A Billion Internet Users, and Counting

FEBRUARY 17, 2009

Growing and growing and growing and...

The moment when the Internet passed 1 million users is veiled in history.

The truth is, whenever it happened, no one was counting—or even had the means to do so. But according to the “Internet Growth Survey” from MIT, there were 1 million hosts (defined as either a computer or IP address) in 1995.

At the time, it was estimated that the Internet was doubling in size every year, so there would be over 1 billion users in 2005.

That timeline proved overly optimistic. But according to the comScore World Metrix audience measurement service, the Internet surpassed 1 billion visitors in December 2008.

“Surpassing 1 billion global users is a significant landmark in the history of the Internet,” said Magid Abraham, comScore CEO, in a statement. “It is a monument to the increasingly unified global community in which we live and reminds us that the world truly is becoming more flat.”

comScore got to a billion users without counting access from Internet cafes, mobile phones or PDAs.

By contrast, eMarketer employs a slightly broader audience definition—access by anyone of any age from any location—to estimate that there were 1.172 billion Internet users worldwide in 2008.

Either way you count, one thing few prognosticators foresaw in 1995 was that the US would have only the second-largest online population when the Internet hit the billion-user mark. China ranks No. 1.

The Web still has plenty of room to grow.

“China has taken the lead in the number of Internet users worldwide, and today only about 20% of its residents are online,” said Lisa E. Phillips, eMarketer senior analyst. “While China will continue to lead the world in Internet users, look for India to eventually overtake the US, Japan and Germany.”

While Internet usage is close to saturation in the US, Japan and Germany, India’s Internet population lags behind its status as the second-most-populous nation on earth. “But eventually India’s Internet population will grow large enough to overtake those smaller countries that are now in the top spots,” Ms. Phillips continued.

“The second billion will be online before we know it,” said Mr. Abraham, “and the third billion will arrive even faster than that.”

CBS Acquires Social Music Site

CBS Acquires Social Music Site
BBC News
Continuing its digital push, CBS Corp. today announced the acquisition of the UK-based Last.fm for $280 million. Last.fm is a social music site that connects users with similar music tastes, helping them find new music, build their own collaborative radio stations and watch music video clips. It was founded in the UK five years ago, and now has more than 15 million active users.Last.fm founding member Martin Stiksel said an alliance with such a major media player would help the site put "every track ever recorded and every music video ever made onto Last.fm." As part of the deal, the Last.fm management team will remain in place, and the site will retain its brand--although CBS might want to think about a new name.What does the move do for CBS? CEO Les Moonves said Last.fm figures largely into the company's push to syndicate content. The company's demo also hit the media giant's target audience. CBS could make its new social network into a MySpace competitor by integrating CBS media content (like radio broadcasting) with its existing offerings. The Last.fm acquisition is the latest in a string of disparate digital moves for CBS Digital this year, which include the launch of the CBS Interactive Network, an investment in virtual world content creator Electric Sheep Co. and the acquisition of the quirky Wall Street-oriented news show, "Wallstrip." - Read the whole story...

72 percent rise in digital revenue for U.K.'s online publishers

72 percent rise in digital revenue for U.K.'s online publishers
A recent survey has found that the U.K.’s digital publishers can expect 72 percent growth in 2007, double what they were forecasting this time last year.
by Helen Leggatt
The survey was carried out by the U.K.’s Association of Online Publishers (AOP). The AOP represents around 160 of the U.K.'s largest online content producers, including the digital divisions of newspapers, magazines and broadcasters, such as the Guardian Media Group.
According to the data, collected from the 57 participating companies, U.K. digital publishers saw an average increase of 60 percent in turnover in 2006. The total turnover for the U.K. AOP's members rose to $1.1.billion from $682 million the previous year. This year publishers are forecast to see growth of around 72 percent.
"This is a remarkable set of figures. 2006 was a year of spectacular digital growth, innovation and investment by the UK's media industry - and our forecasts show there is no sign of this letting up,” said Simon Waldman, chairman of the AOP and group director of digital strategy, Guardian Media Group.
On average, 12 percent of AOP members’ overall revenue now comes from digital channels.
Three-quarters of online revenues came from advertising, with display contributing 59 percent, classified 16 percent and paid-for content (including syndication) 12 percent.
Online revenues from paid-content has increased 50 percent, with nearly half (46 percent) of AOP members charging for content, up from 37 percent in 2006.
Tags: Association of Online Publishers, digital publishers, online revenue

