Despite this growth, however, Borrell predicts that things will get tougher in 2010, when local online sales will hit only $14.9 billion, or 5% higher than 2009 figures. This slowdown will likely occur because the market is approaching saturation and "the wave many locally focused media companies have been riding for the past several years has peaked,” the report said.

Note: The Hitwise data featured is based on US market share of visits as defined by the IAB, which is the percentage of online traffic to the domain or category, from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. The market share of visits percentage does not includeA traffic for all sub-domains of certain websites that could be reported on separately.

As 2010 fast approaches, digital marketers are gearing up for yet another year of changes that will incorporate both the transformational and the incremental. From the economy’s influence on the burgeoning “do-it-yourself” culture to an increasing reliance on collective wisdom, information-based art, and remote computing, digital experts at Last Exit have put together the following list of top digital marketing trends they believe will play out in the year ahead.

1. Facebook Replaces Personal Email: As Facebook becomes increasingly used as a verb (e.g.”I Facebooked you today”) in ways that Hotmail and gmail never were, it will be interesting to see the extent to which it will displace personal email as a communication tool. It’s already completely permission based, there is no spam (yet), and no address book required - your friends are already there.

Note: The Hitwise data featured is based on US market share of visits as defined by the IAB, which is the percentage of online traffic to the domain or category, from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. The market share of visits percentage does not include traffic for all sub-domains of certain websites that could be reported on separately.

Note: The Hitwise data featured is based on US market share of visits as defined by the IAB, which is the percentage of online traffic to the domain or category, from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. The market share of visits percentage does not include traffic for all sub-domains of certain websites that could be reported on separately.

The number of touchscreen mobile-phone users in the US has grown 159% during the past year - to 23.8 million in August 2009 - and has substantially outpaced the already-strong 63% growth of smartphone use, according to a study of touchscreen mobile phone adoption in the US by comScore, Inc.

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Note: The Hitwise data featured is based on US market share of visits as defined by the IAB, which is the percentage of online traffic to the domain or category, from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. The market share of visits percentage does not include traffic for all sub-domains of certain websites that could be reported on separately.

Note: The Hitwise data featured is based on US market share of visits as defined by the IAB, which is the percentage of online traffic to the domain or category, from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. The market share of visits percentage does not include traffic for all sub-domains of certain websites that could be reported on separately.

In a reversal of the economic trend over the past few months, US consumers spent less and saved more in September 2009 than in August 2009, according to the monthly Bureau of Economic Analysis Personal Income and Outlays report, which also revealed that consumer personal income and disposable personal income also dipped slightly.

US consumers’ personal consumption expenditures (PCE), which essentially reflect consumer spending, dropped $47.2 billion, or 0.5%. This decrease outpaced their’ personal income, which dropped $100 million, and disposable personal income (DPI), which dropped $200 million, with both figures declining less than 0.1%. DPI represents personal income less current personal taxes.

The average online American visited 87 web domains, had 53 internet sessions, surfed 2,645 pages and spent 57 seconds per page in September 2009, according to data from The Nielsen Company.

The average cost of a 30-second spot on prime-time TV dropped 16%, to about $84,000 in Q309, vs. the same quarter in 2008, according to analysis by independent media agency TargetCast tcm. The decrease - slightly higher than in recent quarters when declines were in single digits - was the result of lower ratings and the recession.

Ratings among adults ages 25-54 were down about 10% for the quarter, compared with the same quarter last year, excluding the Olympics which ran in Q308, said Gary Carr, TargetCast SVP and executive director of national broadcast.

Internet search engines and print directories are the primary sources for finding local business information and account for 31% and 28%, respectively, of all local searches conducted in the US, according to a study from TMP Directional Marketing (TMPDM) and comScore, Inc.

Following a September decrease driven by pessimism about current economic conditions, the Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index fell yet again, from 53.4 to 47.7, in October 2009.

Despite increases in August and only slight decreases in September, both components of the Index - Present Situation Index and the Expectations Index - fell this month by several percentage points, reports Retailer Daily.

Following the release of discouraging overall unemployment data for September 2009, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has released a state breakdown of September 2009 unemployment that shows US jobless rates have increased in all 50 states and the District of Columbia since September 2008.

On a month-over-month basis, however, the picture is more mixed. Unemployment rates have grown since August 2009 in 23 states and the District of Columbia, decreased in 19 states, and remained flat in eight others, Retailer Daily reports.

Weekday newspaper circulation fell 10.6% in the first half of the 2009, while Sunday circulation has slipped 7.5%, compared to the same period a year ago, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, MediaBuyerPlanner reports.

USA Today (GCI) in particular was hit by a decrease in circulation, falling from nearly 2.3 million to 1.9 million, or 17.1%. The slump - which was caused by a number of factors including declining hotel occupancy - lost the paper its top spot, in terms of weekday circulation, to the Wall Street Journal (NWSA).

Note: The Hitwise data featured is based on US market share of visits as defined by the IAB, which is the percentage of online traffic to the domain or category, from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US internet users. Hitwise measures more than 1 million unique websites on a daily basis, including sub-domains of larger websites. Hitwise categorizes websites into industries on the basis of subject matter and content, as well as market orientation and competitive context. The market share of visits percentage does not include traffic for all sub-domains of certain websites that could be reported on separately.