Following their early coverage of Nielsen's research on web advertising credibility last month, AdWeek have reported on another study that shows the importance of customer reviews on the web as part of the purchasing process.

The online 'Social Shopping Study by PowerReviews found that 2/3rds regular online shoppers almost always seek out customer reviews before making a purchase decision. Most of these 'social researchers' look for products online no matter where they eventually buy the product - whether a store, website, catalogue or elsewhere. Interestingly, the survey also shows that 82% of the social researchers said they found reading online reviews better than asking questions about a product to a knowledgeable sales associate in a store.

In a further move towards the use of social networking as a product and brand marketing tool, MediaWeek reports on the launch of Sprite's content page on Facebook, which possibly marks a move away from companies developing brand microsites.

Another good overview of the changing marketplace comes from CNN Money which compares the advertising models of Google (search advertising) and Facebook (social networking). It considers how these advertising channels differ and how the use of the web may change in the future to revise the core marketing models that have only just been established over the past 5 years.