User-generated product reviews increase conversion

User-generated product reviews increase conversion
User-generated product reviews are being recognized as a powerful tool in converting browsers into buyers.
by Helen Leggatt
Around 40 percent of online shoppers are advocates, says Yahoo’s Diane Rinaldo, and they influence purchases two-to-one over non-advocates.
“The brand advocate has emerged as a particularly valuable and trusted source of advice in online communities,” said Brett Hurt, founder and CEO of Bazaarvoice. “More than half of advocates write about their purchases online and have a huge impact on the buying decisions of other shoppers.”
Bazaarvoice claims 77 percent of all customers read user-generated reviews and treat them as a valuable source of research. Of those who shop online more often, and spend over $500 every month, 81 percent consult user-generated product reviews.
Such is the power of word-of-mouth that some companies are giving their website review pages more prominence. After swapping their usual landing page for its user-generated review page, specifically for visitors coming from search, CompUSA saw conversion rates rise 60 percent and individual spend rising 50 percent. About one-quarter of the 80,000 products on CompUSA have been reviewed.
"Reviews are critical [to online success]," said Bryan Eisenberg, co-founder of Future Now, a New York-based e-commerce consultancy. "Most sites do a pretty poor job of giving enough information to the customer to make a purchase. Less and less people are trusting organizations for their product information -- the BS levels are a little higher."
Tags: advocates, Bazaarvoice, conversion rates, product reviews, user-generated, Yahoo

Ex Did-It Chief Bill Wise Lands At Remix Media Ad Network

by Shankar Gupta, Monday, Mar 12, 2007 6:00 AM ET
FORMER DID-IT CEO BILL WISE, who left the search engine marketing firm last month citing a disagreement about the direction of the company, starts today as president of Remix Media, a division of auction-based ad network Right Media, OnlineMediaDaily has learned.
Right Media made headlines in October when Yahoo bought a 20% stake in the firm for $45 million. In December, the company created the new brand Remix Media for its ad network, which allows advertisers to bid on display ad impressions from specific sites.
Wise will oversee the growth of Remix, having experience with both auction-based media from his role at Did-It, as well as ad network management from his experience as general manager of DoubleClick Media.
"It's really kind of bridging the ad network business and the concept of an exchange with search marketing and everything else," he said.
Currently, Remix represents mostly lower-cost inventory, but part of Wise's job will entail attracting both big-spending advertisers and more premium inventory, he said.
"They're now serving two billion impressions a day. They've gotten large very quickly. Right now, they're representing a lot of remnant space," he said. "But clearly, the strategy is how to go upstream, and that's going to be a large part of my role."
Wise said the company aims to help marketers manage entire campaigns on an auction-based level.
"More and more marketers and agencies need to embrace the concept of auction-based media, and Right Media has the online advertising piece figured out," he said. "Remix Media, and we're really establishing that as another brand, can really help marketers manage their inventory holistically."

CBS Interactive Nabs Google Exec As New CMO

CBS Interactive Nabs Google Exec As New CMOby Gavin O'MalleyAnother sign that CBS is serious about becoming a digital media powerhouse: It nabbed Patrick Keane, Google's head of ad sales strategy. As executive vice president and CMO of CBS Interactive, Keane's new mission is to market and sell CBS content over emerging platforms and expand the company's ad roster. - Read the whole story...