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Nielsen//NetRatings Releases Largest-Ever Global Measurement Of Internet Penetration Launches Global Internet Trends Service, a Ground-Breaking Study Revealing Trends in Internet Access And Usage STAMFORD, CT – September 7, 2000 – Nielsen//NetRatings, the world’s fastest growing Internet audience measurement service, today released the first-ever examination of Internet access and penetration in Europe, Asia Pacific and North America, finding more than 269 million people across 20 countries in those regions with Internet access from a home PC. Nielsen//NetRatings is a service provided by ACNielsen eRatings.com (a venture between ACNielsen Corp., NYSE: ART and NetRatings, Inc., Nasdaq: NTRT), Nielsen Media Research and NetRatings, Inc. The findings are from the new Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends service, a subscription service reporting key Internet penetration figures across 17 countries in Europe and Asia Pacific. The Q2 2000 service covers data collected between April and June 2000 across Europe and Asia Pacific, drawn from more than 25,000 surveys conducted using consistent research methodology. The Q2 service covers: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Australia, Singapore and New Zealand. In Q3 2000 the service will expand to provide reports on trends in North America and globally, with continued expansion as additional markets come online. “Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends brings a powerful new perspective to the growth in Internet access worldwide,” said William Pulver, president of ACNielsen eRatings.com. “Prior to this report, advertisers and marketers had to rely on country-by-country statistics gathered using varying methodologies. With Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends, we can definitively report such valuable information as the number of people and households per country with access to the Internet, their online browsing and purchasing habits and the rates of access at home, work or other locations.” The Q2 2000 Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends information for Europe reported that across 14 key European markets approximately 82 million people aged two and above have access to the Internet from a home PC. “The US and Japan are widely recognized as having the largest Internet populations in the world,” said David Day, director of analytics, ACNielsen eRatings.com. “With Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends we see a European penetration figure of 82 million people which equates to one household in five, with more than half -- 56% -- of those people residing in the UK, Germany and Italy. Those three countries are well worth watching in the coming months as they continue to emerge on the global scene.” Across the four key Asia Pacific markets of Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, approximately 37 million people aged two and above have access to the Internet from a home PC. (See Table 1). Table 1. Number of People 2+ (In Millions) With Internet Access Via Home PC Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends also found that in Q2 2000, more people in every country except Switzerland had Internet access at home than at work. “Rates of access at work are lower than access at home in most countries,” Day said. “This is particularly the case in the Netherlands, where the home access rate is almost twice that of work, unlike Switzerland, where the access rates across both locations are about even. Usage rates at home and work tend to follow the same pattern as access, again except Switzerland, where the proportion of people who have surfed the Internet at work is greater than those who have surfed at home.” Day also noted that most households with Internet access use only one source to gain access to the Internet. In Europe overall, only 22% of households have access via more than one source. Multiple sources are most common in Switzerland, where close to half the households with access connect through more than one device, while almost no house in France has access via more than one source. In Asia Pacific, most households have only one source at home with which to access the Internet. Multiple sources of Internet access are more common in New Zealand, where nearly a quarter of households have two or more devices with access to the Internet. Table
2. % People 16+ with current access at home or work*
At an individual level, the adult populations (16+) of Norway, Denmark and Sweden have the highest levels of access to the Internet from any location, including work. In addition, greater proportions of their populations have used the Internet and remain frequent users, more likely to browse the Internet for product and pricing information and registering among the most prolific on-line purchasers. (See Table 3). Demonstrating the maturity of those markets, around half of the households with Internet access in Norway, Denmark and Sweden have had Internet access at least since 1998. Similarly, among Australia, New Zealand and Singapore, the Singaporean market is the most mature with a greater proportion of people having gained access to the Internet either in 1998 or prior to 1998. “The picture in France is interesting because relative to the rest of Europe, Internet penetration both at home and at work are low,” Day said. “One key reason for this is that Minitel – France Telecom’s own information network – has been available in France from the early 80’s and enjoys high levels of penetration both at home and at work. We will continue to see growth in online access in France trailing the rest of Europe while potential online users’ needs are being met elsewhere. “Finland’s relatively lower penetration rate via home PC compared to the other Nordics is a function of the much lower proportion of households with a fixed telephone line,” Day continued. “Finland has experienced a marked decrease in fixed line telephone penetration in households over recent years, with a corresponding sharp increase in the penetration of mobile telephones. While this has impacted the growth in static Internet access, Finland will be well placed when the anticipated increase in access to the Internet via other devices such as WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) takes off.” Table
