Total U.S. e-commerce spending reached $227.6 billion in 2010, up 9% versus the previous year, according to the comScore 2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review report released this week. Travel e-commerce spending grew 6% to $85.2 billion, while retail (non-travel) e-commerce spending jumped 10% to $142.5 billion for the year.


The annual report recaps key trends in the U.S. digital media landscape, including e-commerce, social networking, online video, search, online advertising and mobile, with an emphasis on how digital marketers can capitalize on these trends in 2011.

“2010 was a very positive year for the digital media industry, highlighted by a strong rebound in e-commerce spending , significant innovation and increased demand for online advertising, and an explosion in digital content consumption across multiple platforms,” said comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni. “As we embark on a promising 2011, marketers must have a sound understanding of the digital media landscape and how it is changing if they hope to capitalize on key trends that can drive their business into the future.”


The report provides a comprehensive view across the fixed Internet and mobile sectors to uncover this past year’s important consumer trends. Key findings highlighted in the report include:


Social networking also continued to gain momentum throughout 2010, with 9 out of every 10 U.S. Internet users now visiting a social networking site in a month, and the average Internet user spending more than 4 hours on these sites each month. Nearly 1 out of every 8 minutes online is spent on Facebook.


The U.S. core search market grew 12% overall in 2010, driven by a 4%increase in unique searchers and an 8% increase in the number of search queries per searcher.


U.S. Internet users received a total of 4.9 trillion display ads in 2010 with display ad impressions growing 23% in December 2010 versus December 2009. Social networking sites, which now account for more than one-third of all display ad impressions, were a significant driver of growth in the display ad market in 2010.

 
In December 2010, the average American spent more than 14 hours watching online video, a 12% increase from the prior year, and streamed a record 201 videos, an 8% increase.

Major milestones in mobile were crossed during the year as smartphones reached 1 in 4 mobile subscribers and 3G penetration crossed the 50 percent threshold. Approximately 47% of mobile subscribers are now connected Internet media users (via browsers, applications or downloaded content), up 8 percentage points from the previous year.

comScore will also be presenting insights from the report with several industry associations via webinar. Please see below for more information (note: In some cases, webinars are for association members only):

Shop.org: Wednesday, February 16: Register here (Members only)
The Advertising Research Foundation (ARF): Wednesday, Feb. 23: (members only) Register here. If you are not an ARF member and would like to register for free for this session please follow these instructions:
Go to MyARF ( http://my.thearf.org)
Log-in or create an account
On the left side of the screen, click on “Sign up for an upcoming Event, Council or Webcast
Register for “02/23/20011- 2010 U.S .Digital Year In Review
Enter code “comScore223” in the promo code box on the bottom of the screen and click continue
The Association of National Advertisers (ANA): Wednesday, March 2: Register here (Members only)