So, I guess you people aren't reading your newspapers at work much these days. According to a new study from Ball State University, the Web is now the No. 1 source of news in the workplace, No. 2 in the home. And you thought all those people with their terminals glowing were doing work-related spreadsheets.
The BSU study involved only 350 people, but they were actually monitored, rather than just being asked about their habits. One of the study's interesting findings had to do with advertising, because we need to figure out where that is headed before we can really get a handle on the new online world:
The OPA-commissioned study also used census data to determine the spending habits of its 350 monitored subjects. Web dominant consumers' retail spending averaged $26,450, while the TV-dominant group's spending averaged $21,401.
Yet, studies have shown that only about 8 percent of advertising goes to the Internet, Horan said.
I expect that percentage will go up. So far, though, advertising and other content have been pretty segregated on the Web. People who want to shop go to a shopping site like Amazon or eBay, and people who want news and information go somewhere else. I'm not sure advertisers are convinced yet that advertising-supported information sites will get them the traffic they want.
