Tuesday, January 30, 2001

74% Growth For European Online This Year

While online advertising spend fell slightly in key European markets in December 2000 from the previous month, Forrester Research B.V. predicts a 74% increase in European outlays on online advertising. Forrester expects online ad spending to reach €1.2 billion, up from €690 million in 2000.

"The first half of 2001 will be relatively quiet, but by the second half, growth in spending on online advertising will pick up," commented Marc Cohen, European AdWatch Manager. "Although Dot Coms are tightening their belts, traditional advertisers are expected to step further into the market.

"In general, there is this virtuous circle going on. More people are going online, more people are getting comfortable with spending money online, and more companies are getting money via online channels, so they can spend more on online marketing."

According to Forrester's Internet AdWatch™ Spending Monitor, in December last year online ad spend across all of Europe's major markets totaled €38.8 million. Spending on online advertising in the UK fell to €17.3 million from
€ 17.7 million in November, while in Germany, spending fell to €12.6 million from €12.8 million the previous month. In France, a less mature market for Internet advertising, spending rose slightly to €8.6 million, up from €8.3 million in November.

The consumer-goods category saw the most spending on online advertising in December, rising to 25% of the total spent in the United Kingdom and 24% in Germany. In Germany, TooJoo, an online gift shop, spent the most on online advertising at €381,000. In Britain, Virgin Group led with €349,000, and in France, Banque Nationale de Paris was the biggest spender, with an outlay of €194,000. Banque Nationale de Paris maintained its rank after spending the most on online advertising the previous month, while in the UK, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group had been in first place in November, and Germany's top spender was Primus Software.

"In contrast to the lower overall online adverting spending, November and December 2000 showed increases in the number of companies advertising, but they were getting lower rates for each ad purchased," Cohen added. "Also, many new advertisers were spending small amounts as they were making first-time forays onto the Internet over Christmas.

"Traditionally, spending by media and entertainment companies has been the biggest category, particularly over the summer months. Banks and information technology companies were prominent among the biggest spenders in online advertising, while more retailers were online targeting Christmas shoppers."

Best-In-Class e-Health Websites
Harris Interactive, a global leader in Internet-based market research, today released its findings in Harris Interactive Health Care News, Issue 4, that show Mayo Clinic, WebMD, Prevention, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), PacifiCare, and Merck among the winners, rated best in their class in 28 categories, according to Harris Interactive OnSiteSM, a survey of more than 100,000 online health care consumers.

The Mayo Clinic (Mayo.edu and MayoHealth.org) wins in two categories, Clinical Trials and Men's Health. WebMD (WebMD.com) also took two categories: Doctor Directories and Pharmaceutical Resources. Dr.Weil.com is the third double winner as best-in-class for Alternative Medicine and Vegetarian Resources. Prevention.com wins the Fitness and Body Building category, and the National Institutes of Health site (NIH.gov) wins the Government Resources category. PacifiCare.com is the best-in-class for Health Insurance and Merck.com for Drug Information. GlaxoWellcome.com wins for Pharmaceutical Companies.

Onsite, on an on-going basis, rates the most commonly visited e-health sites in 28 different categories, using a sample of over 100,000 people who go online for health and medical information. This most recent survey was conducted online between August and October 2000. In total, 159 health sites were rated.

To determine the 28 category winners, consumers evaluated 159 sites on the following criteria:

- Quality of information
- Visuals & graphics
- Links to other sites
- Ease of navigation
- Relevant information
- Complete information
- Easy to understand
- Security of personal information
- Confidence in information
- Up-to-date information
- Reliable source of information

The winners were the sites in each category with the best average ratings for these criteria. The full list of 28 winners is shown in Chart 1 below:

CHART 1

HARRIS INTERACTIVE ONSITE WINNERS IN 28 CATEGORIES

Alternative Medicine
DrWeil.com

Child & Parenting
Babycenter.com

Clinical Trials
Mayo.edu (Mayo Clinic)

Dental Health
1800dentist.com

Diet & Nutrition
Diabetes.org

Disability
Nmss.org (Multiple Sclerosis Society)

Doctor Directories
WebMD.com

Drug Information
Merck.com

Drugstores
Drugstore.com

Fitness & Bodybuilding
Prevention.com

Government Resources
NIH.gov (National Institutes of Health)

Health Insurance
PacifiCare.com

Health References & Directories
Mayo.edu (MayoClinic)

Health & Medical News
HealthCentral.com

Hospitals
Rehabilitation websites

Marathon & Running
RunnersWorld.com

Medical Diseases & Conditions
Cancer.org (American Cancer Society)

Medical Journals
AORN.org (The Association of Perioperative Registered Nurses)

Men’s Health
MayoHealth.org

Mental Health
Mediconsult.com

Pharmaceutical Companies
GlaxoWellcome.com

Pharmaceutical Resources
WebMD.com

Professional Resources & Associations
Lungusa.org (American Lung Association)

Vegetarian Resources
DrWeil.com

Vitamins & Supplement Stores
EAS.com

Women’s Health
ThriveOnline.com

This chart includes well-known sites as well as some that are unfamiliar to large numbers of cyberchondriacs (the word we coined to describe the more than 100 million adults who have used the Internet to look for health or medical information). For example, Babycenter.com, the winner in the Child and Parenting category, AORN.org for Medical Journals, EAS.com for Vitamins and Supplement Stores were all found to be winners.

Because of the large samples used, subscribers to OnSite can see how people with any one of more than forty medical conditions rate the different sites. In addition to the eleven criteria used to calculate the winners, OnSite rates sites on a range of attributes to determine consumer loyalty, involvement, and advertising receptivity.

Anne Axelrod, senior vice president of Harris Interactive’s health care, education and public policy research, characterizes OnSite as "a landmark e-health study that is all about providing consumers with better healthcare information on the Internet." When asked about the scope and utility of this research she replied, "We surveyed more Americans about more aspects of the e-health landscape than any other study to date. Harris Interactive OnSiteSM is a much needed comprehensive look at what health care consumers want and need in the way of information from their health care providers and others in the health care community."

News Tidbits (appears every day on the front page)
- Go.com is closing its doors. The surprise announcement by Disney is another sign of the massive failures from the Internet industry. According to USA Today, "The decision will result in the elimination of 400 jobs and a write-off of more than $800 million."

Return to January 2001 News Archive