Global Web Portals and Online Communities Industry

Global Web Portals and Online Communities Industry

The global outlook series on Web Portals and Online Communities provides statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. The report offers an aerial view of the global web portals and online communities industry, identifies major short to medium term market challenges, and growth drivers. Regional markets elaborated upon include United States, United Kingdom, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Brazil. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 740 companies worldwide.

1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW 1

Table 1: Top Ten Nations by Number of Internet Users (2008) 1

Table 2: Global Internet Usage Market (2008): Percentage
Breakdown of Users by Region - Asia, Europe, North America,
Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Others 1

Table 3: Global Web Portals Market (2007): Percentage Share of
Daily Visits by Users by Category - Search Engines, Social
Networking, General News, Online Banks, and Sports News 2
Significance of Web Portal 2
Advantages 2
Online Communities: A Valuable Tool for Businesses 2

2. WEB PORTALS INDUSTRY 3

Portal Market: The Growth Saga to Continue3
Revenue Sources for Web Portals 3
Consumer Side Revenue Model 3
Supplier Side Revenue Model 4
Promotional Advertising Revenue Model 4
Hybrid Model 4
Online Advertising Market Feels the Heat of Economic Downturn 4
Table 4: Global Online Advertising Market (2007): Percentage
Breakdown of Revenues by Segment - Search Engine Advertising,
Display Advertising, and Others 4
Portals and Web Content Management Solutions 5
Growing Demand for Portals with Dual Functionalities 5
Demand for Enterprise Portals Grows 5
Integration with Document Management 5
Web-Based Retailing: The New Fad Among Branded Apparel Retailers 5
Social Networking Websites Gaining Popularity 6
Substantial Rise in Acquisitions and Mergers 6
Web Portal Consolidation for Content Refinement 6
Advantages of Community Portals 6
Advantages of Business-to-Business Web Portals 7
Web 2.0 Technology7
Thin Line Computing 7
Applications 7
User-Generated Content 7
Applications 7
Drawback of Web 2.0 8
Enterprise 2.0 Portal 8
Working of an Enterprise 2.0 Portal8
Enterprise 2.0 Meets Requirements of Different Groups8
SLATES for the Formation and Installation of Enterprise 2.0 8
Purpose of Enterprise 2.0 Portal 9
Mobile Web 2.0 9
Advanced Web Applications Offer Convenience to Users 9
Consumer Portal Versus Enterprise Portal 9
Similarity Between Portals and Mashups 9
Disadvantages of Web Portals 9

3. ONLINE COMMUNITIES - AN OVERVIEW 10

Uneven Distribution of Online Communities 10
Incentives Encouraging Contribution to Online Communities 10
Participation Inequality Among Users of Online Communities 10
Table 5: Participation of Web Users in Online Communities:
Percentage Breakdown of Usage and Content Contribution by
Category - Most Frequent Contributors, Occasional
Contributors, Silent Lurkers and Abstainers 10
Public Online Community Versus Private Online Community 10
Online Community and the Telecommunication Industry 11
Web-Based Communities to Fail 11
Factors Responsible for Failure of Online Communities of
Organizations 11
Measures to Prevent Failure of Web-based Communities 11

4. COMPETITIVE SCENARIO 12

Google: The Undisputed Leader 12
Enterprise Information Portal Market12
Key Players in Enterprise Information Portal Software Market 12
WebSphere Maintains Leadership in Enterprise Portal Industry12
Table 6: Leading Players in the Global Enterprise Portal
Market (2007): Percentage Breakdown of Revenues for IBM,
Microsoft, BEA Systems, Oracle and Others13

Table 7: Leading Players in the Global Enterprise Portal
Software Market (2006): Percentage Breakdown of Revenues for
IBM, Microsoft, BEA Systems, Oracle and Others 13
Select Key Players14
America Online, Inc. (US) 14
Google, Inc. (US)14
Microsoft Corp. (US) 14
Walt Disney Internet Group (US) 14
Yahoo!, Inc. (US)14

