Job site user numbers soar

ANH-THU PHAN

Nearly half a million Internet users in Hong Kong visited an online job site from their computers at home last month, a 40 per cent increase from the same time last year.

Peter Steyn of Nielsen//NetRatings said the increase outpaced the 20 per cent growth in Internet use that Hong Kong saw that month.

Nielsen's findings were based on tracking home access habits of a panel of 3,000 Web users. Because the survey is limited to home users, it does not include sites that people access from the office during working hours.

Monster.com.hk topped the list of sites, attracting 183,020 unique users last month.

Part-time.com, which ranked No 1 last year, had fallen to No 5, with 77,154 unique users.

Mr Steyn attributed the change to Monster.com's recent heavy spending on Internet banner advertisements, especially at Microsoft's MSN portal.

"It really shows how well online promotions are working," he said.

Even if users did not click through, they often remembered names and went back later to advertised sites, he added.

The Government's job site jobs.gov.hk came in at No 3 with 99,262 users, although visitors to the site spent far more time and viewed more pages than they did at any other site.

Although Hong Kong's Internet users were becoming more comfortable with looking for jobs online, the rise was "probably reflective of the economy", Mr Steyn said.

The unemployment rate has recently hit 7.1 per cent, with nearly 250,000 people out of work, according to government statistics.

The online job-seekers were more likely to be female.

While women make up only 44 per cent of the general Web audience in Hong Kong, they make up 51 per cent of the online job-seeking audience, according to Nielsen.

Mr Steyn said this was reflected elsewhere on the Web, as women tended to go online to have access to more practical information, seeking out sites about education and career.

"They're doing a bit more constructive things online," Mr Steyn said.

email remains the most popular application

More than 500 million people in the world have Internet access. And email remains the most popular application, says Nielsen/NetRatings.

"Of all the popular Internet applications, email is the global activity of choice," said Peter Steyn, director of the Nielsen research firm. (ASP.com News May 13, 2002).

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Fast connection helps boost online radio usage in HK

Hong Kong ranks among the world's highest audiences for Internet radio, according to a recent survey.

The study by Internet audience measurement firm Nielsen//NetRatings found about 38 per cent of Hong Kong adults said they listened to online radio programmes.

Hong Kong ranked second - following Brazil at 40 per cent - among the 12 countries surveyed, which included Australia, Brazil and nine European countries.

Peter Steyn, Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong's director, said more than 70 per cent of local households were connected to the Internet, so there was little surprise Hong Kong's Internet radio usage should be high.

"As many Hong Kong people are interested in life beyond the boundaries of Hong Kong, or have lived away from Hong Kong in places such as Australia, Canada, Britain and the US, Internet radio allows them to continue the enjoyment of local radio stations in these countries," he said

Mr Steyn said it was also due to the high Internet connection speed within the SAR.

"In Hong Kong, an astonishing 58 per cent of those who responded and have Internet access use either a cable modem or high-speed telephone connection to access the Internet. Not surprisingly, their rates for using Internet radio and looking at audio-visual content were among the highest worldwide," he said.

A total of 34 per cent said they had viewed multimedia content, following Britain at 41 per cent, Australia at 40 per cent and Brazil's 35 per cent.

About 84 per cent of local interviewees said they used e-mail. That was comparatively low and ranked seventh in the 12 places. A mere 26 per cent said they had used instant messaging.

"As all local telephone calls in Hong Kong are free, people are more likely to make a telephone call than to do instant messaging," Mr Steyn said.

"In large countries such as the US, Britain, Brazil and Australia, instant messaging provides a cheap option to have one-on-one communication with family and friends from across their country, which thus avoids long-distance calls."

According to International Data Corp (IDC), Hong Kong had an Internet penetration of 38 per cent this year. About 24 per cent of households had broadband Internet access.

About 93 per cent of local Internet users accessed the Internet for e-mail and 71 per cent accessed the Net to download and/or listen to music.

"Hong Kong users have demonstrated a high demand for online gaming, and surfing the Internet for recreation, travel, information about news and current affairs, sport, hobbies and music," IDC's market analyst Renee Gamble said.

"The strong take-up of broadband services demonstrates that Hong Kong users are willing to pay a bit more for better quality high-speed Internet access in order to make their online experience more fulfilling. They want always-on connectivity and unlimited access. And they are demanding higher speed bandwidth."

