Hong Kong Ranks First For Internet Site Visits

By AMY L. WEBB

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 25, 2001

Hong Kong was No. 1 in Internet site visits among the countries surveyed in Nielsen//NetRating's Global Internet Index. Belgium came in second overall.

Usage in Hong Kong has increased 27% since September, according to the quarterly survey. Peter Steyn, director of ACNielsen eRatings.com, the independent Internet audience measurement service that conducted the survey, said increased accessibility caused the surge in usage. In January 1999, when the survey was first conducted, Hong Kong ranked third with an average of 23 sites visited behind South Korea with 27 and Germany with 24; then, the global average of sites visited was 14.

The current survey, conducted in May, measured the average number of site visits and the categories of sites hit. Respondents were also asked how much time they spent at each site. The survey ranked countries according to the average number of site hits rather than time spent at each site. The number of categories varied by country and included such groups as adult entertainment, finance, news and search engines.

Surfers in Hong Kong and Belgium visited an average of 28 sites per online session, surpassing the global average of 15. Users in Hong Kong spent about 12 hours online while those in Belgium spent seven hours online in May.

This is the first time ACNielsen has included Belgium in the survey, which has been conducted since January 1999.

Web surfers in both Hong Kong and Belgium spent most of their time at sites related to telecommunications and personal electronics. Microsoft.com (www.microsoft.com) and ICQ.com (www.icq.com) -- sites that offer software downloads and e-mail programs -- ranked highest among the ones visited.

In Hong Kong, finance sites ranked 10th and users spent an average of 34 minutes per hit, followed by 11th-ranked adult entertainment with an average of five minutes and 12th-ranked shopping sites, which averaged 15 minutes per hit.

Users in Belgium visited shopping sites more -- the category ranked sixth out of 16 -- and lingered an average of 18 minutes per hit. Adult entertainment sites ranked ninth with an average of three minutes per visit, and finance ranked 13th with an average of 24 minutes.