When people talked about their favorite TV shows online, Jason Lee’s sitcom rated first in Nielsen’s top ten list.

A car commercial might last 30 or 45 seconds, and in most cases, only a tiny portion of it will discuss pricing.  I’m not complaining – high-def laps are more interesting than transferable leases – but this is all the more reason to turn to blogs, social networks, and other online resources for financial information.

The Nielsen Company has found that high blog interest, or buzz around new product launches is closely related to paid media spending.

 The anticipated launch of the iPhone has received more buzz than any other product announcement this year according to Nielsen BuzzMetrics.

Nielsen will go ahead and complete the acquisition of blog and word-of-mouth measurement firm BuzzMetrics, of which Nielsen already owned 58 percent, and blend it with NetRatings to make a new firm.

The most popular blog post of 2006 landed on a LiveJournal blog, while missives from Michelle Malkin, Dave Sifry, and CrooksAndLiars.com ranked among the most linked 100 posts for the past year.

The top blogs in 2006 mainly focused on politics and satire according to a report from Nielsen BuzzMetrics. The top blog, based on the number of inbound links from other blogs between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, 2006, was mother.livejournal.com’s petition against changes in the livejournal interface. The single post was linked to in 801 posts by 786 other blogs.

If there was ever a research report I’d like to get my hands on, it’s this one from Forrester.

In traditional media an entire industry rose out of advertisers’ need to audit emerging formats.

Google. The effusive praise this deceptively low-key search engine elicits is maddening. I used to mock Google. Now I seemingly won’t go to the john without it.

New data from Gallup notes that one in five Americans say they consult blogs “frequently” or at least “occasionally.”

Buzzmetrics today announced they have purchased Intelliseek and sold a majority stake in the new company to Nielsen, which is owned by VNU.

VNU sees the value of measuring consumer-generated media in this big move.

Well, today is a busy one in both PR and PR measurement.

Buzzmetrics has announced the acquisition of Intelliseek – both companies offer solutions for tracking consumer-generated media.