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Irish Internet access jumps 50 percent
Friday, October 27 2000
by Elaine Larkin


Over one million Irish people can now access the Internet from home, according to
the Nielsen//NetRatings results for the month of September.

According to the global Internet audience measurement service figures this
represents a 50 percent increase since March this year as well as a 48 percent
increase in the number of actual surfers since March. Internet penetration in
Ireland now stands at around 30 percent of the population.



According to Nielsen//NetRatings these figures compare favourably to the UK and
the US which also reported significant growth in Internet access and surfing in
September.



"Double digit growth in Internet access, and in those people who actively surf
the Internet, is not just an Irish phenomenon.  What is unique to Ireland,
however, is the magnitude of the increase in the number of people accessing and
surfing the Internet over a five month period," said Karen Kelly, Sales and
Marketing Director of ACNielsen eRating.com.



In Ireland, the gap between male (56 percent) and female (44 percent) surfers has
been closing marginally over the last five months. The figures also indicated
that nearly a third of users are under 20 years of age. With more than half
falling between 21 and 49 years of age.



The bulk of the traffic (70 percent) was pulled in to Search Engines and
Telecom/Internet sites in September, with the latter attracting over three
hundred thousand visitors, 48 percent more than in March.



In the order of preference eircom.net, indigo.ie, oceanfree.net and EsatClear.ie
were the most visited of these sites.



The Finance/Insurance/Investment, Shopping and Entertainment categories also
ranked high in growth since March. It was found that a number of visitors to
Entertainment, and Travel sites are affected by seasonality. Shopping sites have
been showing steady growth in unique visitors.



"Despite wide-spread investor concerns about the viability of e-commerce,
shopping sites are pulling enormous traffic, showing the global appeal and
swelling potential of shopping on the Internet," said David Day, Director of
Analytics, ACNielsen eRatings.com.



"With the steady growth we've seen to date, companies can be somewhat more
assured that they will see a return on their investment. Reaching the million
mark in terms of Internet users is an important milestone for those who have
already invested in the Internet and those seeking to invest in the future,"
said Kelly.