The largest numbers of households with Internet access were in the Netherlands with 83 percent, trailed by Sweden at 79 percent and followed by Denmark at 78 percent. The lowest levels of Internet access were in Bulgaria at 19 percent, followed by Romania at 22 percent and Greece at 25 percent.

The number of households with a broadband connection in 2007 was highest in the Netherlands at 74 percent, followed by Denmark at 70 percent and Sweden at 67 percent. The lowest levels of broadband connection were in Greece at 7 percent, trailed by Romania at 8 percent and Bulgaria at 15 percent.

In the EU 57 percent of individuals had used search engines. Half had sent emails with attachments and 30 percent said they defended against viruses and spyware. Just over one quarter had downloaded and installed software from the Internet.

About one quarter of individuals had been active in chatrooms, newsgroups or online discussions, and 15 percent had used the Internet to make phone calls. Peer to peer file sharing for exchange of movies and music had been used by 13 percent. One tenth had created a Web page.

What’s this have to do with social media marketing and why is a social media agency sharing the information?

While we’re all working to figure out social media marketing and how it’s going to work, there’s a pretty big platform change racing toward us. With PC sales declining in Japan already (and the rest of the world ahead of the U.S. in mobile technology), we need to keep in the back of our mind that much of this is going to port to the small screen, potentially fairly soon.

And as ad models evolve, fitting meaningful (to both the consumer and the marketer) ads on the small screen is a challenge that needs to be solved. More likely, in my view, is that someone smart will find a way to give away packages of SMS messages in exchange for sponsorships.

But, social media marketers, let’s keep the cell phone future in your thoughts as we move forward. Facebook has going mobile web (picture below from this article on CrunchGear). Everyone will eventually go mobile. How does that impact your social media marketing plans?

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Europeans Choose The Internet Over TV

The research found that 169 million people are online in ten different European markets.

For the first time, 16 -24 year olds are going online more frequently than they are watching TV. Eighty-two percent use the Internet between 5 and 7 days a week, while only 77 percent watch TV as regularly. 16-24 year olds spend 10 percent more time surfing the Internet than viewing television and 48 percent say their TV viewing has decreased because of the Internet.

Among all demographics across Europe 75 percent of Internet users go online between 5 and 7 days per week, an increase from 61 percent in 2004. The number that watch TV has remained stable at 86 percent the last three years.

Time spent online has also increased. European Internet users are spending 11.9 hours online each week and 29 percent are considered "heavy" Internet users as they spend an average of 16 hours or more online each week.

The amount of people watching TV, movies or video clips online at least once a month has grown 150 percent since 2006. That is due in part to increased broadband penetration with 81 percent of all Internet users now having a broadband connection.

Alison Fennah, Executive Director of The EIAA said, "Our Mediascope study shows that consumers are using the Internet for function and fun as their media world becomes truly digital. We hope to help advertisers and agencies to understand this evolution and develop new and innovative communication strategies." 

“Europeans Go Online 24 Hours Per Month”

The average European accessed the Internet 16.5 days in the month and spent a total of 24 hours viewing 2,662 Web pages. That’s less than the U.S. April averages of 21.9 days, 31.4 hours and 2,826 pages.

The Netherlands and Scandinavian countries have the largest percentage of their populations using the Internet, ranging from 68 percent to 83 percent. Germany has biggest online population consisting of 32.6 million people age 15 or older. The U.K. has the most active online population with the average number of daily users at 21.8 million, 21 days per month and spending 34.4 hours online.

Countries that have usage days below the European average are Russia (11.4 average usage days), Austria (12.0), Italy (12.9), Ireland (13.0), Portugal (13.4), Norway (14.7), Denmark (14.7), Switzerland (15.1), Belgium (15.5) and Finland (16.4).

The average Swedish user views 4,019 pages per month, which is more than any other country and 51 percent above the European average of 2,662 pages per month.

"This marks the first time we have released this detailed of a portrait of Internet usage across the 16 countries, making these comparisons truly revealing," commented Bob Ivins, managing director of comScore Europe. "Such comparisons are only possible due to the consistency of our panel-based methodology country-to-country."

The study also found that Google is the most popular property in 13 of 16 countries, followed by Microsoft. Yahoo was the third most popular online property but only made the top 3 lists in Ireland, Italy and Spain.

 The European study, which surveyed 2,500 broadband users in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, found that 45 percent of European viewers are already watching TV online.

The French are leaders when it comes to watching TV on the Web with 59 percent saying they view previews and episodes of their favorite shows online. Italians come in second in Internet TV viewing while the British hold the third place spot. German viewers are the least interested in online TV with only 33 percent tuning into Internet TV.

The TV itself is evolving, according to the study, becoming an interactive entertainment and communications tool. On average users are now connecting three devices to their TV sets, and close to a third of all Europeans are attaching a digital camera to download and view photos.

