13% of people in the UK say their smartphone is their main way of accessing the news

"There are significant differences in how regularly people keep up with the news across our surveyed countries. More than 9 in 10 Germans access the news at least once a day compared with only 3 in 4 people in the United Kingdom.
The rapid switch from print to digital in the United States is not being replicated exactly in European countries. Germany is showing the strongest allegiance to traditional viewing and reading habits and has the lowest levels of internet news use.
In the UK, news about politics is perceived to be less important – and celebrity news more important – compared to the other countries surveyed.
There is more interest in business and especially economic news in the UK and the US than in the European countries surveyed.
One in five of our UK sample (20%) share news stories each week via email or social networks – but in general Europe lags behind the United States in both the sharing of news and other forms of digital participation.
Rise of smartphones and tablets
Smartphones are starting to play a significant role in the consumption of news with more than a quarter of those in the US and UK accessing news via their mobile each week (28%) rising to almost one third in Denmark (32%)
In the UK, more than one in ten (13%) say their smartphones are now their MAIN way of accessing online news. This figure rises to more than a quarter for the 25–34 year old age group (27%). Over 55s show almost no interest in accessing news this way.
The tablet is emerging as an important device for news consumers. Of tablet owners, 58% use the device to access news every week in the UK. They are more likely to pay for news content and 44% say they find the experience better than a PC. In the UK, we find that some newspaper brands with paid apps do significantly better on a tablet than on the open internet – in terms of overall market share.
More widely, consumers remain resistant to paying for news in digital form. Propensity to pay for online news is lowest in the UK (4%) compared to the other markets and highest in Denmark (12%).
Digital natives show new online behaviours
Younger people are more likely to use social media rather than search to discover news – whereas for older groups it is the other way round. More generally, social media (20%) is now beginning to rival search (30%) as a key gateway to news in the UK – in terms of weekly access
Young people are more likely to make a news related comment or post a picture on a social network than on a traditional news site. For older groups the reverse is true.
The young also watch fewer traditional television news bulletins than older people, consume far less radio news and consume proportionally more news on a mobile phone.
Nearly 6 out of 10 young people say they used the internet ‘to get more involved in politics or express a political opinion’."
Source:  Summary from the 2012 Reuters Institute Digital News Report, 16th July 2012
Full report here.
Methodology:  "Based on a representative survey of online news consumers across five countries – UK, US, Germany, France and Denmark – the report is the start of an ambitious project to track changing digital news behaviour over the next decade.  
Polling was conducted by YouGov for the Reuters Institute across five countries in April 2012. This is an online survey – and as such the results will under-represent older people’s consumption habits, namely use of newspapers and TV. It also excludes people who said they are not interested in news at all which in most countries was more than 10%. All countries used the same methodology to allow for valid comparisons. Within our sample there were targets set on age and gender, region, newspaper readership, and social grade to accurately reflect the total population who are also online."

One third of consumers use music streaming services

"Here are some of the key findings from the report (which of course, along with all of the opinions and interpretations are my own and are not, necessarily, EMI’s)
Streaming has a firm foothold. 32% of consumers across the globe are now using streaming services.  However, adoption is far from uniform.
Nordics lead the way. Norway and Sweden (the home of Spotify) are respectively the 1st and 3rd most active streaming markets globally.  Key to this trend is the relative sophistication of Internet users in these markets.  48% of Norwegians are now streaming music users, as are 43% of Swedes.
Streaming is a good fit for piracy riddled Spain.  Spain is the 2nd most active market with 44% streaming penetration.  But whereas consumer sophistication was key to Nordic adoption, in Spain piracy and the legacy of free were the most important drivers.
Free is a good fit for France too. The role of piracy and free have also been important in France.  French authorities have pushed through the controversial Hadopi legislation but the carrot of Spotify and local streaming success Deezer has delivered immediate results.  Translating streaming usage into purchases though is less successful: just 13%.
Purchase conversion rates are higher in lower penetration markets. The US, Canada, UK, Germany and Denmark have lower streaming penetration but these markets have much higher streaming-to-paid downloads conversion rates, averaging 23% of streaming users.
Streaming Drives Music Discovery and Consumption. Although it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions about exactly how much streaming impacts piracy and sales, the case for driving discovery and consumption is much clearer.  55% of global streaming music users state that they now discover new artists and new music as a result of streaming.
Usage is steady among existing users. Usage among existing streaming users is broadly steady with 19% using streaming more than 12 months previously and 20% more."

