The internet has about twice the influence of television and roughly 8 times that of print, according to a Fleishman-Hillard and Harris survey. Their Digital Influence Index tracks the impact of the internet on consumer behaviour in the UK, Germany, and France.

Their work also reveals the unsurprising conclusion that consumers are more likely to seek opinions of others through social media and product-rating sites when making choices that have a great deal of personal impact (e.g., healthcare options or major electronics purchases). On the other hand, they use company controlled sources for decisions on commodities like energy companies or airline tickets.

Dave Senay, CEO of Fleishman-Hillard, tells us:

“There’s a mismatch between the growing impact of the digital channel and the proportion of marketing and advertising resources organizations allocate to it, relative to other media.”

Full details of the survey are available as a pdf from Fleishman-Hillard; the document includes suggestions for marketers and communicators on how to integrate digital channels into campaigns.

The New York Times has a good report on new OOH technologies that use video cameras at the billboard location to identify target groups and deliver ads that are relevant to them. The technology can pick up gender, approximate age and even race. The video data is sent to a central database for identification before the relevant ad is fired back to the viewer.

Companies developing the systems include Paris based Quividi and US based TruMedia Technologies.

Naturally there have been privacy concerns but all involved are insisting that the targeting is remaining completely anonymous and is only trying to target and measure OOH better.

The UK’s radio industry has spent a long time preparing for electronic measurement, but at the last hurdle they’ve abandoned their plans and a re sticking to diaries. After spending about £3.5 million on feasibility studies with Arbitron’s Personal People Meter, it’s all been called off.

The joint industry organisation that looks after radio measurement, RAJAR, might be looking at a new online diary system, with testing taking place in July.

Apparently the main problem was getting the panel to put accurate data into the machines at breakfast time.

The electronic meter trials started in London in early 2007 but one of the key sponsors, the television measurement body BARB, left after a year. This made the project costly for the remaining partner, RAJAR.