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Who's Online?

According to the most recent surveys, active users of the Web (for purchasing) include:

• Well educated, well-off, older men. A News Century Networks/Laredo Group study found 72% of active buyers are male; 90% have attended college; 81% are employed; and 66% are over the age of 35. In addition, 48% earn at least $75,000 a year.
• Online news readers. The New Century Networks also found 57% of online newspaper readers (who may be more Web savvy than other surfers) surveyed have bought something on the Net in the last year. Making them twice as likely to make purchases online as the average Internet user.

Over the next few years several successful e-commerce models will emerge, the result of many risky ventures. And many failures. One thing is certain: The floodgates of profitable Web sales will open once security improves. If you wait until then to figure out how you can cash in, the Holy Grail will be long gone -- spirited away by competition that planned ahead.

According to Dataquest, there will be 82 million personal computers connected to the Internet by the end of 1999, up 71 percent from 1996. Dataquest analysts said the business market will continue to drive the implementation of the Internet and by 2001, 268 million computers are projected to be connected. Dramatic growth in Internet users has generated an Internet software and services market that is forecast to grow 60 percent in 1999 with revenue reaching USD12.2 billion, up from USD7.5 billion in 1996. Dataquest predicts the Internet software and services market will reach USD32.2 billion by 2001.

According to a report released by Consult, an Australian Internet Research company, there are 790,000 commercial internet users and 600,000 academic and educational users in Australia. Those logging on from home said they are looking for entertainment first and e-mail second. Chat comprised 4 percent of usage with users being predominantly female. The average person spends 22 hours online per week and this is usually between 6.00pm and 12.00pm local time. 80 percent of this time is spent viewing US content. Of more than 8,500 surveyed 30 percent conveyed a desire for faster response times. The majority of growth in the Web in Australia is business-based but this is impeded by slow connection which manifests itself in less traffic per minute. Australian businesses are paying the same prices as US businesses pay for high-speed access.

240 percent growth in Asia since 1996 Aug 14 1999: Asia accounts for 10 percent of total Internet hosts, according to a report by Paul Budde Communication's. The report showed that average growth in Asia and the Pacific was 240 percent since 1996. At 500,000 the Philippines have the largest number of Internet hosts while Japan have the highest growth rate at 200 percent. In the next two years, it's expected that the number of subscribers will triple from 2 million in 1996 to 6 million in 1998. This is attributed to the fact that 50 percent of the population in the Asia/Pacific region are under 25, compared to 26 percent in the US and 28 percent in Australia. The China Education and Research Network (CERNET) is planning to introduce the Internet to the country's universities and education/research institutes making this the largest Internet project under construction in the region so far.

Search Tips

Search: Expand Your Horizons

The Internet is a world-wide community.

Most of the search engines we discuss are based in the US, but they are not the only search engines.

Take a look at Europe an Search Engines. This site is dedicated to finding the best search engines in Europe--from Slovenia, to Spain, to Monaco, to Austria, to the European Union. There are 34 separate engines listed in just the European Union and UK alone.

Although not nearly as extensive as the top search engines on the net, eDirectory has put together more than 100 country specific search engines that might help in a pinch. The site itself is bare-bones and requires some intuition. Patience is essential if you do use many of the engines listed. They don't return results as quickly and the results are not always in English, but there are some interesting finds.

On the other hand, Web Places offers fewer engines, focuses on fewer countries, has a great interface, and links to some impressive non-US engines. Here the results are often in English--and if not, the site also has links to language resources for additional help.