Website Optimization is announcing today that 53% of all US households now subscribe to a broadband high-speed Internet service at home, according to Leichtman Research Group. Broadband services now account for about 72% of all home Internet subscriptions - compared to 60% last year.

Broadband adoption is strongly tied to household income. Just 45% of households with annual incomes below $30,000 subscribe to an Internet service at home - compared to 92% of households with annual incomes above $75,000. Broadband penetration among active Internet users grew to 82.18% in US homes in May, up over 10 percentage points from 71.76% last year.

Home Connectivity in the US

US broadband penetration grew to 82.18% among active Internet users in May 2007. Narrowband users connecting at 56Kbps or less now make up 17.82% of active Internet users, down 0.42 percentage points from 18.24% April 2007 (see Figure 1). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0706/

Broadband Growth Trends in the US

In May 2007, broadband penetration in US homes grew 0.42 percentage points to 82.18% up from 81.76% in April. This increase of 0.42 points is below the average increase in broadband of 0.86 points per month over the last six months (see Figure 2). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0706/

Work Connectivity
As of May 2007, 93.99% of US workers connected to the Internet with broadband, up 0.43 percentage points from the 93.46% share in April. At work 6.01% connect at 56Kbps or less (see Figure 3). http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/0706/

AdToll.com, the premier advertisement management network, has launched worldwide on June 18, 2007. This new program essentially helps webmasters to market and sell ads to prospective advertisers on their websites.

This revolutionary new network is sure to change the way that publishers and advertisers come together to do business. Publishers working for Adtoll will make much more than any other network on the internet because AdToll believes that publishers should have the money they have rightfully made. Therefore, AdToll only takes 25% of the income that websites generate whereas other networks take, on average, more than 50% of website’s generated income. Not only that, but AdToll provides one-on-one assistance to help publishers generate the most income such as advising in strategic places that ads should be placed.

The owner and lead developer of AdToll describes the innovative new service as, “A new advertising network bringing together publishers and advertisers providing effective, profitable and reliable service.”

AdToll supports users by offering text ads and banner ads in a plethora of different sizes. In addition, AdToll is known for its ability to, unlike other ad management services, to seamlessly blend advertisements with content to generate more revenue. AdToll also differs from others because it has the ability to reach the target market, which increases returns for both the publisher and the advertiser, and to provide detailed statistics, which helps publishers make determination on what type of ads to have.

AdToll accepts any site for business, no matter its content and language, and makes monthly payouts using PayPal, cheque or bank transfer. This groundbreaking program is available at http://www.AdToll.com.

Internet marketing company, 9th sphere, launched a Social Media Marketing service to assist companies to use online social media in the right way. There is a growing appeal in social networking websites, like MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and technologies like blogs, wikies, and feeds. In a recent study conducted by Forrester Research of 4,500 adults and 4,500 youths, 22% of adults read blogs monthly and 60% of young consumers use social networking sites weekly. Just last month, MySpace launched a Canadian version, and in one month about 5.9 million Canadians spent an average of 83 minutes each on MySpace, said Bryan Segal of comScore Canada Inc.

Many companies are aimlessly launching blogs and postings on social networking sites, hoping to benefit from the movement and be part of the trend. Without a clear understanding of the implications, issues, management, and maintenance requirements for social technologies, it’s best to be cautious. Managing these types of relationships may be an elaborate undertaking and needs to be handled with care.

9th sphere’s Social Media Marketing ( http://www.9thsphere.com/services_social_marketing.html ) service is aimed at assisting companies in entering the social scene to properly engage others in interaction with a company’s brand. Strategically knowing how to post, how and where to write, and how to respond, will affect positive results. Not understanding how social networking can assist your company and using it for strictly advertising purposes, is a big mistake, according to Marketing Director Ezra Silverton. Companies need to treat this experience as a collaboration between company and prospect/client/user - as an electronic discussion forum to inform, educate and pool resources.

Existing clients have found a good fit for social media marketing, one that can compliment other internet marketing initiatives utilizing search engine optimization or search engine marketing services.

In a recent “Social Network Practitioner Consensus Survey”, two-thirds of U.S businesses were reportedly employing social networking websites for personal and professional use. About half of the respondents were using the websites to connect with staff members, and also nearly half were connecting to prospects, according to eMarketing.com.

At the end of the day, a company can truly benefit from the experience of social networking, regardless the nature of the business, and more notably, perhaps gain a competitive advantage with their audience.