Mr Steyn added: "As more and more Hong Kong Internet users get access to broadband, and content providers take advantage of this increased bandwidth, streaming media applications will continue to shape our online experiences. These include TV or video or music-on-demand, live webcasts, Internet phones, and Internet radios."

Email Still the Killer App For Internet Users

Sending and receiving e-mail was the dominant online activity in 12 countries over the past six months, said the Nielsen//NetRatings First Quarter 2002 Global Internet Trends report. The report also found that at least 75 percent of households with Internet access participated in email.

"Of all the popular Internet applications, email is the global activity of choice," said Peter Steyn, director of the research firm. "We found that an impressive 90 percent of the adults in three major markets - Australia, the UK and the Netherlands - used email over the past six months, though the percentages were high for all 12 countries. In Hong Kong, 84 percent of those aged 16 and above have used e-mail".

"However, involvement in chat rooms was lower than 30 percent in all countries except Brazil, where 41 percent of adult Internet users used chat rooms, and in Spain where 38 percent used chat rooms. In Hong Kong, 28 percent of adults have participated in chat rooms.

Additionally, looking at audio-visual content and using Internet radio were well below 50 percent in all countries, and instant messaging has less than 30 percent penetration in several countries, including Hong Kong, France, Germany and Italy", said Steyn.

"The key to email's popularity is two-fold: it is a cost-effective way to communicate across great distances, and it does not require the same high connection speeds as some of the other applications.

In most countries, a 56k modem or slower modem is the most popular tool to access the Internet. However, in Hong Kong, an astonishing 58 percent of those who responded and have Internet access use either a cable modem or high-speed telephone connection to access the Internet. Not surprisingly, their rates for using Internet radio and looking at audio-visual content were among the highest worldwide" Steyn added

Handspring Releases Treo Mail

May 13, 2002

By Gretchen Hyman

Handspring went to market this week with its first commercially available wireless email service for its line of Treo communicators. The release of Treo Mail will give users more reasons to sing about a handheld device that allows them to combine the functions of a cell phone, personal organizer, and wireless email in one lightweight gadget.

Treo Mail's primary attraction is that it offers customizable delivery options for users to control when and how they send and receive email when away from their home or corporate desktop computer. Email can be received manually or it can be automatically delivered at scheduled time intervals. Filters can be set in place to blot out spam or unwanted email, and the service provides 128-bit SSL encryption for the secure exchange of email without a VPN or direct dial into a corporate local-area network.

Treo Mail will be offered in two different Visto-powered software packages that operate on worldwide GSM networks as well as GPRS and CDMA networks. GSM is a 2G network currently used by 80 percent of the global wireless market.

For enterprise workers on the move, the Treo Mail Corporate Desktop Edition gives users access to Microsoft Outlook/Exchange and POP3 email accounts behind the corporate firewall. Microsoft Outlook/Exchange users can also make use of 'wireless inbox synchronization,' so that messages that are read, deleted, or sent using a Treo device will appear as such on the desktop.

For individual use, the Treo Mail Internet Edition is for users who rely entirely on a personal POP3 email account from Internet Service Providers such as Earthlink, PacBell, or MSN. Treo Mail promises faster downloads and shorter connection times when receiving mail and can be delivered automatically at specified time intervals.

Mountain View, Calif.-based Handspring is stepping up to the plate at a time when email popularity is at an all-time high.

According to a Global Internet Trends report published by Nielsen/NetRatings, email is still the primary reason people use the Internet. The report states that 75 percent of households worldwide access email via the Internet.

"The key to email's popularity is two-fold: it is a cost-effective way to communicate across great distances and it does not require the same high connection speeds as some of the other applications," said Peter Steyn, director of the research firm.

However, in most cases the Treo's new email service will not liberate users from using a separate Internet Service Provider (ISP). Only a limited number of carriers currently provide Internet access as part of their mobile wireless service, which in some cases could mean that users could be sacked with three monthly fees to maintain the multi functions of the Treo: one to an ISP, one to a wireless carrier, and the yearly Treo Mail fee which varies from $49.99 to $99.99.

