Top 50 December Web sites Include Gambling Properties
Researchers from Jupiter MMXI recently released figures for the December 2001 Top 50 Web and digital media ratings. Thirty-four sites are newcomers to the list, and they range from spiritual sites to gambling search engines.
By attracting more than 500,000 visitors in December, Web sites qualify for inclusion on the Top Newcomer's list. GambleUp.com, a search engine for online gamblers, had 904,000 visitors in the month.
"A varied and robust list of newcomer Web sites signals continuing and growing demand for online services," said Charles Buchwalter, vice president of media research at Jupiter MMXI.
Other categories of newcomer sites included spiritual growth sites like InterviewwithGod.com as well as holiday and gift-related sites, which is reflective of the Christmas shopping season.
U.K. Internet Penetration Continues to Climb
Internet market review company Oftel released research showing a marked increase in the number of U.K. homes with Internet access.
The Oftel research revealed that 45 percent--or 11 million--U.K. households have an Internet connection, a 15 percent increase over the same time last year. Four million of those households use unmetered Internet access.
"The Internet access market shows that (U.K.) consumers have access to a wide range of services and prices for using the Internet that are among the best in the world," said Oftel Director General of Telecommunications David Edmonds.
European SMS Marketers Can Consider Themselves Warned
Forrester Research's survey of direct marketers found that an increase in SMS (Short Message Service) spending is predicted for 2001, but also warned marketers to carefully plan campaigns to keep the medium viable for long-term marketing use.
The November 2001 survey, conducted in conjunction with the Federation of European Direct Marketing, showed that of the 205 direct marketers questioned, 21 percent use SMS marketing occasionally, 12 percent have done trials with the medium and five percent plan regular use of SMS marketing in 2003. The average budget expenditure on SMS marketing was seven percent of the total marketing budget.
Forrester warns that SMS marketing could exhibit the same response rate curve as e-mail marketing, which started with high response rates, only to be degraded due to overuse and spam.
E-Commerce Confidence Increase Boosts Online Sales in US
The Internet Commerce Briefing by the Intermarket Group is indicating that almost half of all Internet users in the United States bought products or services online at least once in 2001.
Eighty-four percent of U.S. Internet users have made at least one purchase via the Internet, and 49 percent of all U.S. users purchased online in 2001--an increase from 32 percent in 1999. In the same period, total spending online has increased threefold. The report also found that 30 to 35 percent of consumers bought online in any given month of 2001.
Intermarket Group attributes the consumer e-commerce growth to a rise in Internet users and an increase in the confidence levels of a group of core customers.
Ukraine Internet Population Booms
According to a recent report from Ukrtelecom, data transfer service revenue--which includes revenue from Internet use--increased significantly from 2000 to 2001 in Ukraine.
Between one-half million and two million Ukrainians are Internet users. Communication companies' revenues increased 22 percent during 2000.
The Ukraine has almost 400 ISPs in service, with the largest of these companies being Ukrtelecom, IP-Telecom, LuckyNet, Golden Telecom and Infocom. LuckyNet has 10,000 clients and reported that its 2001 annual revenue increased almost 24 percent during 2000.
South African Women Lose Ground Online
Even though roughly the same number of women and men have Internet access in South Africa, new research from Webcheck shows a decline in the women's time spent online.
Forty-nine percent of South African Internet users are women, which is down from 51 percent a year ago. The biggest gender differences online, though, are in usage, where men generally go online more often, spend more time online per session and are more likely to purchase products or services via the Internet.
The research also shows that women have spent half as much money online as men and that women are also more likely to indicate they would never bank online.