Global Web Portals and Online Communities Industry

• Publication date: January 2012

The global outlook series on the Web Portals and Online Communities Industry provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. Illustrated with 28 fact-rich market data tables, the report offers a rudimentary overview of the industry, and highlights latest trends and demand drivers. Regional markets briefly abstracted and covered include US, Europe, Asia-Pacific (China, India, Malaysia, Vie...

The global outlook series on the Web Portals and Online Communities Industry provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. Illustrated with 28 fact-rich market data tables, the report offers a rudimentary overview of the industry, and highlights latest trends and demand drivers. Regional markets briefly abstracted and covered include US, Europe, Asia-Pacific (China, India, Malaysia, Vietnam) and Latin America (Brazil). The report offers a compilation of recent product launches, mergers, acquisitions and strategic corporate developments. Also included is an indexed, easy-to-refer, fact-finder directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 671 companies worldwide.

Global Online Advertising Industry

1. INDUSTRY OVERVIEW 1
Synopsis 1
Table 1: World Internet Usage (2011): Percentage Share
Breakdown of Number of Internet Users by Country 1

Table 2: Global Internet Usage (2011): Percentage Breakdown
of Number of Internet Users by Region - Asia, Europe, North
America, Latin America, Africa, Middle East, and Others 2

Table 3: Internet Penetration Rates (In %) Worldwide by
Select Geographic Region/ Country for the year 2011 2

Table 4: Global Web Portals Market (2011): Percentage Share
of Daily Visits by Users by Category - Search Engines, Social
Networking, General News, Online Banks and Sports News 2

Table 5: Global Social Networking Scenario: Breakdown of
Number of Accounts and Users for years 2010 through 2014 3

Table 6: Leading Social Networking Sites (2011): Breakdown of
Average Unique Monthly Users in Millions 3

Table 7: Facebook Usage in Select Countries (2011)- Breakdown
of Percentage of Online Population Using Facebook in
Philippines, Israel, Turkey, Chile, Argentina, Malaysia,
Indonesia, Peru, Colombia and Venezuela 4
Significance of Web Portal 4
Advantages 5
Online Communities: A Valuable Tool for Businesses 5

2. WEB PORTALS INDUSTRY 6
Portal Market: The Growth Saga to Continue 6
Revenue Sources for Web Portals 6
Consumer Side Revenue Model 6
Supplier Side Revenue Model 6
Promotional Advertising Revenue Model 6
Hybrid Model 6
Community Made Directories Witness Growth 7
Community Aspect: Making the Difference in Online Services 7
Growing Popularity of MMOGs Extend Opportunities for Social
Networking & Gamer Communities 7
Comprehensive Packages Diminish Portal Attractiveness 8
Web Advertising Via Online Portals Gathers Steam 8
Growth in Online Advertising: An Opportunity Indicator for Web
Portal Advertising 8
Online Advertising Market Rebounds from Recession 9
Table 8: World Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis for
Online Advertising by Geographic Region - US, Canada,
Europe, Asia-Pacific (including Japan), Latin America and
Rest of World Independently Analyzed with Annual Revenues in
US$ Million for Years 2010 through 2015 10

Table 9: World 5-Year Perspective for Online Advertising by
Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Revenues for US,
Canada, Europe, Asia-Pacific (including Japan), Latin
America and Rest of World for Years 2011 and 2015 11

Table 10: Global Online Advertising Market (2011):
Percentage Breakdown of Revenues by Segment - Search Engine
Advertising, Display Advertising, and Others 12
Portals and Web Content Management Solutions 12
Growing Demand for Portals with Dual Functionalities 12
Demand for Enterprise Portals Grows 12
Integration with Document Management 13
Web-Based Retailing: The New Fad Among Branded Apparel Retailers 13
Travel Industry Goes Online 13
Social Networking Websites Gaining Popularity 14
Web Portal Consolidation for Content Refinement 14
Advantages of Community Portals 15
Advantages of Business-to-Business Web Portals 15
Web 2.0 Technology 15
Thin Line Computing 15
Applications 16
User-Generated Content 16
Applications 16
Drawback of Web 2.0 16
Enterprise 2.0 Portal 17
Working of an Enterprise 2.0 Portal 17
Enterprise 2.0 Meets Requirements of Different Groups 17
SLATES for the Formation and Installation of Enterprise 2.0 18
Purpose of Enterprise 2.0 Portal 18
Mobile Web 2.0 18
Advanced Web Applications Offer Convenience to Users 18
Consumer Portal Versus Enterprise Portal 18
Similarity Between Portals and Mashups 19
Disadvantages of Web Portals 19

3. ONLINE COMMUNITIES - AN OVERVIEW 20
Uneven Distribution of Online Communities 20
Incentives Encouraging Contribution to Online Communities 20
Participation Inequality Among Users of Online Communities 20
Table 11: 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 20
Public Online Community Versus Private Online Community 21
Online Community and the Telecommunication Industry 21
Web-Based Communities 21
Measures to Prevent Failure of Web-based Communities 21
Competition 22

4. PRODUCT OVERVIEW 23
Web Portals: An Insight 23
Types of Web Portals 23
Horizontal Portals 23
Vertical Portals 24
Affinity Portals 24
Commerce Portals 24
Consumer Portals 24
Enterprise Portals 24
e-Business and e-Commerce Web Portals 24
Business-to-Business Portals 25
Social Commerce Portals 25
Personal Portals 25
Business Portals 26
Academic Portals 26
Regional Web Portals 26
Government Web Portals 26
Corporate Web Portals 26
Hosted Web Portals 27
Domain-Specific Portals 27
Sports Portal 27
Features of Web Portals 27
Personal Information Management (PIM) 27
Entertainment, Financial & Business Content 27
Business Resource Management 27
My Web Portal 27
Real-Time Event Alerts 28
Online Auctions and Reverse Auctions 28
Externalizing Back Office Legacy and Web Applications 28
e-Commerce Service/Product Procurement & Catalogues 28
Shared Contents and Recruiting Services 28
Auctions 28
Reverse Auctions 28
Added Data Content Collection Point and Resell 28
Exchange for Goods and Services 28
Service/Product Sale 28
Taste Test Generates Subscription 28
Advertising 28
Fee-Based Transaction Services 28
Referral Sales Commission 28
Enterprise Portals: An Overview 29
Background 29
Evolution of Advanced Technologies 31
Online Communities: An Insight 32
Background 32
Life Cycle for Members 33