According to Paul Cousineau, product manager for Treo Mail, Treo and many other wireless device manufacturers are currently in limbo as network carriers make the leap to 2.5G and 3G networks that can support voice and data in all areas of the country.

"It's really a mixed bag depending on how the networks are set up," said Cousineau. "Some carriers have already included Internet access for users, but in general ISP-level service is still limited among carriers. By the end of this year, there should hopefully be more options for Treo customers. The one thing we're finding out is that there is a high level of people who already have an ISP account for their PCs and we're not finding that customers are upset by the added payments."

Both Treo email options are available for a 30-day free trial.

Earlier this month, Handspring's Treo 180 received high ratings from PC Magazine for being one of the top smart phones of choice in an industry-wide analysis of wireless devices.

Handspring is also offering a rebate on its Treo 180 communicators for consumers wanting to upgrade to a single wireless handheld device.

The offer extends through June 2, 2002.

Internet radio proves a big turn on

Hong Kong iMail

by By Sherman Chau
HONG Kong people are among the highest users of Internet radio and audio-visual content, thanks to a high penetration of broadband access.

In the latest ratings by ACNielsen and NetRatings, the SAR was second only to Brazil in Internet radio usage of 12 countries studied, and fourth highest in viewing audio-visual content.

``In most countries in this report, a 56K modem is the most popular tool to access the Internet. However, in Hong Kong, an astonishing 58 per cent of those who responded and have Internet access use either a cable modem or high-speed telephone connection,'' ACNielsen eRatings director Peter Steyn said.

``You have a better Internet experience with broadband, so there's higher usage for things like Internet radio and visual content.''

The survey, of 1,500 Internet users in each country, found email to be the dominant online activity, with an average of 85 per cent of those surveyed having used it.

The survey said email's popularity was because it was a cost-effective way to communicate across long distances and did not require high-speed connections.

The use of instant messaging, such as ICQ, was relatively low in Hong Kong, which was seventh on the list with 26 per cent of people having used the application in the past six months.

``Instant messaging is a great way to communicate person-to-person. It's especially popular in large countries where long distance rates are high. Perhaps that's why it isn't widely used in Hong Kong. Usually it's just easier to pick up the phone to call someone,'' Steyn said.

The report studied people aged 16 or older who had used the Internet in the past six months. Hong Kong was the only Asian territory in the survey.

Web ratings merger buoys industry

South Achina Morning Post

SIDNEY LUK

A decision by United States-based Internet research company NetRatings to acquire 80 per cent of ACNielsen eRatings.com for US$9.6 million in stock is a vote of confidence in the beleaguered Internet economy, according to industry watchers.

ERatings.com, owned by ACNielsen, was a joint-venture service of the two firms to measure online advertising and user activities.

"Bringing these two companies together really helps us to integrate our business in combining our operations and also consolidating all our services under a global brand," Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong director Peter Steyn said.

Over the past two years, Web measurement companies have been badly hit by the Internet bust. Local start-up iamasia closed in November last year.

At the same time, NetRatings axed its sales and client services staff in South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. NetValue Asia, the third major player in the Hong Kong market also cut staff.

Mr Steyn declined to say if the merger would lead to further job cuts at Nielsen//NetRatings or affect the local operation. He said the changes "certainly strengthen our position globally, including in Asia-Pacific".

The company reported revenue of US$23.5 million last year, up 15 per cent from US$20.4 million in 2000. Last October, it was issued the first licence to conduct Internet research in China under new mainland regulations.

The firm conducts Internet audience studies for firms in Hong Kong such as Cathay Pacific and HSBC.

Interactive marketing company Modem Media said companies were increasing their spending on Internet use studies.

"Definitely, they are spending more," Modem Media's regional director Brett King said. "They are getting smarter in using this medium."

Mr King said studies were mostly data-targeted and could provide more information and background on potential and present customers, enabling companies to adjust their marketing programmes and optimise the benefits.

"In this environment, people are very concerned about streaming online and the most important thing to them is their return on investment," Mr King said. "The research can provide a more accurate understanding of the audience so companies know how to address their needs, which would be impossible without the data."

Yahoo! Hong Kong marketing manager Quinnie Ng, a subscriber of eRatings' information, said Internet audience studies were of high value. "There is a need for such research so we can learn more about online surfers and their behaviour," Ms Ng said.

