Forbes recently published an article written by Ken Long, a Senior Industry Analyst at The Freedonia Group, a division of MarketResearch.com. The article highlights seven key facts you need to know before investing in drone technology.

Read the article to learn:

• Forecasts of U.S. drone sales to 2020
• Which markets are poised to explode and which will climb at moderate rates
• Where you can find possible investment opportunities

Global security products and services make up an industry worth more than $300 billion. The United States is the largest market overall, but the fastest gains will be found in less developed markets such as India, China, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, and Brazil, according to Jennifer Christ, a Research Manager at the Freedonia Group.

“Growth in the security market stems from economic development, rising urbanization, increasing personal incomes, and concerns about crime and insufficient public safety measures,” Jennifer explained in a recent webinar on the topic.

Since joining MarketResearch.com, Freedonia’s analysts have produced a huge number of blog posts to give readers an inside look at the latest market research. The Freedonia Group’s large crew of in-house analysts write about 120 Industry Studies and 600 Freedonia Focus Reports per year.

The blogs not only give us a chance to show our creative side, but also share some interesting tidbits we learned while writing our studies and reports. Read on for a list of the most-viewed blog posts by our analysts in 2016.

The US airline industry features three types of carriers in terms of operating model: traditional carriers, low-cost carriers (LCCs), and ultra-low-cost carriers (ULCCs). ULCCs – largely represented by Spirit Airlines (Spirit), Frontier Airlines, and Allegiant Travel Company (Allegiant) – experienced impressive revenue growth over the 2010-2015 period.

In concrete production, water and cement react to bind together fine aggregates (primarily sand) and coarse aggregates such as crushed stone or natural gravel. A relatively small amount of water is needed to initiate this chemical reaction (hydration) to transform the ingredients into concrete. 

However, additional water is often required to make the mix workable enough to be poured and finished, and the addition of too much extra water can decrease the strength of finished concrete. Reduced durability in concrete can lead to a premature need for repairs or replacement in the residential and nonresidential building sectors, as well as in such public projects as highways, streets, bridges, and dams.

Technological innovation is transforming all aspects of the motorcycle production process, even the product testing phase. The development of new, state-of-the-art testing technologies allows companies to design and produce cutting-edge motorcycles that offer increased safety and superior performance.

Over the past few years, trends in three key indicators have taken hold of some of the larger markets for engineering services. These are:

• dynamic changes in natural gas and crude oil prices
• a surge in spending on nonresidential building construction
• an uptick in the retirement of coal-fired power plant capacity

The direction these indicators take going forward may significantly influence demand for engineering services in their associated market segments.

Consumer spending on professional services is projected to total almost $481 billion by 2020, representing yearly growth of 3.8% from 2015 levels. Positive economic trends will drive growth as consumers gain more disposable personal income and seek professional services for their financial and personal needs.

Many innovative technologies are changing how we access professional services. If you’d like to seek legal advice, chances are you can do it on your computer or mobile device. Many online services are also cheaper than traditional ones, leading established companies to change their marketing strategies and to offer services on a variety of platforms.

In the US, the majority of trucks are powered by soybeans. Sort of. Under its Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a target of 2.0 billion gallons of biomass-based diesel in the US diesel supply for 2017 – a 16% increase over 2015 levels. Soybean-derived biodiesel represents the predominant type of this renewable fuel.

But another type of biomass-based diesel – renewable diesel – is experiencing vigorous growth in demand due to a confluence of EPA mandates, rising distillate fuel consumption, and performance advantages.

With almost everyone getting great gift deals sent to their inbox these days, it’s not surprising that the peak holiday shopping period of November and December brings in 30 percent more revenue for e-commerce retailers than non-holiday months, according to a report by RJMetrics.

This year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday, two of the biggest online shopping days of the period, saw record-breaking sales totaling $6.8 billion in 2016, a 17 percent increase over 2015.