Online shopping surges, news falls with Italian internet users

Michael Hedges February 8, 2009

As media producers, old and new, try to put their fingers on the consumers pulse there’s evidence that the head might not be the best place to touch. And high touch seems to rule.

Community sites, blogs and social network sites topped Italian internet users preference according to Nielsen Online, released last week (February 6). Internet usage soared as consumers invested 26 hours on the web, six more than December 2007, visiting 82 sites compared with 66 the previous year. Facebook entered the top ten of most visited sites in Italy, ranking 6th, rising from 2% of web users in December 2007 to 45% in the same month in 2008.

Search tools, food for the head, entered the top ten web categories. Nielsen Online’s analysis mentioned a rise for Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers. News sites, also presumably for the head, fell from 6th to 8th ranking.

By category, software products placed 5th and video sites placed 6th. Traffic to YouTube remains among the fastest growing.  “In times of crisis people tend to take refuge in the fun, fun, fun,” said Nielsen Online Marketing Manager Ombretta Capodaglio in a press statement on release of the data. “People in the last months of 2008 have tried the sharing networks and entertainment, with preference for video and film sites, combining these two concepts.”

Email usage appears to be a victim of the social networking phenomenon, certainly one means of avoiding spam. “After having replaced old letters… emails appear to gradually lose exclusivity as a means of keeping in touch… to the benefit of social networks, which support text messages, chat, photo and video sharing and more,” said Ms Capodaglio, paraphrased from the original Italian.

Online retail entered the top ten categories in 2008. We are, of course, talking about Italy. Nielsen Online’s analysis suggests last minute bargain hunting at years’ end but also a rise in the number of retail sites available.

For the über-trendy, by example, Asics Onitsuka Tiger just launched a new website. Yep, shoes; sneakers, actually; terminally hip. In a few weeks a Google map will be added to aid the addicted to the nearest shop and, of course, there’s a chat feature to compliment designing your own shoe.

Online ad spending in Italy rose nearly 14% to €321.2 million in 2008 over €281.9 million, reported FCP-Assointernet (February 6). Banners continue to be the dominant ad vehicle, 39% of online ad spending in 2008 compared with 37% in 2007. Slightly faster growing are ‘other’ ad tools – advertorials, logos and jump pages – about 24% of on line spending. Keyword buying fell year on year by 12.2% and email and newsletter advertising was essentially unchanged.

As the advertising currency changes from cost per thousand impressions to cost per hundred sales online advertising continues to race past old media. The surge in social network and community site traffic, however, is proving far from ad friendly. Brand specific sites continue to be the ad trend to watch.

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