Friday afternoon, rainy day, with beers in hand towards the end of the working week, @digdeep and I decided to engage in an old school cartoon theme battle. On Twitter.

This is how the rounds went:

digdeep 1st, lucasng 2nd

1. SuperTed vs. Denver the Last Dinosaur
2. Ulysses 31 vs. >Mysterious Cities of Gold
3. Teknoman vs. Roger Ramjet
4. Samurai Pizza Cats vs. SpeedRacer
5. C.O.P.S vs. M.A.S.K
6. Chip and Dale, Rescue Rangers vs. Defenders of the Earth
7. Legend of Zelda vs. X-Men
8. Voltron @lucasng concedes

Of course, others were welcome to join and we got suggestions from @bigboytony He-Man, @joshua_hay Thundercats, @sodsa Pinky and the Brain

Themes were arbitrarily judged by our esteemed Twitter followers on obscurity and theme catchiness.

I conceded on Voltron but of course @digdeep had to rub it in with this gem.

The TLDR summary:

• There are 679,000 Australians on Twitter.com
• Twitter.com market share has grown over 1000% since the start of the year
• Only 44% of Tweets originate from Twitter.com

Last month, I guessed that there were around 300,000 Aussie Twitter accounts.

I was wrong.

March’s results are in, and Hitwise announced Twitter.com had 1000% growth since January 2009 (market share of daily visits):

Meanwhile, Nielsen Netview reported that 679,000 Australians visited Twitter.com in March 2009.

source: Nielsen Netview, March 2009, Twitter.com unique audience

Now, what do these two reports mean?

Are there 679,000 Australians on Twitter?

The short answer is yes. The long answer, no.

Let me explain.

Methodology of Hitwise and Nielsen

Hitwise reports on the market share of daily visits to Twitter.com, compared to all other websites. It’s not reporting the number of Twitter accounts, or even the number of unique visitors to Twitter.com. This is because Hitwise data is collected from the weblogs of some, but not all Australian ISPs.

Meanwhile, Nielsen’s Netview reports on the ‘unique audience’ to Twitter.com over March. It also uses a survey panel, which is then used to represent all of Australia.

This leads to an important point: these reports only measure visits and users of Twitter.com, disregarding Twitter clients like Tweetdeck or Tweetie.

How Many Twitter Users Use A Twitter Client?

The Jan-09 client stats from tweetstats creator Damon Cortesi showed 56% of tweets do not come via the web interface:

Jan-09 Twitter Client Stats (based on +50 million tweets):

So now it should be a breeze to calculate how many Aussie Twitter users there are right? We know how many Aussies visited Twitter.com and how many tweets are posted outside of the twitter.com interface.

Nope.

What about the people who use more than one Twitter client? For example, if you tweet via twitter.com, tweetdeck and a mobile client, you’d be counted three as three users even though you are using the same username. How do you filter out the duplication?

After pondering this for a while, I came to the conclusion that the most accurate method would be to ask Damon of Tweetstats to calculate from his tweet sample the average number of clients used per user!

I also came to the conclusion that the lazy method is to assume the vast majority of Twitter users _would_ visit the Twitter.com site at least once a month - to update their profile, use search.twitter.com or to vanity check their profile etc.

The best answer is of course, ask @twitter, except they are notoriously secretive on the subject of just how many twitter users there really are. (For example, Twitter IDs are no longer sequentially generated and @biz went on to tell @jkottke:

“However, the way we number Twitter updates has switched back and forth a few times which pretty much screws up the exactness of your analysis.”)

Therefore, if anyone asks you how many Australians are on Twitter, just say 679,000!

Symantec recently released their free 2008 report on Global Internet Security trends.

It’s bursting with interesting nuggets of Internet security research, heck, it’s practically a gold mine - check out three of the highlights:

1. Did You Know You Can Buy Compromised Credit Cards for $0.06 Each?

Credit card information was the most popular item for sale, comprising 32% of all ‘underground economy’ goods and services? And did you know obtaining said credit card information started from just $US0.06 each (like all good economies, there was a discount for buying in bulk).

2. China - The Most Infected Country, Buenos Aires-  The Most Infected City

• China had the most bot-infected computers in 2008, accounting for 13 percent of the worldwide total
• Buenos Aires was the city with the most bot-infected computers in 2008, accounting for 4 percent of the worldwide total.

China and Brazil have some of the highest software piracy rates in the world. Because pirate software is typically unable to use automated security patches, it is likely many computers in these two countries have not been patched against virulent worms like the Conficker W32.Downadup infection.