Nielsen//NetRatings Finds E-Mail is the Dominant Online Activity Worldwide

Hong Kong usage of Internet radio and looking at audio-visual content among the highest worldwide 531 Million People Now Have Internet Access

Sending and receiving e-mail was the dominant online activity in 12 countries over the past six months, according to the Nielsen//NetRatings First Quarter 2002 Global Internet Trends report, released today. Nielsen//NetRatings, the global standard in Internet media and market research, found that at least 75% of households with Internet access participated in e-mail.

"Of all the popular Internet applications, e-mail is the global activity of choice," said Peter Steyn, Director, Nielsen//NetRatings. "We found that an impressive 90% of the adults in three major markets - Australia, the UK and the Netherlands - used e-mail over the past six months, though the percentages were high for all 12 countries. In Hong Kong, 84% of adults 16+ have used e-mail".

"In contrast, involvement in chat rooms was lower than 30% in all countries except Brazil, where 41% of adult Internet users used chat rooms, and in Spain where 38% used chat rooms. In Hong Kong, 28% of adults have participated in chat rooms. Additionally, looking at audio-visual content and using Internet radio was well below 50% in all countries, and instant messaging has less than 30% penetration in several countries, including Hong Kong, France, Germany and Italy", said Steyn.

"The key to e-mail's popularity is two-fold: it's a cost-effective way to communicate across great distances, and it doesn't require the same high connection speeds as some of the other applications. In most countries in this report, a 56k modem or slower modem is the most popular tool to access the Internet. However, in Hong Kong, an astonishing 58% of those who responded and have Internet access use either a cable modem or high-speed telephone connection to access the Internet. Not surprisingly, their rates for using Internet radio and looking at audio-visual content were among the highest worldwide." (See Table 1)

Table 1. Internet Activities Over the Past Six Months: % of People Ages 16+

Country	Sent/Received e-mail	Participated in Chat Room	Used Instant Messaging	Looked at Audio-Visual Content	Used Radio via the Internet
Australia	90	23	30	40	20
UK	90	16	35	41	21
Netherlands	90	21	29	30	17
Denmark	89	20	13	27	23
Switzerland	89	21	24	22	13
Sweden	88	19	32	29	25
Hong Kong	84	28	26	34	38
Germany	83	25	18	24	18
Spain	82	38	43	32	23
France	80	27	26	27	20
Italy	79	20	16	25	19
Brazil	75	41	42	35	40

Among population 16+ who have used the Internet in the past six months
Source: Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends Q1 2002

Globally, the number of people with access to the Internet via a home PC increased from 498.2 million people in Q4 2001 to 531.3 million in Q1 2002.

The findings are from the Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends service, a quarterly subscription service reporting information on worldwide Internet access and usage trends drawn from surveys conducted in January 2002 using consistent research methodology. With the Q1 2002 reports, Nielsen//NetRatings has expanded the range of topics covered in the survey, now reporting on the top Internet Service Providers by country, speed of connection to the Internet and online activities such as email, chat, instant messaging and online radio usage.

Collecting Email Addresses

"More than 500 million people in the world have Internet Access and email remains the most popular application", says Nielsen//Net Ratings. "Of all the popular Internet applications, email is the global activity of choice," said Peter Steyn, director of the research firm. "We found that an impressive 90 percent of the adults in three major markets - Australia, the UK and the Netherlands - used email over the past six months, though the percentages were high for all 12 countries."

However, organisations need a simple, yet cost effective way of being able to obtain the email addresses of their customers and update their customer databases. Organisations need to be able to implement a scaleable activity that will allow them, in a very short amount of time, to obtain large volumes of customer email addresses.

If you would like to find out more about how this can be done, please contact Neil.S@srd-grp.com and we will forward you some more information.

Priceline launch offers e-ticketing with a difference

ONLINE TRAVEL

Carolyn Ong

After nearly a year's delay, Hutchison-Priceline's much-anticipated online travel services Web site launched yesterday without fanfare.

Hutchison-Priceline's travel portal, at www.priceline.com.hk, lets users in Hong Kong book hotel accommodation and airfares at discounted prices. The company's Singapore and Taiwan Web sites will launch next month. Holiday packages will be added in the next few weeks, while car rental services will be launched later.

