Internet Use in Philippines Driven by Pre-Paid Cards
The vast majority of Internet use in the Philippines is accomplished via pre-paid Internet usage cards as reported by The Philippine Star.
The report found that 70 percent of the 4.5 million Internet users in the Philippines utilize pre-paid cards that enable users to go online at school, home and at Internet kiosks. Since the cards were introduced, Internet subscribers there have increased dramatically, even though Internet access has been available since the mid 1990s. High connection costs and monthly fees hindered early uptake.
The report also indicated that 40 percent of Filipinos going online do so from the country's capital, Manila, and that 40 percent of online Filipinos are between 20 and 29 years of age.
Korea's Mobile Market Most Advanced
A new report from Strand Consult lists Korea as the most advanced mobile market, far outpacing the rest of the world in adoption of 2.5G technology and usage of ancillary mobile services.
In the last few years, mobile operators in Korea have been focusing on revenue-sharing models and developing new mobile opportunities, and it has paid off. According to Strand Consult's figures, Korea's mobile market is three to five years ahead of the rest of the world. Nine million 2.5G mobile subscribers, or 25 percent of the mobile population, is a testimony to the success of Korea's mobile phone market. Additionally, 5 million of those subscribers have purchased the more expensive color-screen mobiles, a rare feat especially considering that mobile operators cannot subsidize the cost of the phones and all of these phones were purchased at full price.
Other findings include evidence that the average spend on monthly non-voice mobile charges increases proportionally with the more advanced mobile offerings. For instance, Strand found that a 2G customer spends EU1.9 per month, a 2.5G customer spends EU4.6 and a 2.5G customer with the color screen spends EU7.6 per month.
Prevalence of Pop-Up Advertising Wanes
New findings from Nielsen//NetRatings show that while pop-ups may be the most hated form of Internet advertising, they are by no means the most prevalent.
The Internet research firm found that from January to July of 2002, pop-up ads represented only 2 percent of all ads served during that time. Only 9.2 percent of online advertisers use pop-up ads, and of those, a mere 63 companies account for 80 percent of the total pop-up ads presented during that time.
Most mass-market Web sites use the format sparingly, if at all, so pop-ups account for only a small fraction of their total inventory. Conversely, narrow-interest sites like gaming, yellow pages and community sites are more likely to have pop-ups account for more than 2 percent of their inventory.
High Volume of Ads Turns US Surfers Off
A recent report by eMarketer on a study conducted by Burst Media demonstrates the reluctance of many Americans to visit Web sites that are cluttered with advertisements.
The Burst Media study found that 36 percent of American Web surfers will abandon a Web site muddled with advertisements. A majority, 68 percent, of users had a low tolerance for sites with more than two ads and another 30 percent would only tolerate one ad per page of a Web site.
The study also discovered that the perception of Web sites and the products associated with those sites was diminished significantly by the intrusion of too many advertisements. Nearly 60 percent of the respondents had a less-than-favorable opinion about the products and services sold on a site with too many ads.