As the Internet matures and as technology and commerce begin to form
a more solid alliance, more U.S. Web surfers are beginning to purchase
goods and services online.
According to a new survey by
Portrait of America, 57 percent of Americans with Internet access have made at least one purchase online since they became connected.
Of those who had not yet made online purchases, 21 percent said they planned to do so in the next six months, Portrait of America researchers said Thursday.
However, most American Web surfers also decry the Internet’s most popular form of marketing and advertising: banner ads.
“Despite the minimal changes occurring with online buying and usage, banner ads continue to frustrate onliners,” analysts said. “More than half of Internet-connected Americans, 54 percent, find banner ads annoying,” a finding that is 6 percent higher than a similar survey conducted by Portrait of America last month.
Just 16 percent said they found banner ads “useful”; another 26 percent said they were “irrelevant.”
Poll researchers also asked how many store purchases surfers made after seeing something advertised online, how many have visited hometown-specific websites and how many had gone online to find information about something before buying it.
Rasmussen Research conducted
the survey of 598 adults with Internet access July 15. The poll’s margin of sampling error for the full sample is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95 percent level of confidence.
Despite e-commerce’s roller coaster ride, entrepreneurs and marketing pros continue to find new ways to generate income from the Internet as its influence widens.
One of the most recent high-profile examples of such creativity is Stephen King’s 5,000-word installment of his new novel, “The Plant,” released solely on the Internet.
As of mid-week, King said he had received nearly 153,000 downloads of the book, “charged out” at $1 per download “on the honor system.” King associates said that 76 percent of those who had downloaded the installment paid the $1 fee.
Other e-commerce firms, however, are suffering from poor revenues.
Last week, BoxLot.com, a San Diego-based online auction company, was hit by two lawsuits, charging the company with non-payment of media bills totaling nearly $160,000. Also, key personnel have already left the flagging Internet auction site for positions with other online companies.
Analysts said BoxLot.com’s non-payment troubles likely signal that it, too, will go the way of other major high-tech e-commerce firms, who, because of poor business plans or over-investment, have not generated enough profit to stay in business.
