A troubled 2009 has seen cutbacks and ad budget freezes across all industries. Both consumers and executives have dithered in purchase decisions, absorbing information, coupons, custom content, product reviews, free trials and freebies before signing the check or invoice.

The University of Missouri just released an interesting study about the emotional impact of search content versus Web site content when surfing the Web. According to the findings, users retain the emotional content of an item far better when they've searched for it rather than clicked on it through other content searching.

US online retail spending totaled $29.6 billion in Q3 2009, according to a e-commerce sales estimate released on November 5 by ComScore. The period, down 2% versus a year ago, was the second in online shopping history in which sales figures had a downward trend in consecutive quarters. However, the projections for the holiday season are healthier.

Mobile commerce provider Digby announced the acquisition of mobile software company Movaya Wireless on November 4. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Stanley Wang, Movaya co-founder and CTO, has joined Digby as VP of engineering.

Online holiday sales will increase this year, but marketers will have to work harder for each buyer than last year, according to the 2009 US Online Holiday Retail Forecast, released by Forrester Research on November 2. The research company's report, based on an online survey fielded in August of 4,723 US adults, projects an 8% growth rate for November and December US online retail sales.

The American Heart Association next week will launch a viral video called "Hand-walker," which follows a man walking through a New York neighborhood on his hands. The video is part of an ongoing effort by the nonprofit to build awareness for the hands-only CPR technique, a two-step process that does not include mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Hospitality franchiser Choice Hotels has tasked text analytics software provider Clarabridge with collecting and processing nearly 1 million customer comments in order to improve service and customer lifetime value. The hotel chain, which includes brands such as Comfort Inn, MainStay Suites and Econo Lodge, has renewed its emphasis on the quality of rooms across brands.

Extrovertic and Virilion announced a joint venture on October 28, called EV Healthcare, to help healthcare companies implement digital and social media marketing campaigns. The service, based in New York, has just begun marketing to prospective clients, said Pfizer veteran Dorothy Wetzel, co-founder and executive marketer at Extrovertic.

The 2009 DMNews Essential Guide to E-mail Marketing is now available in a digital edition.

With tighter budgets and a dizzying array of places to spend it, marketers are widening their responsibilities - but the real theme is how to integrated it all into a actionable strategy.