Above Chart: Top 10 countries ranked by W32.Downadup infections

Source: Symantec

3. Mozilla Browsers Take Gold in War Against Vulnerabilities

Mozilla browsers had a window of exposure to a sample set of 83 vulnerabilities of less than one day in 2008 before being patched, just in front of Opera (1 day) but well ahead of Chrome (3 days) and Internet Explorer (7 days).

“Of all the browser vendors examined, Mozilla browsers maintained the shortest window of exposure while patching more vulnerabilities than other vendors. This may be indicative of their efforts to marshal the security community to responsibly report vulnerabilities through initiatives such as their Bug Bounty program.

The result of this effort is that more vulnerabilities are announced by the vendor at the time they are fixed, instead of being publicly reported by security researchers independently of the vendor. It is also worth noting that independent browser vendors, such as Opera and the Mozilla Foundation, had a shorter window of exposure in 2008 than the major operating system vendors, such as Apple and Microsoft.”

That’s just 3 highlights from this insightful 110 page report. I highly recommend the PDF download. Of course, Symantec’s ulterior goal is to scare the crap out of you and attract more customers, and damned if this report doesn’t do the job.

Download the PDF here.

How You Can Write Killer Ad Copy by Lucas Ng

This is the slidedeck I used to present on the topic “How You Can Write Killer Ad Copy” at SMX Sydney 2009.

In the presentation I used some great case studies from the folks over at Komarketing Associates, PPC Hero and Marketing Experiments.

I was damn nervous but got some great positive feedback. Definitely hoping to speak again next year ;)

Download the powerpoint version for notes to each slide (requires slideshare login).

Laurel Papworth tweeted: “oh noes! @lucasng we have to make a number up then. Quick Quick, someone give me a guesstimate of NUMBER OF AUSTRALIANS ON TWITTER!”

My guesstimate: 300,000 Australian Twitter accounts*.

Why?

Nielsen Netview, which uses research panels to sample the Australian population, reports there were 149,000 Australian Twitter.com users in Jan-09:

Meanwhile, Hitwise reckons Twitter.com was the 100th most visited website (measured by Australian daily visits) in March.

Hitwise also reports that from January 2009 to March 2009, Twitter’s market share of visits has more than tripled.

Using the Nielsen figures of 150K as a starting point and looking at the January to March growth rate in Hitwise, I guesstimate that there are probably ~300K Australian Twitter accounts as of March 2009. Note that the Hitwise figures don’t account for Twitter API access.

So that’s pretty darn impressive but let’s compare Twitter with Facebook and Mysapce, the big two social networks:

• Facebook: 4,821,580 active users (source: FaceBook Advertising - as of 23rd March 2009)
• Myspace: 2,362,000 unique browsers (source: Nielsen Netratings, Jan-09)
• Twitter : ~300,000 accounts

Twitter is in the media everywhere and has a high awareness (then again, so did Second Life, ugh). However, it has not quite reached mainstream usage.

Do you agree or disagree with my back-of-the-napkin calculations? Will Twitter become a mainstream social network and/or medium for communication?

Note: Standard measurement disclaimers apply. We’re comparing apples to oranges to pears with regards to users, browsers and accounts.

*edit: made some adjustments after @problogger got an updated chart from Hitwise, showing Twitter.com has gone from 100th to 85th most popular Aussie site.

Today’s most popular Sydney Morning Herald news story focuses on Australia’s jobless hotspots. The article explains how research from the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) on job loss risk has led to the developement of an Employment Vulnerability Index. This EVI has then been applied to all of Australia’s cities, generating the following heatmaps which can be used to identify suburbs that are at the highest risk of job loss.

Sydney (click for full size)

Melbourne

Brisbane

Adelaide

Perth

Hobart

Canberra

Darwin

source for images: CofFEE/URP Employment Vulnerability Index

The red alert suburbs contain many of the typical Aussie Battler suburbs that have been stereotyped for years - outer suburbs, often associated with old economy manufacturing and high levels of unemployment.

The authors of the report conclude that these Battlers that are already socio-economically disadvantaged will be impacted more in downturn and even in the recovery phase;

“For the unemployed, concentration effects are likely to occur in terms of a lack of employed role models or a lack of information about jobs through social networks.

So there is a double whammy; people in poorly performing spatially-based labour markets are likely to be disadvantaged because of inefficiencies in the operation of the market, but are also disadvantaged because they may lack information about job possibilities.”

The methodology and full PDF report can be downloaded at the CofFEE website here.

Get the full ad:tech Sydney Tweetstream here

Follow the speakers that Tweet and give them feedback after (or during) their session. Tell them what you liked about their presentations and what you didn’t like. Make’em better presenters!

