Yesterday, Nielsen Online released its September 2008 data for the Top US Search Providers.

Google came out on top with 59.7% and Yahoo came in with 18.1%. MSN garnered 11.8%.

This normally wouldn’t have come as a surprise except for the fact that I recently learned that ComScore’s September results differed as much as 3 percentage points. In its results, Google had 62.9% of the market share, Yahoo had 20.2% and MSN had only 8.5%.

I’m currently looking into the differences between Nielsen’s and ComScore’s methodology. More to come…

LinkedIn has launched LinkedIn Surveys, which enables market researchers and investors to solicit market intelligence from LinkedIn’s network of over 30 million professionals worldwide.

LinkedIn will take no part in designing research programs or analyzing the results. What it does offer, however, is deep profile information about its audience that enables it to accurately target online surveys to the right audience.

“Because people sign up for LinkedIn to engage with other professionals, we believe our information is more accurate than elsewhere,” said Dan Shapero, director of business services at LinkedIn. The company estimates that the size of the market for online surveys is $900 million.

In a six month pilot test of the program involving six firms, response rates to surveys averaged between 15% and 20%. LinkedIn members who participate in a survey can choose from a variety of rewards including gift cards from Amazon, Starbucks, Best Buy, or make a donation to charities.

Approximately half of LinkedIn’s members come from outside the US, and approximately 4 million are VPs and c-level executives.

 This is LinkedIn’s fifth line of business. The other four are advertising, job listings, subscriptions and enterprise solutions.

When I was younger, the end of August signified back-to-school shopping. I got my kicks buying school supplies. I loved it. I’d go to the store with my parents, list-in-hand, and excitedly rush around putting sparkly notebooks and colored pencils into the cart.

However, with the slumping economy, kids and parents may feel a pinch come the first day of school. I recently read this article on MediaPost, noting that a study from the NPD Group found that consumers say they’re planning on spending less during back-to-school shopping. The stores being affected most are clothing and shoe stores.

The percentage of people shopping at discount stores dropped from 84% to 81% and those going to apparel store dropped from 20% to 16%. Additionally, only 22% will visit shoe stores, going down from 27% last year. In total, 35% of those surveyed said they would spend less this year than last. Only 25% made the same statement a year ago.

All that being said, some retailers, like Kohl’s, are finding new ways to reach teens and tweens. The company launched a campaign this month using Stardolls.com. The site allows kids to create their own avatars and dress them in virtual Kohl’s clothing. They can buy the clothing using Stardollars, which they acquire by signing up for a monthly membership (around $5-$6). According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, Kohl’s hopes online interaction will lead to in-store sales. The avatar trend has also been utilized by K-Swiss, Eberjey and Sears.

As a quasi-hip and slightly tech-savvy Gen-Y-er, truthfully, while writing this post I said to myself, “What is with kids today spending real money on a virtual pair of shoes?” But then again, I’m sure my mother questioned my reasoning for wanting a pair of L.A. Gear sneakers that lit up with each step.

Research company ComScore recently launched an initiative to encourage panelists to join and stay active in its research that caught my attention. It partnered with Trees for the Future and donated enough money to plant 1 million trees in developing communities worldwide. ComScore has also pledged to continue to make donations when new panel members join and remain active in the panel.

DMNews recently looked at the difficulty in providing incentives to participate in market and demographic research. It will be interesting to see how the market researcher’s green efforts work toward this goal. Is your company considering an environmentally friendly way to get attention or response? Tell us about it!