It cannot be denied that the Internet has proven its usefulness whether it be in one's personal life or in one's profession or business. The information superhighway is indeed in our midst and the best we can do is take advantage of its positive benefits. Through the years, the Internet has advanced in numerous ways. Before, we only get to read the information we need. But look at the latest trend now ? it's multimedia over the Internet where you can get both audio and video in just several clicks of your mouse.



Audio blogs are so much in fashion these days. They are great sources of your favorite music in the MP3 format as well as your podcasts. In search of your favorites songs but could not find a compilation in just one CD? Try surfing the Internet, download the MP3 versions of the songs you like most from the music or MP3 blogs, save them on your computer and copy them on a CD. It's really that easy. From there, you can already make files of the different kinds of music you like to listen to. Among the audio blogs available on the Net, the MP3 blog is among the most well-known and most patronized. The blog usually features music files in the MP3 format that can be downloaded by anybody wishing to get a file of his favorite song.

The popularity of MP3 blogs began in 2003 with Stereogum and Fluxblog as the first widely known. Originally titled LiveJournal in 2002, the Stereogum blog features indie rock bands and pop star gossip. Fluxblog, meanwhile, also began in 2002 and focuses more on new rock and pop with commentaries on the songs, artists and the music industry. These MP3 blogs have likewise been taken advantage by independent music companies, promotional agencies and artists who send promo CDs for free publicity.

Podcasts are also becoming widespread nowadays. Podcasts are audio content that can be downloaded automatically to a computer or iPod. They currently include broadcasts of radio programs and lectures that cover a wide range of topics very useful in every day life. What's great about this is it's free and easy to do. Although downloading podcasts is not yet that popular, an analyst of the Nielsen/Netratings said this is seen to go up with the proliferation of portable content media players. The younger group of Internet users aged 18 to 24 are also expected to download more audio podcasts compared to the average online adult. The same Nielsen/Netratings survey revealed a surprising result concerning audio downloaders. The report said Macworld is the content site most visited by users who download audio podcasts while Niketown.com is the top e-commerce site contrary to expectations that a music-downloading site would be more popular.

Meanwhile, advertisers on the Internet are now eyeing to get a share of the multibillion-dollar online advertising market for podcasts. eMarketer, a research firm, foresees $400 million in advertising expenses on podcasting by year 2011. Mountain View is expected to come up with a technology that will insert audio ads into audio podcasts based only on keywords within five years. Google is also seen to join the podcasting sector by developing an Adsense version for the audio podcasts. What enticed advertisers to consider the online audio media is the entry of major media firms into podcasting, according to an officer of an audio- and video-search engine PodZinger. The specific audience of many podcasts are also a major factor because let's face it, advertisers can truly reach their target consumers through them.