37 ad:tech Sydney Speakers Are On Twitter (updated 12/03)

• Ben Cooper: @benhamin (Partner & Senior Digital Strategist, The Population)
• Carl Moggridge: @carlmoggy (Lead Digital Strategist, Amnesia Razorfish)
• Kate Curruthers: @kcarruthers (Digital Strategist)
• Iain McDonald: @eunmac (Creative Director, Co-Managing Director, Amnesia Razorfish)
• Fionn Hyndman: @FionnHyndman (CEO, dgmAsia Pacific)
• Ross Dawson: @rossdawson (Chairman, Future Exploration Network)
• Jye Smith: @jyesmith (Social Media Strategist, Switched On Media)
• Laurel Papworth: @silkcharm (CEO, Twitter Agency)
• Mike Hickinbotham: @M_Hickinbotham Senior Advisor, Social Media, Telstra/BigPond
• Gavin Heaton: @servantofchaos (Author, servantofchaos.com)
• Kylie Flavell: @KylieFlavell (Editor, Marketing Magazine)
• Fi Bendall: @FiBendall (Founder at Digital and Interactive Consortium)
• Kate Chatfield: @katiechatfield (Strategy Director, The White Agency)
• Lesley White: @lesleywhite (Head of Digital, Network Communications)
• Stephen Collins: @trib (Founder, acidlabs)
• Jenny Williams: @ideagarden (ad:tech Conference Chair & Managing Director, Idea Garden)
• Julian Cole: @juliancole (Digital Strategist, The Population)
• Monty Hamilton: @montyhamilton (Head of Online, UBank)
• Mike Zeederberg: @mikezed (Managing Director, Profero Australia)
• Chris Saad: @chrissaad (Co-Founder at DataPortability Project)
• Charis Palmer: @charispalmer (Managing Editor, Online Banking Review)
• Phil Morle: @philmorle (Co-Founder, Pollenizer)
• Jennie Bewes: @jbewes (Head of Online, Vodafone)
• Michael Buckley: @mbuckley (Digital Director, Amnesia Razorfish)
• Steven Noble: @steven_noble (Senior Analyst, Forrester Research)
• Paul Fisher: @PaulFisher_IAB (CEO, IAB Australia)
• Erik Ingvoldstad: @ingvoldSTAR (Executive Creative Director, McCann Worldgroup)
• Adam Good: @adamgood (Executive Director of Digital Innovation, Clemenger Communications Group)
• Nick Bolton: @nickybee99 (Head of Sales and Marketing, Viocorp)
• Ben Shepherd: @shepherd (National Director - Digital, Maxus)
• Benjamin Christie: @chefben (Founder & Managing Director, Gourmet Ads)
• David Lee: @digitalee (Community Manager, Nuffnang)
• Oliver Weidlich: @oliverw (Mobile Customer Experience Specialist, Ideal Interfaces)
• Jennifer Wilson: @JenWilsonSyd (Director, The Project Factory)
• Drew Parkes: @kraftykid (Digital Marketing Manager, Xbox)
• Tarnya Baohm: @TarnyaBaohm (Digital Marketing Manager, RaboPlus)
• Sean Jenner: @seanjenner (Brand Manager, Nike Australia)