Forty-five percent of Europeans believe they will be making video calls using their TV by the time the 2012 Olympics are on.

"These results show that viewers across Europe are no longer satisfied with fitting into schedules dictated by broadcasters and are turning to the choice and flexibility offered by TV over the internet," says Karl Elliott, Marketing Director for EMEA within Motorola’s Connected Home Solutions division.

"We are witnessing a nation of citizen schedulers who are in control of their entertainment, allowing them to watch what they want, how and when they want it."

2,500 people were interviewed with 45% saying they were watching some television shows online, with the French leading the way.

“Viewers across Europe are no longer satisfied with fitting into schedules dictated by broadcasters and are turning to the choice and flexibility offered by TV over the internet,” said Motorola’s Karl Elliott.

Not noticed by TechCrunch is that the survey suggest 45% of broadband users are watching TV online. Throw in those that still use dial-up and the number shrinks a lot. Also, no details on how much broadband TV they actually watch online. Does watching 10 minutes of EastEnders on your computer, qualify you to be part of the 45%?

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Online advertising grew by more than 41% in 2006, overtaking national newspaper ads (10.7% share) and about half the amount spent on TV ads (which actually dropped 4.7%).

It’s good news for online marketers…

“The internet is a hugely popular mass medium now, and advertisers are continuing to switch more of their budgets online to build their brands and interact with their customers,” said IAB chief executive Guy Phillipson.

Why the rapid growth?

“With consumers now enjoying even faster broadband and installing wireless routers in their homes, the growth of online advertising in the UK is set to continue unabated,” he added.

And we already know Europeans spend more online that their American cousins.

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In a new report “Mediascope Europe 2006 Study”, sponsored by the European Interactive Advertising Association (EIAA) with research from Synovate says that 78 percent of European Internet users shop online. On average they spend Eur750 and buy 10 items online over a six-month period.

Online shoppers in the UK and Scandinavia spend and purchase the most items online. Germans tend to look for discounts more and buy a greater number of items for less cost. Dutch online shoppers are serious bargain hunters. Over half (54%) research prices online at least once a month. Fifty percent of the French and Germans do the same type of price comparison.

Auction sites are popular with European online shoppers. Sixty-two percent of German users and 49 percent from the UK visit them at least once a month. The average user in Europe visits auction sites 41 percent of the time.

Mobile phones are the most popular items that Europeans shop for online. The growth in conversion rates increased 23 percent. Music downloads; car accessories and home furnishings were other popular items.

“As consumers further embrace their digital lifestyles, they are becoming more ambitious in what they choose to buy over the Internet as well as how much they spend,” said Michael Kleindl of the EIAA. “This research demonstrates the increasing trust in the internet amongst consumers to obtain information and buy a growing range of products. More money spent and items bought online shows that consumers are integrating online shopping into their daily lives.”

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Mike is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

Sony is taking the case to the High Court in Hong Kong. Sony is looking to have the sale of PSPs, games and accessories from Lik-Sang’s parent company, Pacific Game Technology, stopped.

Lik-Sang allegedly violated Sony copyrights back in June as it mirrored the PSP manual on its site. Lik-Sang says that the suit is just a “cynical attempt to disrupt the successful online business… gain total market control, and garner publicity”. Tony Smith at Channel Register reports:

The exporter is accused of violating SCEE’s trademarks, and of infringing SCEE’s copyrights by posting a copy of the PSP manual on its website. Sony warned Lik-Sang on 14 June it would begin legal proceedings if the manual was not removed, along with links to Sony’s own website. Lik-Sang maintains it immediately complied with that request.

Lik-Sang vowed to fight the case, claiming it has Hong Kong trade regulations on its side. They, it said, “allows free trade once an item entered the market for sale”. In other words, what we do with a PSP once we’ve bought it is up to us – and that includes selling it on to consumers in the UK and elsewhere.

This is not the first time that Lik-Sang has been sued by Sony. The last time was back in 2002 when Sony attempted to stop them from selling Playstation 2 mods.

Chris is a staff writer for WebProNews. Visit WebProNews for the latest ebusiness news.

As to be expected, Google faces stiff competition from MSN and Yahoo! as the companies try to win European web users.

A quote taken from BBC News Online by Tom Ewing explains Google’s strong presence: “Google’s branding is so strong, it has entered the language and become a fundamental part of people’s searching habits.”

Despite this, MSN and Yahoo! are determined to have a larger piece of the search engine pie. The companies continually upgrade their methods for determining relevance in an effort to gain users.

Ewing summed the European search engine market quite nicely: “Google’s dominance may appear unshakeable, but with some of the biggest brands on the internet developing rival search technologies, the next 18 months will prove crucial for this sector”.

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