The Li Ka-shing-controlled on-line ticketing agency claims users can save up to 30 per cent in hotels and flight charges through its reservation system, compared with conventional channels.

Priceline.com is one of four leading travel sites in the United States. It is differentiated from hundreds of similar sites by its unique name-your-price model that lets users bid for the travel service they are interested in.

Priceline.com competes with Travelocity, Expedia and Orbitz in the growing online travel services business - one of the few flourishing area in business-to-consumer e-commerce.

According to research by Boston Consulting, travel is the biggest category on online purchases by US consumers, accounting for US$4 billion in sale in 1999 and forecast to grow to US$29 billion next year.

The online travel service opportunities in Asia are projected to grow as quickly in the next three years.

Priceline's Web sites in Asia will face little competition. Priceline.com.hk is the first travel services Web site in Asia since Ebookit, a travel services start-up that closed last year, to offer the convenience of using the Internet to book discount deals.

Some sites offer online hotels booking services such as South China Morning Post partner Asia-hotels.com and Asia Travel, and Web sites operated by the larger travel agencies such as Farrington Travel, Wing On Travel and Reliance Travel that do not provide real-time online booking services.

Sites operated by airlines, such as Cathay Pacific, Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways, have been criticized for offering limited services. According to an AC Nielsen/NetRatings survey, the top travel Web site frequented by Internet users in Hong Kong is Cathay Pacific's home page.

While travelers in Europe and the US have enjoyed the convenience of booking discounted travel on the Internet for several years, travelers in Asia are only just coming around to the concept of booking travel online.

The airline has been successful in driving traffic to its site by leveraging its popular frequent flyer programmes.

The airline frequently lists low fares on its site and conducts on-line auctions for air miles members where they can bid for a variety of travel services such as flights, hotel stays and tickets to tennis matches using their accumulated miles.

Peter Steyn, a director at ACNielsen, said: "Hong Kong users going to travel sites online are visiting local sites, not global brands such as Expedia and Travelocity, because these sites typically do not provide good discounts for Asian destinations."

Mr Steyn predicted Asian shoppers would be keener to book online once local sites offered steep discounts and ease of use similar to that offered by Expedia and Travelocity. He said Hutchison-Priceline could do well if it was able to deliver good discounts.

"Pricing is key and is a bigger draw than convenience in getting people to use their services." He said.

At present, the site provides hotel bookings for 40 cities around the world and flights to 27 destinations.

The company said it would add more suppliers and partners in the future.

However, the site's user-friendly ease will probably find many users returning to it even if they do not at first find bargains through the site.

Hutchison-Priceline's main competition is expected to come from Zuji.com, a travel services portal backed by 11 airlines in Asia-Pacific including Cathay and Singapore Airlines.

Singapore-based Zuji.com had repeatedly delayed its launch dates. Chief executive Pascal Bordat said the events of September 11 had led to a decline in air travel so the company had pushed the launch date to the third quarter of this, when air travel was expected to bounce back.

However, much of Hutchison-Priceline's challenge lay in the offline world. To gain users, the well-designed site needs to offer discounts better than those offered by traditional travel agents. Most traveler in Asia, including Hong Kong, still trudge down to their favourite travel agent and wait in line to buy their next holiday.

However, Mr Steyn said there was a growing group of younger, Internet-savvy working adults who prefer to book travel online because they were more informed about their destinations, such as more control over their itinerary, and liked the convenience of booking online.

South Korea is close to maxing out at 96 percent broadband penetration. Hong Kong and Singapore are surging on ahead with 58 percent and 24 percent, r

Broadband Asia!

By Teng Fang Yih

For as long as the world turns, day is day, and night is night, broadband usage will continue to rise in the Asia-Pacific region, and money will continue to be made from providing broadband access. The latest from Nielsen//NetRatings seem to indicate so. In September, the Internet user/audience measurement specialist's Internet Media Strategies service (IMS) released its findings that broadband usage for August in the region-specifically South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, New Zealand and Australia-was at 62 percent (with the unique audience of 18,937,317 surfers), as compared with narrowband at 38 percent (with the unique audience of 11,845,440).