3. % People (16+) Browsing for Products Online and Purchasing, past
6 months*
Day noted that in Europe, the Nordic countries as a group tended to exhibit the highest levels of online product browsing. However, the UK had the highest browse-to-purchase ratio of all the European countries, with 64% of UK Internet users who have browsed for information and prices about products and services having made a purchase in the past six months. The lowest levels of browsing activity were observed in Belgium/Luxembourg, Italy, France and Spain. In Asia Pacific, browsing for product and price information on the Internet is a more firmly entrenched activity for Australians and New Zealanders than for Singaporeans. On-line purchasing is also more likely to happen in Australia and New Zealand than in Singapore, as nearly a quarter of adults 16 or older in Australia and New Zealand have browsed the Internet for pricing or other information on products and services, and slightly more than one in 10 Australians have then gone on to make a purchase. In Singapore, only 14% of people 16 or older has browsed the Internet for products, with only 4% going on to make a purchase. Nielsen//NetRatings Global Internet Trends measures more than 30 factors, including: the number of total households and people with Internet access at home or other locations; the demographic breakdown of the home Internet population; home PC ownership; rates of use of home PC’s for connection to the Internet; the period of time when Internet access was acquired in a household or is expected; the number of fixed and mobile telephones per household, and the level of online purchasing. About Nielsen//NetRatingsThrough strategic partnerships between NetRatings, Nielsen Media Research and ACNielsen, the Nielsen//NetRatings audience measurement service collects real-time data from more than 165,000 Internet users around the world. The U.S. panel sample currently consists of 57,000 at-home users and 8,000 at-work users. International panels are under development with over 100,000 at-home users currently being measured. These panels collectively represent the largest media research sample of Internet users in the industry. Nielsen//NetRatings uses unique technology capable of measuring both Internet use and advertising to provide the most timely, accurate and comprehensive Internet usage data and advertising information in the global marketplace. Nielsen//NetRatings tracks the entire spectrum of Internet user behavior, leveraging proprietary data-collection technology from NetRatings, Nielsen Media Research's 50 years of expertise in research and audience measurement, and ACNielsen’s international leadership in offering market research information covering more than 100 countries. About
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NetRatings, Inc. ### Forward Looking Statements: Certain statements contained herein are forward looking. These may be identified by the use of forward-looking words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "expect," "could," "should," "plan," "estimated," "potential," "target," "aim" and "goal," among others. In connection with the "safe-harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, ACNielsen and NetRatings are hereby identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements made regarding the venture. Any such statement is qualified by reference to the following cautionary statement. Risks and uncertainties that may affect the operations, performance, development and results of the venture's business include: (i) the likely incurrence of significant losses by the venture while its business is being developed and the difficulty of forecasting future revenues and costs;(ii) the risk that a competing company's Internet audience measurement service will become the accepted standard for Internet audience measurement; (iii) the ability to successfully develop, promote and maintain the Nielsen//NetRatings brand; (iv) the effects on demand for the venture's products and services if the use of the Internet does not continue to grow; (v) the effect that governmental regulation of the Internet could have on the growth of the Internet; (vi) the ability to successfully respond to rapid technological change, including the uncertainties surrounding the emergence of new Internet access devices; (vii) the risks associated with international development of the Internet ratings service, including effecting necessary changes to the existing software to accommodate language and other differences in the jurisdictions in which the venture will operate and the effect of laws and regulatory requirements in such jurisdictions; (viii) the risks involved in collecting personal information from panelists, including the effect of privacy laws in the jurisdictions in which the venture will operate; (ix) the impact of foreign exchange rate fluctuations since so much of the venture's earnings will be generated abroad; (x) the risk of technical difficulties or service interruptions and the lack of a backup facility in the event of a systems failure at NetRatings' computer operations center in San Jose, California; and (xi) the uncertainties of litigation, including the IRI lawsuit against ACNielsen; as well as other risks and uncertainties that may be detailed from time to time in the Securities and Exchange Commission filings of the venture partners. Developments in any of the areas referred to above could cause the results of the venture to differ from projected results. ACNielsen and NetRatings caution that the foregoing list of important factors is not exclusive and they do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time regarding the venture. |