82 Twitterless Speakers (tweet @lucasng if you Twitter)

• Adam Franklin: Managing Director, BlueWire Media
• Alex Littlejohn, Managing Director, Adconion
• Andrew Larkin: BDM, Adobe
• Angelo De Silva: Customer Engagement Manager, Fuji Xerox
• Anna Luong: Customer Engagement Consultant, Fuji Xerox
• Anne Massey, Vice President, Global Sales Support, Starwood Hotels & Resorts
• Anthony Goldman, Director of Marketing & Development, Next Digital & CommQuest Ltd
• Anton Sher, Director, Front Foot
• Benjamin Mangold, Analytics Director, Mangold Sengers
• Brian Fine: Chairman, STW Insights
• Brian Neal, Regional Sales Manager, Massive Incorporated
• Con Frantzeskos: Practice Head, Edelman Digital Australia
• Damian Byrne: Managing Director, Traction
• Danny Housseas, Community Manager, The DataPortability Organisation
• David Ketchum, Chairman, Asia Digital Marketing Association\
• David Smerdon: Head of Strategy, Vision 6
• David Whittle: Managing Director, Mark
• Des Odell: Director, Bruce Clay Inc. Australia
• Dicken Doe: Managing Director, Beyond Analysis Australia
• Dominic Elfer, Managing Director, Max Interactive
• Ed Harrison: Commercial Director – Media, Fairfax Digital
• Emily Freeman, Director, Mobilist
• Foad Fadaghi: Director of Research, Friendster
• Francisco Cordero: General Manager, Australia/NZ
• Gareth Llewellyn, Corporate Communications Manager, Oracle Australia
• Gary Hayes: Director, Laboratory for Advanced Media Production
• Geoffrey Handley, Co-Founder, The Hyperfactory
• Grace Chu: Managing Director, FirstClick Consulting
• Jackie Maxted, CEO, beautyheaven.com.au
• James Currah, General Manger of Marketing, Boost Mobile Australia
• Jason Juma-Ross, Managing Director, ANZ, Accenture Marketing Sciences
• Jeff Brookes: Regional Director - Asia Pacific, Sulake Corporation (habbo.com.au)
• Jeff Carruthers, Managing Director, Resonate Solutions
• Jennifer Reddington: Consumer Insights Manager, Yahoo!7
• Jeremy Glass: Managing Director, Permission Communications
• Jules Hall, Managing Director, The Hallway
• Julian Peterson, Marketing Director, Time Out Sydney
• Justin Baird, Senior Product Specialist, Google
• Kate Carruthers: Digital Strategist,
• Kate Tee: Communications and Capability Manager Digital, Diageo Australia
• Katie Chatfield: Strategy Director, The White Agency
• Kerry Field, Partner Innovation, Mindshare
• Kevin Tan, Senior Vice President, International, Adify
• Kylie O’Brien, Head of Product and Operations, Yahoo! Search Marketing
• Kym Niblock: Managing Director, BBC.com
• Lee Stephens: CEO, Aegis Media Pacific
• Leigh Terry: Managing Partner, OMD Australia
• Louise McCann, Chair, Research International
• Luke Hilton: Web Manager, Dick Smith Electronics
• Mandeep Grover, Marketing Manager ANZ, Johnson & Johnson Vision Care
• Mark Allison, Territory Manager, Australasia, WebTrends
• Mark Henning, Director Digital Solutions, Dynamic Logic
• Mark Ritchie, Director, Newmarket Livestock
• Matt Macfarlane, CFO, Vibe Capital
• Matt Tallentire, Marketing Manager, Pernod Ricard Australia
• Matthew Raumer: Senior Project Marketing Manager, Stockland
• Michael Hauser, eMarketing Manager, Tourism Victoria
• Michael Walmsley, General Manager - Competitive Intelligence and Search Marketing Services, Hitwise
• Mike Morrison, Managing Director, Pitch To Win
• Mike Zimmerman, LinkedIn
• Mitch Olson: Co-Founder, SmallWorlds
• Nick Brien: CEO, Mediabrands
• Nick Love: Director, MySpace.com Australia
• Nicole Still: Digital Strategy Consultant, Johnson & Johnson Pacific
• Paul Borrud: Regional Vice President of Sales, Facebook
• Pete Urmson: General Manager, Returnity
• Peter Hunter: Managing Director, iProspect
• Peter Noble, CEO, Citrus
• Peter Vogel, Senior Director of Marketing, Memolink
• Phil Duffield, Managing Director, AD2ONE
• Piers Halleen, Brand Manager, Tooheys Extra Dry
• Rashmi Sinha, CEO, SlideShare
• Robert Tomkinson: Managing Director, Shopping.com Australia
• Ryf Quail, Head of Digital, Razor Companies
• Sharyn Smith, CEO & Founder, Soup
• Silvia Pfeiffer: CEO, Vquence
• Stephan Gervois: Head of Digital, NRMA
• Stephen Green: Regional Managing Director, Asia Pacific Region
• Thomas Arthur, General Manager, Sensis Digital & Vertical Markets
• Tony Marlow, Research Director, Asia Pacific, Nielsen Online
• Vicki Miller, General Manager, First Direct Solutions, Australia Post
• Vivek Wagle, Site Editor, Lonely Planet
• Yuri Narciss: Head of Technology Markets, Google

Folks Tweeting Ad:Tech Sydney 2009:

• @katekendall (big kudos for inspiration behind this list)
• @neerav
• @eskimo_sparky
• @likeomg
• @iggypintado
• @henryshelley
• @acatinatree
• @valeriekhoo
• @stewartheys
• @kimota
• @joshstraw84
• @bethetling
• @jay_ro

Despite the rather impressive Twitter list, the majority of speakers are not on Twitter. In fact, the Tweeting speakers are outnumbered 82-37. As @benhamin mentions in the comments, it will be interesting to see how many of the non-tweeters pick up Twitter after ad:tech Sydney.

Bonus for those that like to play around with data, here’s the Google Spreadsheet of all the speakers at ad:tech Sydney.

If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter and follow me @lucasng!

Seeing this across our network (dozens of sites, millions of users), this is a more extreme example of one of our sites:

I wonder if it has anything to do with the custom crawl rate feature that Google introduced in December.