidence and credit working against all of retail, the good news is that this growth will still outpace nearly every other sector of consumer spending,” said Sucharita Mulpuru, Forrester Research principal analyst and lead author of the report.

“Given that the web appears to be a preferred channel for many consumers during an economic downturn, retailers would be well served to provide offers that motivate customers to buy, and to encourage the online channel to drive sales in a channel-agnostic manner in order to provide benefits to the entire business.”

 By doing so these users are making use of cloud computing which allows them to access data through any Internet enabled device. Users who take advantage of cloud applications say they like the convenience of having access to data on any Internet enabled device.

 “Even as large numbers of users turn to ‘cloud computing’ applications, many may lack a full understanding of possible consequences of storing personal data online,” said John B. Horrigan, Associate Director of the Pew Internet & American Life Project and author of the report.

 “These findings give consumers, the technology community, and policymakers a chance to discuss the trade offs between convenience and privacy and figure out where there are needs for education to improve public understanding.”

 More than half (56%) of Internet users use online services such as Hotmail, Gmail, or Yahoo Mail. Thirty-four percent store personal photos online and 29 percent use online applications such as Google Documents or Adobe Photoshop Express.

 More than half (51%) of Internet users who have done clued computing say the main reason they do is it is easy and convenient. Forty-one percent say a major reason they use cloud applications is that they like being able to access their data from whatever computer they are using.

Thirty-seven percent of those who have received text advertisements have indicated they are more likely to respond to advertising if the message they received offered an incentive such as a retail coupon or a free song or ringtone, compared to 11 percent who said such incentives had no impact.

“We think that in general, advertisers and operators must tread carefully when delivering marketing messages to a consumer’s mobile handset, especially given that many subscribers believe they are paying a significant amount of money for their mobile services,” says research director Michael Wolf.

“However, we believe that marketing and advertising messaging that is properly crafted and that utilizes incentives could enjoy more acceptance on the part of the consumer.”

Incentives that received the most positive response were real-world discounts and coupons for retail stores. Sixty-percent of those were either neutral or open to text message marketing offering a discounted coupon at a local retailer as the incentive they would most likely respond to. The nest most popular incentives were free ringtone and songs.

“As more content and applications move through both messaging systems and browsers, advertisers are going to need to consider how best to package advertising,” said Wolf.

“We believe that most consumers will ultimately be amenable to limited marketing on their mobile phones, particularly that which is non-intrusive, targeted, and that can bring them some kind of value in the form of both real-world and digital media-based incentives.”

Driven by national pride and massive growth in Internet adoption in China, CCTV.com, the state run broadcaster attracted more than 100 million unique visitors during the 2008 Olympic Games. The site had an average of more than 6 million unique visitors per day.

NBC averaged 4.3 million unique users a day on its Olympics Web site. Yahoo also had online coverage of the games averaging 4.7 million users pr day.

“The Beijing Olympics marked the coming of age for the Internet in China,” said Alex Yoder, CEO of WebTrends, a  provider of web analytics and online marketing solutions.

“CCTV.com attracted more than 100 million online visitors for the Olympic Games by providing the right content at the right time for a large and ever-growing online audience.”

CCTV.com had an increase of more than 2.5 minutes in the average time each visitor remained on the site, reaching 11.5 minutes during the games.

The opening ceremonies on August 8 generated the most traffic on a single day with 8.5 million visits.

The busiest hour of online traffic was from 11 a.m. to noon August 18. Close to 900,000 visitors went online to watch Chinese athlete Liu Xiang race.

Purchased/rented videos will offer the most growth for online video short term, primarily due to an increase in subscription services such as Netflix, which charges a flat monthly fee to deliver DVDs and online content that can be viewed on TV sets. Ad supported professional video from major TV networks will become a solid revenue contributor by 2012.

“What is now seen as a predominantly younger pastime will spread to encompass a wider group of people, in part due to the aging of current online video viewers, but also as a result of word of mouth, spread of services, growth of in-home networks, and new network-connected consumer electronic devices,” says Gerry Kaufhold, In-Stat analyst.

“The survey data in a recent In-Stat report indicates that over half of consumers actually still prefer packaged goods, which bodes well for Blu-ray discs. Surprisingly, younger people who regularly watch online were the group that expressed the highest interest in owning a package goods bundle that includes artwork and extra content.”

By 2012, 39 percent of adults in the U.S. will have purchased or rented online video. Fifty-four percent of U.S. consumers still prefer physical discs when buying movies or TV shows.

By 2012, In-Stat predicts that 90 percent of U.S. households will have access to broadband, with 94 percent of these individuals viewing online video

A number of travel categories saw gains in July as Americans went on summer vacations. The travel category increased 10 percent to 12.7 million visitors, making it the top-gaining category for the month. The travel information category grew 7 percent to 47.6 million visitors.

Despite a sluggish retail economy in the U.S., several retail categories saw traffic increases in July, due to consumers shopping online instead of using expensive gas to drive to stores. Retail consumer good sites increased 8 percent to 22.5 million visitors.

With the release of a number of summer blockbusters, retail ticket sites grew 5 percent to more than 44 million visitors as movie fans purchased tickets online to avoid long lines and sell outs at theaters.

“The summer months tend to draw Americans to more leisure pursuits and that was certainly the case in July,” said Jack Flanagan, executive vice president of comScore Media Metrix.

“Ground travel and cruise sites gained once again, as many Americans sought more budget-friendly ways to enjoy their summer vacations amid economic and fuel price concerns. Summer blockbusters and big celebrity news also provided a boost to the entertainment categories.”

Search has become more popular than other online activities, such as checking news, weather or other information on a typical day.

For the majority of Internet users an average day includes using email (60% of Internet users), general searches (49%) and news reading (39%).

Those using search engines on an average day are more likely to be socially upscale, with at least some college education and incomes over $50,000 per year. They are more likely to be Internet users with at least six years of online experience and to have a fast Internet connection in their homes. Younger Internet users are more likely than older users to search on a typical day. Men are more likely than women to search on an average day.

Sixty-six percent of searchers are college graduates, 49 percent have some college and 32 percent are high school graduates or less.

Internet users living in higher-income households are more likely to use search on a typical day. Sixty-two percent earn more than $75,000 per year, 56 percent fall in the $50,000 to $74,999 range, 34 percent are in the $30,000 to $49,999 category and 36 percent are in the under $30,000 range.

Those who use broadband connection at home are significantly more likely than those who use dial-up to have ever tried using search engines. Fifty-eight percent of broadband users have tried a search engine and 26 percent of dial-up users have done the same.

When it comes to age, younger Internet users are more likely to search on an average day. Fifty-five percent of 18 to 29 year olds search on a typical day, 54 percent of 30 to 49 year olds, 40 percent of 50 to 64 year olds and 27 percent of 65 year olds and over.

“One likely reason is that users can now expect to find a high-performing, site-specific
search engine on just about every content-rich website that is worth its salt,” according to the Pew report.

“With a growing mass of web content from blogs, news sites, image and video archives, personal websites, and more, internet users have an option to turn not only to the major search engines, but also to search engines on individual sites, as vehicles to reach the
information they are looking for.”