5. PRODUCT LAUNCHES/DEVELOPMENTS 34

6. MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS 80

7. STRATEGIC CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS 103


A REGIONAL MARKET PERSPECTIVE 113

1. THE UNITED STATES 113
Streamlining Web-based Dating Sites 113
Privacy Matters 113
Competition 114
Table 12: Leading Players in the US Web Portal Market (2007):
Percentage Breakdown of Online Advertising Revenues for
Google, Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft 114

Table 13: Leading Portals in the US Pay-Per- Click Search
Advertising Market (2007): Percentage Breakdown of Revenues
for Google, Yahoo and MSN 114
Social Networking Portals Market 114
Facebook Lands Half of US Social Networking Ad Spends in 2010 114
Key Statistics 115
Time Spent Online by the Internet Population in the US (
2010): Websites Ranked by the Highest Amount of Time Spent 115
Leading Social Networking Sites in the US (2010): Ranked by
Number of Visitors 115
Table 14: Performance of Facebook in the US Social
Networking Industry 115

Table 15: Popularity of Facebook in the US (2011):
Percentage Breakdown of Users by Age Group-55-65 Years,
45-54 Years, 35-44 Years, 26-34 years, 18-25 Years and
13-17 Years 116

Table 16: US Online Advertising Market (2011): Percentage
Breakdown of Spending by Format- Search Advertising,
Display Advertising, Directories and Classifieds, Lead
Generation and E-Mail Advertising 116

Table 17: Advertising Reach (In %) of Social Networks in
the United States for the year 2011 117

Table 18: US Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis for
Online Retailing Independently Analyzed with Annual
Revenues in US$ Billion for Years 2010 through 2015 117

Table 19: Leading US Online Display Publishers (2010):
Breakdown of Number of Impressions in Millions 118

Table 20: US Social Gaming Market (2011): Percentage
Breakdown of Revenue by Segment- Virtual Goods, Advertising
and Lead Generation Offers 118

2. EUROPE 119
Localizing European Websites: An Area of Focus 119
European Online Market Skyrockets 119
Online Ad Spend Across Europe 119
Table 21: European Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis
for Online Advertising by Geographic Region - France,
Germany, Italy, UK, Spain and Rest of Europe Independently
Analyzed with Annual Revenues in US$ Million for Years 2010
through 2015 120

Table 22: European 5-Year Perspective for Online Advertising
by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of Revenues for
France, Germany, Italy, UK, Spain and Rest of Europe for
Years 2011 & 2015 121

2a. THE UNITED KINGDOM 122
Growing Spending on Online Advertising 122
Advertising in Social Networking Sites Holds Promise 122

3. ASIA-PACIFIC 123
Online Advertising Market Displays Resilience to Recession 123
Table 23: Asia-Pacific Recent Past, Current and Future
Analysis for Online Advertising by Geographic Region -Japan,
China and Rest of Asia-Pacific Independently Analyzed with
Annual Revenues in US$ Million for Years 2010 through 2015 123

Table 24: Asia-Pacific 5-Year Perspective for Online
Advertising by Geographic Region - Percentage Breakdown of
Revenues for Japan, China and Rest of Asia-Pacific for Years
2011 & 2015 124

3a. CHINA 125
China- A Lucrative Online Retailing Market 125
Table 25: Internet Users & Online Shoppers in China (2011):
Percentage Breakdown of Number of Netizens and Online
Shoppers by Age Group- Over 40 Years, 36-40 Years, 31-35
Years, 25-30 Years, 18-24 Years and 18 and Below 125

Table 26: Chinese Recent Past, Current and Future Analysis
for Online Retailing Independently Analyzed with Annual
Revenues in US$ Billion for Years 2010 through 2015 126

Table 27: Online Retailing Market in China (2011): Percentage
Breakdown of Online Shopping Transaction Value by Province-
Shanghai, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Others 126
Tough Times for Portals with Obscene Content 127
Table 28: Leading Players in the Chinese Web Portal
Advertising Market (2011): Percentage Breakdown of Revenues
for Sina, Sohu, Tencent, Netease and Others 127

3b. INDIA 128
Increased Internet Usage Drives Growth in E-Commerce Market 128
Online Advertising Gaining Popularity 128
Job Portal Sector On a High 128
E-Matrimony Industry Gaining Foothold 129
India Acquires Place on the Social Networking Map 129
Overseas Tourism Organizations Utilize Web Portals to
Influence Indian Tourists 129

3c. MALAYSIA 130
Growing Demand for e-Governance Portals 130

3d. VIETNAM 131
A Preferred Web Portal Development Destination 131

4. LATIN AMERICA 132
Growing Interest in Content Management 132
Computer Mediated Communication Scenario 132
Uneven Distribution of List Servers and Electronic Lists 132
Disparity in Distribution of Virtual Communities 132
Information Resources Versus Communication Resources 133
Still Dependent on Other Nations for Information Sources 134
Enhanced Presence in Virtual Communities: Need of the Hour 134

4a. BRAZIL 135
Growing Prominence of Social Networking Sites 135


GLOBAL DIRECTORY