The IGN Data Hub - Jan 19, 2000

Who's Spending Time Where on the Web?

Media Metrix and MMXI Europe have listed the top online sites visited by Web surfers around the world. Many Web users frequented foreign sites, research indicated, showing that the Internet has become a source of international connection. Lasseters Online was one of the top Australian sites visited by Americans, who also visited a number of portals from other countries. Computer products attracted American surfers to two popular Taiwanese sites. Canon's (the office equipment giant) site was a popular draw for American surfers hitting Japanese sites.
www.mediametrix.com

What Shopping Problems?

Even though consumers faced several problems (long waits, site crashes, undelivered purchases and more) doing their holiday shopping online, most shoppers were happy with their experience, according to a new report by Jupiter Communications. The report shows consumer satisfaction levels rose from 74 percent during the 1998 holiday shopping blitz in 1998 to 90 percent in 1999. Additionally, Jupiter estimated total online shopping totals to be about $7 billion, compared to other reports ranging from $5 to $13 billion. Variations in research techniques and determining what constitutes holiday sales are probably why the total sales level differs with each source.
www.JupiterResearch.com

B2B E-Commerce Big in Asia

Asian business-to-business commerce will reach new heights, according to GartnerGroup, maybe even topping $272 billion by 2003. The research firm says total online sales will probably hit $340 million.

"There's a big myth that Asia is light years behind the U.S., but I don't think we're behind at all," said GarnerGroup's Hong Kong-based research director Joseph Sweeney in an E-Commerce article. "We're moving in different directions in Asia and it's B2B that has the most potential," he added.
www.GartnerGroup.com

Too Much Web Surfing, Not Enough Work Getting Done!

"Websense Survey on Internet Misuse in the Workplace", a new study by Saratoga Institute and co-authored by Sr. David Greenfield of the Center for Internet Studies, follows recent large scale terminations at several American corporations for Internet misuse or abuse. Among their findings: Nearly 60 percent of those companies surveyed have disciplined employees for Internet usage problems, while another 30 percent of the companies have actually terminated employees for the same reason. Meanwhile, half of the human resource professionals interviewed for the survey indicated "little or no concern" about Internet abuses, even though evidence indicates that employees who spend too much time on the Web can result in productivity losses, bandwidth drains and an overall increase in company costs.
www.websense.com

Research Pays Off

Using the Internet as a research tool has led about 10.3 million Americans to change financial service brands. In fact, according to information from Cyber Dialogue, the impact of online branding is also creating an effect when Internet users research insurance companies, investment firms, banks and other financial services. Companies advertising on the Internet have been able to target once under-served markets and establish new loyalties among women, young professionals, affluent minorities and blue collar workers, according to Cyber Dialogue.
www.CyberDialogue.com

E-Mail Keeps People in Touch

AmericanGreetings.com found that three-quarters of Americans prefer e-mail to snail mail, with nearly as many using their work e-mail for keeping in touch with friends and family. "The really key thing here is the degree to which the survey found a high degree of social activity online," said Steve Jones in a Newsbytes article. Jones, who is the director of the communications department at the University of Illinois-Chicago, helped analyze the survey's findings. "It's really kind of a good news thing about the Internet."

Jones told Newsbytes that he's frequently asked about the 'Net's sinister aspects. "I get asked so often by reporters about all the negative stuff. 'Did so-and-so murder his high school classmates because of the Internet?' Well, I don't know. But I can tell you this-that some people are finding success keeping in touch with family and friends using e-mail, which I think is great."
www.AmericanGreetings.com

Now, Where Did All My Advertising Dollars Go?

Quarterly Web advertising revenues have surpassed $1 billion for the first time ever, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau. The report, Internet Ad Revenue Report, is conducted independently by Pricewaterhouse Cooper's New Media Group. The report shows an increase in each quarter of 1999, with a 148 percent increase over third quarter 1998's ad revenue.

Banner advertising accounts for 55 percent of online advertising. Other forms include sponsorships (27 percent), interstitials (4 percent), email (2 percent) and other types of advertising combining for a total of 12 percent. During the same period, hybrid pricing account for 55 percent of pricing models, while impression-based accounted for 37 percent and performance-based deals trailed at 8 percent of revenues.
www.pwcglobal.com

Calling All Women Online

Advertisers are reaching out to more women online. "The fun and convenience of going online is becoming increasingly important to a wide range of American women, from stay-at-home moms and career women to teens and students, " said Charles Buchwalter, vice president of media research for AdRelevance, in an article for Newsbytes. AdRelevance is a subsidiary of Media Metrix, which recently released a study that showed women are using the web (about 48 percent) nearly as much as men. As a result, a wide of variety of advertisers are targeting sites that are used predominantly by women.
www.adrelevance.com

Data Traffic Is Passing Up Voice Traffic

Internet usage is increasing dramatically, reaching 350,000 terabytes a month in North America, according to RHK, a telecom market research firm. Among their findings: streaming media accounts for ten percent of all Internet traffic while newer voice and fax traffic over IP is at two to three percent. The RHK report found that the Internet traffic volume reflects the increasing use of the Internet and shows it's now surpassing the amount of voice traffic carried on the incumbent voice network infrastructure.
www.rhk.com