Sites Rankings Listed
Media Metrix has published a list that ranks for December 2000 the Web's top 50 digital media/Web properties at home and at work combined in the U.S., based upon unique visitors. The significant presence of play-for-fun games sites like Uproar and Iwon should come as no surprise. The list is as follows:
- AOL Network - Proprietary & WWW
- Yahoo!
- Microsoft Sites
- Excite Network
- Lycos
- About The Human Internet
- Amazon
- Walt Disney Internet Group
- CNET Networks Digital
- eBay
- AltaVista Network
- Infospace Impressions
- Time Warner Online
- NBC Internet Sites
- eUniverse Network
- LookSmart
- GRAB.COM
- Real.com Network
- Weather Channel, The
- Uproar Network, The
- Ask Jeeves
- Viacom Online
- American Greetings
- Network Commerce Inc.
- AT&T Web Sites
- IWON.COM
- BIZRATE.COM
- COLONIZE.COM
- Women.com Networks, The
- MyPoints Sites
- JUNO Online Services
- Gator Network
- GoTo
- Snowball
- EarthLink
- FortuneCity Network
- News Corp. Online
- GOOGLE.COM
- Barnes & Noble
- CitySearch-Ticketmaster Online
- WALMART.COM
- COOLSAVINGS.COM
- iVillage.com:The Womens Network
- FOCALEX.COM
- JOBSONLINE.COM
- HOMESTEAD.COM
- eToys Sites
- TOYSRUS
- NetZero Sites
- E-greetings Network
And the Top Gambling Sites Are. . .
The most recent listing of the top nine online gambling sites, as shown by Top9.com, include:
- kingsolomons.com
- entercasino4.com
- goldenpalace.com
- gamingclub.com
- lasseters.com.au
- casino-trade.com
- entercasino.com
- riverbelle.com
- luckynugget.com
Top9 also lists the nine most popular online sweepstakes/lottery sites in January:
- grab.com
- iwin.com
- freelotto.com
- luckysurf.com
- webstakes.com
- jackpot.com
- pogo.com
- pch.com
- contestjunction.com
ASPs Getting Adopted?
As ASPs (application service providers) garner more and more attention in the media, one is left wondering how much of the buzz is just hype. Zona Research pursued the topic and released its findings in its Zona Enterprise Usage Study (ZEUS) Application Service Provider Report. The report contains primary research gleaned from an in-depth survey of 137 enterprise decision makers who are currently using ASPs or plan to do so within the next 12 months, as well as from an additional group of 401 organizations that do not intend to use ASPs. The report explores the state of the ASP marketplace from the users' perspective. Themes explored include:
- initial and future use of ASP services within the organization;
- the number of applications purchased as a service;
- service level agreement requirements and characteristics;
- ASP responsiveness;
- key ASP service purchase factors;
- ASP purchase decision makers;
- the type of applications accessed from an ASP currently and in the future;
- ASP service payment methods and preferences;
- use of an ASP business model for applications provided within the organization;
- importance of general ASP issues and concerns;
- industry-specific applications;
- reasons for not using an ASP
"The ASP industry is beginning to move beyond its formative stages. While industry capabilities and customer adoption rates appear to be increasing, key customer issues and concerns remain," a company spokesperson said. "The non-users, as shown by this survey, have some deep-rooted concerns or simply believe they can handle their own application needs. For ASP services to become attractive to a larger group of customers, and for the ASP model to become the true one-to-many model that may be crucial to
its success, we believe ASPs must focus on converting this group by being true partners with their customers and by removing all issues of risk from the table." The Zona ASP report can be ordered online at http://zonaresearch.com.
Broadband Access Likely to Double
Broadband has become one of the most popular new ways to connect to the Internet. According to new research by analysts with Jupiter Research, that popularity is destined to increase. Their research shows that the number of people with access to broadband connectivity at work will more than double from 24 million in 2000 to 55 million by 2005. They warn, however, that companies offering broadband applications to the at-work audience will continue to face constraints even as overall corporate broadband penetration rates increase. "Although the projected increase in at-work broadband access means a much larger audience and greater appeal to advertisers, employees with access to broadband are not a panacea. Jupiter foresees some enduring technology-related constraints because the average connectivity speed of individual users on shared networks will remain roughly equivalent to today," a senior analyst said. "Companies deploying broadband content and applications must tailor their offerings to fit the time of day and usage constraints that affect at-work audience behavior patterns. This means short-form content, unobtrusive applications and programs that will appeal to the at-work multi-tasker."