Billions of people around the world find themselves constantly connected to the web.  Internet speed and capabilities are growing so quickly that in quarter four 2012, viewers watched live video 18 times longer on desktops, five times longer on tablets and four times longer on smartphones than via video on-demand.

As the past couple presidential elections have demonstrated, candidates running for political office cannot afford to ignore the importance of having an internet presence if they’re serious about winning.

As more affordable, dynamic and diverse tablets and smartphone hit the markets, the number of U.S. consumers who interact with one or more of these devices while watching television or using a computer is booming.

While 2013 may be well underway, many companies are still learning from last year’s accomplishment in the digital sphere and are looking for future marketing investment guidelines. In the 2013 U.S. Digital Future in Focus report, comScore examines several benchmark tech trends and events in 2012 that changed the future of consumer behavior online forever.

Over the last 12 months, internet video advertising reached more Americans that at any point in the past.

Pharmaceutical companies will be increasingly teaming up with video advertisers and other online marketing experts to better leverage their digital channels in 2013.

The past 12 months have seen video advertising online become a more popular way to reach consumers, and internet video advertising is likely to become even more effective in 2013.

Brands hoping to have the widest reach for their online video ads may want to pair them with spots appearing on multiple formats, as viewers are more likely to notice and remember a campaign if it appears on more than one screen.

The amount of money companies spend on advertising is expected to dramatically increase over the next five years in large part because of social media-based campaigns and internet video advertising, according to a newly released report from marketing consultants ZenithOptimedia. The growth in internet ad spending will come primarily at the expense of print-based campaigns. The report predicted that the amount spent on online campaigns will rise more than 14 percent during 2013, while spending on ads appearing in traditional media format like newspapers and magazines will increase by less than 2 percent next year. Over the past 15 years, internet advertising has become one of the best ways to reach an audience, as the report showed that from 2002 to this year, the amount of global ad dollars going toward the web rose 15 percent, while the percentage of spending on newspapers declined 12 percent. This discrepancy between print and the web is likely to grow wider, the report predicted. Newspaper and magazine ad spending should decline by about 1 percent year-over-year. In contrast, internet advertising will have comprised about 18 percent of the global ad market by end of this year, and should account for more than 23 percent of the marketplace worldwide by 2015. Online advertising will outnumber newspaper ads next year, and it is expected that there will be more web-based spots than all print ads combined three years from now. "Advertisers are willing to increase their budgets wherever they can achieve a strong return on investment," said Steve King, global chief executive officer for ZenithOptimedia Group, according to MarketingProfs. "This means that developing markets, social media, and online video are all growing rapidly, supporting continued expansion in global ad expenditure despite stagnation in the Eurozone." The growth of social media and internet video advertising From …

Even though more Americans are turning to internet-enabled devices to view content, the price brands pay to reach potential customers online is still far lower than for spots appearing in other formats.