Fast Facts

Based on an ICONOCAST analysis, there is a minimum of 32 million business users worldwide, who account for at least 46% of total traffic volume.

Business universe -- According to RelevantKnowledge, 34 percent of all Web users fit the definition of an "active business user." Based on our current estimate of 93.8 million Internet users worldwide, that would amount to some 32 million business users.

IDC put the total number of business users in 1997 at 36 million.

Site universe -- Dun & Bradstreet reports that more than 40 million companies are listed in its worldwide database. When D&B matched its U.S business data list against 1.3 million top-level Internet domains, it found that half of the domains, or 665,000, were non- businesses. Of the remainder, only half had active business sites.

Bottom line: Roughly 333,000 businesses are on the Web, a miniscule fraction of the 40-million business universe [please note that many businesses are hosted on sites such as GTE's SuperPages].

Web usage -- A recent Thomas Register and Visa USA online survey of 2,000 American and Canadian businesses (out of a possible 155,000 Register-listed companies) shows that 40% say they used the Web at least once in the past month, primarily for quick research.

Fortune 500 sites -- Last October, IDC showed a chart that estimated that 80% of all Fortune 500 companies had Web sites in *1996*. [One can safely assume that 95% now do.]

Small/medium/large segmentation -- In 1997, IDC estimated that small business users made up 17% of "total Net use," while businesses with more than 100 employees made up 28% ["total Net use" is a duplicated user figure, meaning that the majority are also home users]. Worldwide, IDC estimates that medium and large businesses will account for 49 million users by 2000.

Small business -- According to Cyber Dialogue's U.S. Small Business Internet Survey, which was based on telephone interviews with 1,000 U.S. businesses with less than 100 employees, 37% are online, equivalent to 2.6 million small businesses out of a 7 million universe. Each online business averages 8.3 employees, suggesting that 21.6 million small business employees use some combination of e-mail, Web or commercial online services. Worldwide, IDC estimates that this figure will grow to 33 million by 2000 [which is a very conservative 1997 estimate]. Like consumers, an equal number of small business users, 53%, use the Internet on a daily basis.

Volumetrics -- Media Metrix reports that business users devote 65% more time on the Web than home users. With current home usage running about six hours per week, according to NetRatings, the average time a business user spends on the Internet is about 10 hours. Based on this data, it's estimated that business usage constitutes about 46% of Internet traffic volume.

CyberAtlas The Web Marketer's Guide to Online Facts This article can be found online at:
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