12/19/98
Sharp Rise in Online Ad Spending | Online advertising expenditure surged in the first quarter of 1998, with the top 25 industries reporting a 92 percent increase on their spending in first quarter of 1997, according to a survey by the CMR company, InterMedia Advertising Solutions. Internet advertising revenue now accounts for 1.3 percent of the overall market. Not surprisingly, the study found that the computer services and software industry, at 49.7 percent, continues to account for the overwhelming majority of online ad revenue. The industry to come closest to this was the financial industry, generating 8.5 percent of all online ad revenue. While accounting for a small percentage of online advertising dollars, the government and organisations sector reported the most significant growth with an increase of 455 percent on the 1997 figure. Other industries that substantially increased their online advertising spending were the medicines industry, 409 percent, and the local services and amusement sector 223.9 percent. Microsoft spent the most on online advertising, at USD7.7 million, followed by IBM which spent USD7.6 million. The survey tracked 300 Web sites and examined advertising reports from individual countries. |
12/19/98
Rising Number of Over 50s Online | Over 13 million US adults over the age of 50 have Internet access and this number is growing rapidly, according to a recent study conducted by SeniorNet and Charles Schwab Inc. This figure represents 16.5 percent of the total online population in the US. The study found that 70 percent of US seniors who own a home computer surf the Web. Further, 40 percent of all US adults over the age of 50 have a computer at home, up from 29 percent in 1995. Of those seniors who access the Internet, 72 do so to use email, 59 percent to research an issue of interest, 53 percent to access news and current affairs information, 47 percent to conduct travel research and 43 percent to get weather updates. In addition, 40 percent of those surveyed said that using the Internet helped them to make better investment decisions. The findings are based on a random telephone survey of 600 adults aged 50 and over and the error margin is four percent. |
