In its ninth year, Nielsen Consumer Confidence research continues to measure major concerns and spending/saving intentions of nearly 30,000 online respondents across 60 countries. Points above 100 on an imaginary baseline indicate degree of optimism, and points below 100 — on the contrary, negativism and lack of consumer confidence. 

Latest report called «This Year, Next Year» by WPP-owned media management from GroupM, forecasts that global media spend in 2014 will reach $534 billion, a 4.5% increase over 2013. The ad spending will increase 5% to $560 billion in 2015, GroupM predicts. Both figures are very close but slightly fewer than the calculations earlier revealed in July by eMarketer.com.

The independent regulator for the UK communications industry, Ofcom, has conducted a survey on the knowledge and confidence of digital communication technologies among nearly 2,000 UK adults. In general, teens of 12-15 years old are the most tech-savvy respondents, while people aged 55 years old and over are losing their confidence in mastering new digital tools and devices.