The latest numbers from the company show that growth in the regional broadband market continues unabated. Peter Steyn, director of Nielsen//NetRatings Hong Kong, cites the numbers: "The highest growth seen was in Taiwan where broadband grew at the rate of 33 percent-from 30 percent penetration in July to 40 percent in October. The second highest in that period was in Hong Kong, which grew at the rate of 18 percent-from 49 percent to 58 percent. Korea remains the country with the highest percentage of broadband users globally, now at 96 percent. The lowest penetration of broadband in the Asia-Pacific region is in New Zealand at 4 percent, and Australia at 6 percent. Both these countries have shown very little growth since July."

"The continued high growth of broadband in countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, creates a vast array of new opportunities and challenges to marketers in the region," says Steyn. "A different way of viewing the online marketplace is by looking at it as a 'secure market'. These are people who are experienced in accessing secure environments on the Internet-for example, people who bank or shop with their credit cards online. This secure market has been growing around the region. The 80:20 rule applies here-the secure market currently makes up the smaller percentage of the total Internet population. However, users in this space represent the 'high value' customers on the Web. These surfers have overcome the barriers to transacting online, and the majority represent the 'upwardly mobile' segment. In terms of broadband uptake, the 'secure market' offers the most potential to providers of high speed network access, and content providers."

Bye the Numbers

MFC Internet Update - the News Review, 13 July 2001

According to Lantian Market Research, women held up more than half of China's Internet as of March, with women making up 54% of Internet users in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Dalian, Kunming, Chongqing, Xi'an, Wuhan, Harbin, Lanzhou, Haikou, Wenzhou and Wuzhou. Lantian's intrepid eyeball counters put overall urban Internet penetration in these cities at 16.9%, up from 5.9% a year earlier, with Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou together topping 25%. Beijing (13.1%), Guangzhou (6.1%) and Shanghai (5.3%) also lead the pack in terms of online shoppers, compared with the timid overall percentage of 2.8%. Internet penetration among corporate users jumped to 52.3% from last year's 28.6%, with much of the increase coming in the smaller cities. 52.3%?!? Tell us that this wasn't an e-mail survey.

Over at iamasia, recent numbers indicate that 17% of China's home surfers (note the "home", as distinct from "caf¨¦" and "office") paid a visit to at least one online game site in March, with most opting websites (the9.com and ourgame.com) offering card or strategy games. (Remember: this is William Ding's new strategy for chortal salvation!) In Hong Kong, about 24% of home users visited a game site in the same period.

Meanwhile, Nielsen/NetRatings has found that Hong Kong men "hit their peak presence online" when people elsewhere would prefer to be sleeping. Nielsen/NetRatings director Peter Steyn refused to speculate on what men were doing online at that time, but other market research firms have done enough rigorous research to suggest that they "may be indulging their vices". About 60% of Hong Kong males are logged on and cruising, sorry, surfing at 1am, with almost half still furiously at it by 2am. If nothing else you've got to compliment them on their stamina; as surveys last month showed, they are able to keep at it online longer than any other place in the world.

In part to discern how the well-off Chinese might use a secure Internet combined with a reliable delivery network, Sina commissioned a survey of ethnic Chinese, Chinese-reading Internet users... in the US and Canada. Ethnic Chinese surfers in North America are relatively well paid, highly educated, and young. Roughly 70% of them log on every day, with e-mail, surfing news and weather, product research, financial transactions and travel arrangements the most popular activities. Of the half with investments, 70% of Chinese-Americans trade stocks online, while only one half of Chinese-Canadians do so. About half of Chinese-American's shop online, compared with just over a fifth of Chinese Canadians. Books, computers and electronics lead the hit parade of purchased items, although the roughly 45% who are women prefer to buy clothes, makeup and vitamins. Women also preferred to read about issues related to health, finance, careers, fashion and relationships. Earth-shattering info... Nope, let us rephrase that: an Internet business plan!

And from the estimated prophets corner:

IBM China GM Ye Qiren said that Big Blue hoped to capture 20% of China's IDC market, which he placed at US$50 million. (This was announced shortly after pan-Asian IDC specialist iAsiaWorks confirmed that it was closing its China and Hong Kong ops, to focus resources on Taiwan and Korea "where it owns its own data centers and believes the opportunity is greatest".)

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.

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