Source:  Analysis by Mark Mulligan, reported in his Music Industry Blog, 9th July 2012

Methodology:  "This July EMI’s Insight division launched an unprecedented initiative to share data from their 850,000 interview Global Consumer Insight data.  This dataset covers 25 countries and over 7,400 artists, with twelve people being interviewed at any given moment, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

Internet users & usage in Europe, May 2012

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Source:  Press release from comScore, 2nd July 2012

51% of European internet users say that helps them choose better products and services

"The internet has become an essential way for brands to communicate and engage with consumers:
51% say the internet helps them choose better products/services
47% are inclined to find out more about products they see advertised online
46% of internet users say they often visit the website of their favourite brands
41% of European internet users agree that the way a brand communicates online is important
30% of internet users are more likely to buy a product of a brand they follow on a social networking site.
96% of European internet users research online for purchases, 87% shop online and almost one fifth (19%) of all their shopping is done via the internet. In a six month period Europeans spent €188 billion buying goods and services online – an average of €544 per European online shopper. Norwegian internet shoppers averaged the highest spend online (€1,162) followed by Swiss (€919) and Danish (€894) online shoppers. UK internet users devote the greatest share of total shopping spend to online (32.0%) followed by German (25.4%)."

Internet users & usage in Europe, September 2011

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Source:  Press release from comScore, 14th November 2011

Smartphone penetration in Europe by market

I created this chart with Google's new online mobile data too.  Data comes from Google and Ipsos.

Click to Enlarge

There are lots of other markets & measures.  Create your own here.
Source:  Google, Ipsos & MMA 2011.  Full info here

Internet Users & time spent by market in Europe, May 2011

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Source:  Press release from comScore Media Metrix, 6th July 2011

Internet users & time spent by market in Europe, March 2011

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Source:  Press release from comScore Media Metrix, 4th May 2011

The internet is the largest advertising medium by revenue in Denmark

"The internet has surpassed television and national press to become Denmark's largest advertising medium by revenue, with online adspend reaching €393 million ($551m; £346m) in 2008, compared with TV's total of €326m for the year.

Figures from Reklameforbrugsundersøgelsen, which tracks adspend levels in Denmark, show that total advertising expenditure in the country amounted to €1.9bn over last year as a whole."
Source: ADOI Magazine, 26th May 2009, citing WARC

Facebook is now the largest social network in 9 of the top 12 European countries

comScore data for February 2009 shows that Facebook is the largest social network in 9 of the top 12 European markets as measured by unique visitors - UK, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Denmark & Finland. In Austria Netlog is larger (but Facebook is only 25,000 visitors behind), in Germany StudiVz (including SchuelerVz) is larger, and in the Netherlands Hyves is lager. Facebook is 2nd in all of these markets apart from Germany, where it is fourth behind StudiVz sites, wer-kennt-wen, and MySpace.
Source: comScore MediaMetrix February 2009 data, analysed by Isobar

Online advertising accounts for more than 10% of all ad spend in 7 European markets

"Online advertising accounted for at least 10 percent of overall advertising spending in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Sweden and the UK, the report said.
Norwegian Internet users were the most expensive to target, with advertisers spending 133.20 euros per consumer reached, compared with the European average of 80.60 euros. In the United States, the average was 91.90 euros per person.
The sectors investing most in online advertising were entertainment and leisure, telecoms, and finance and insurance."
Source: Reuters, 2nd June 2008, citing data from the IAB/PWC