5. PRODUCT OVERVIEW 15

Web Portals: An Insight 15
Types of Web Portals 15
Horizontal Portals 15
Vertical Portals15
Affinity Portals16
Commerce Portals16
Consumer Portals16
Enterprise Portals 16
e-Business and e-Commerce Web Portals 16
Business-to-Business Portals16
Social Commerce Portals 17
Personal Portals17
Business Portals17
Academic Portals17
Regional Web Portals 17
Government Web Portals17
Corporate Web Portals 17
Hosted Web Portals 18
Domain-Specific Portals 18
Sports Portal 18
Features of Web Portals18
Personal Information Management (PIM) 18
Entertainment, Financial & Business Content 18
Business Resource Management18
My Web Portal 18
Real-Time Event Alerts18
Online Auctions and Reverse Auctions 19
Externalizing Back Office Legacy and Web Applications 19
e-Commerce Service/Product Procurement & Catalogues 19
Shared Contents and Recruiting Services 19
Auctions 19
Reverse Auctions19
Added Data Content Collection Point and Resell19
Exchange for Goods and Services 19
Service/Product Sale 19
Taste Test Generates Subscription 19
Advertising 19
Fee-Based Transaction Services 19
Referral Sales Commission 19
Enterprise Portals: An Overview 19
Background 19
Evolution of Advanced Technologies 22
Online Communities: An Insight22
Background 22
Life Cycle for Members 23

6. PRODUCT LAUNCHES/DEVELOPMENTS 23

7. MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS 53

8. STRATEGIC CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS 74

A REGIONAL PERSPECTIVE

1. THE UNITED STATES 83

Streamlining Web-based Dating Sites 83
Privacy Matters 83
Competition 84
Web Portal Market84
Table 8: Leading Players in the US Web Portal Market (2007):
Percentage Breakdown of Online Advertising Revenues for
Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft 84

Table 9: Leading Players in the US Web Portal Market (2007):
Percentage Breakdown of Unique Visitors for Google, Yahoo,
MSN 84

Table 10: Leading Portals in the US Pay-Per- Click Search
Advertising Market (2007): Percentage Breakdown of Revenues
for Google, Yahoo and MSN 84
Social Networking Portals Market 84
Table 11: Leading Social Networking Sites in the US (2006):
Percentage Breakdown of Traffic for MySpace.com,
YouTube.com, Blogger.com, Classmates.com, Facebook.com and
Others 85
Select Key Players85
Pingo85
Verticalnet, Inc.85

2. EUROPE 86

Localizing European Websites: An Area of Focus 86
Table 12: Internet Usage Market in Europe (2008): Percentage
Breakdown of Number of Internet Users by Country - Germany,
UK, France, Italy, and Spain 86

2a. THE UNITED KINGDOM86
Growing Spending on Online Advertising 86

3. ASIA-PACIFIC 87

3a. CHINA 87
Online Market Thrives in Leading Cities 87
Table 13: Online Market in China (2008): Percentage Breakdown
of Online Purchases by Category - Female Customers and Male
Customers 87

Table 14: Portals Market in China (2007 & 2008): Percentage
Breakdown of Portals by Select Channel - News, Entertainment
Finance/Business, Sports and Games 87
Tough Times for Portals with Obscene Content 88
Competitive Scenario 88
Table 15: Leading Players in the Chinese Web Portal Market
(2007 & 2008): Percentage Breakdown of Site Visit for Sina,
Sohu, Baidu.com, NetEase and Yahoo 88

Table 16: Leading Players in the Chinese Web Portal
Advertising Market (2008): Percentage Breakdown of Revenues
for Sina, Sohu, Tencent, Netease and Others 89

Table 17: Portal Market in China (2007 & 2008): Percentage
Breakdown of Portals Used for Personal Blogging - 163, Sina,
Sohu, MSN, 51.com, Qzone, and Baidu89

Table 18: Leading Players in the Chinese Consumer-to-Consumer
Portal Market (2008): Percentage Breakdown of Revenues for
Dangdang.com, Joyo, Eachnet, Paipai.com and Others 89
Sina.com - A Key Player 90

3b. INDIA 90
Increased Internet Usage Drives Growth in e-Commerce Market 90
Online Advertising Gaining Popularity 90
Job Portal Sector On a High 91
e-Matrimony Industry Gaining Foothold 91
Low Acceptance Level of Social Networking and Blogging Sites91
Overseas Tourism Organizations Utilize Web Portals to
Influence Indian Tourists 91

3c. MALAYSIA 92
Growing Demand for e-Governance Portals 92

3d. VIETNAM 92
A Preferred Web Portal Development Destination 92

4. LATIN AMERICA 93

Growing Interest in Content Management 93
Table 19: Internet Usage Market in Latin America (2008):
Percentage Breakdown of Number of Internet Users by Country -
Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Chile 93
Computer Mediated Communication Scenario 93
Uneven Distribution of List Servers and Electronic Lists 93
Disparity in Distribution of Virtual Communities 94
Information Resources Versus Communication Resources 94
Still Dependent on Other Nations for Information Sources 95
Enhanced Presence in Virtual Communities: Need of the Hour 95

4a. BRAZIL95
Growing Prominence of Social Networking Sites 95