China overtakes US as world’s biggest user of internet

China’s web population will grow by about 18 per cent a year, putting the total at 490m by 2012 – more than the population of the US

China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest user of the internet, thanks to a rise of more than 61 per cent of people in the country using the web in the past year.

More than 221 million Chinese were online at the end of February compared with 137 million at the start of 2007, tying for first place with the United States. But experts say that the number is sure to have risen steeply in the past few weeks, placing China in the undisputed number one position.

Despite the substantial increase, internet penetration in China remains low given the size of the population. Only 16 per cent of the country’s 1.3 billion are online compared with a world average of 19 per cent.

Experts say that the number will swell rapidly in the next few years as hundreds of millions of Chinese still toiling as low-paid farmers or labourers experience a rise in their incomes that will enable them to go online. BDA China, a Beijing technology company, estimates that China’s web population will grow by about 18 per cent a year, putting the total at 490 million by 2012 – more than the population of the United States.

For the Chinese, the internet is becoming their preferred means of communication, their top source of information and their favourite for entertainment. Sites that offer video-sharing have become among the most popular in China over the past year, commanding as many as 100 million visitors a day – equal to the entire audience for the biggest state television channels.

The carefully policed Great Firewall of China, which blocks searches for content considered subversive or pornographic, has also turned its spotlight on these sites. Last month the Government said that it would shut down 25 video sites and punish 32 others for violating new rules against carrying content deemed pornographic, violent or a threat to security.

The most commonly blocked searches are for words such as Taiwan independence, Tibet, the Dalai Lama or the Falun Gong, the banned quasi-religious sect. These are topics of less interest to most Chinese than detailed news of the torch relay, results of the latest Manchester United match or gossip about Brad Pitt.

Another reason for the mushrooming popularity of the internet has been a regulatory quirk. Fixed-line phone companies are losing potential new customers to mobile phone services but are barred from entering that market themselves. So they are trying to bring in new revenues by promoting low-cost broadband internet access. This has brought high-speed service to millions more Chinese.

It has been a powerful tool for communication in the past few days when internet users – backed by mobile phone text messaging – tried to mobilise a nationwide boycott of Carrefour, the French supermarket accused of supporting the Dalai Lama

Rural Internet Usage in China

On September 7, 2007, the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) published “Survey Report on the Internet Usage in Chinese Rural Area”. This is the first full scale survey report published in China regarding the macro Internet development situation in rural areas of China. The report shows that the number of Internet users in Chinese rural areas has exceeded 37 million, and that their major application is online entertainment, which equals the level in urban areas.

The Digital Divide between urban and rural areas is still obvious. The report shows that by the end of June 2007, the number of the rural Internet users reached 37.41 million. The penetration rate of the Internet for all 737 million rural residents is only 5.1%. Meanwhile, China has 125 million urban Internet users, with an urban penetration rate of 21.6%. However, comparing with the statistics of December 2006, the gap has been gradually narrowed. China had 23.1 million rural Internet users in 2006, with a penetration rate of 3.1%.

The main bottleneck is that at year end of 2006, every 100 households in rural areas possess only 2.7 computers, which is far behind the figure for urban areas (47.2 computers). Comparing with the figures for the same period in 2005, the computer number increased from 0.6 in every 100 rural households, while the urban households now have 5.7 computers more. The report also indicates their reasons for not using the Internet. The main one is “have no facility”, which accounted for 39.5% of all non-users in rural areas, while this proportion in urban areas is only 26.6%. Due to the lack of household computers, 53.9% of rural users surf online in Internet cafes, resulting in a much higher figure that even exceeds the national average Internet café surfing rate of 37.2%. Insufficient Internet infrastructures in rural areas has become the major bottleneck that blocking the development of the Internet usage in Chinese rural areas.

Comparing with urban users, the application level of rural Internet users is less advanced. The report shows that 66.5% of rural users read online news, while the proportion in urban areas is 81.5%, which is 15 percentage points higher; 65.8% of the rural users use search engines while the rate in urban areas is 13 percentage points higher (78.4%). Besides, much less users in rural areas have ever touched online purchasing, online banking and online stock trading.

It was found in the survey that rural users and urban users have similar access level for online entertainment. The rates of listening online music, playing online games and watching online movies and TV series of rural users are respectively 68.9%, 47.1% and 60.9%, comparing to 68.4%, 47.0% and 61.2% of urban users.

The survey also involved rural migrants. The statistics show that rural migrant users reached 20 million and that most of them access the Internet in Internet cafes or through their mobile phones. For that matter, they averagely pay 86.6 RMB Yuan per month, that is 11 Yuan higher than the average level of the total Internet users (75 RMB Yuan) and even higher than the total non-student users monthly cost of 80.8 RMB Yuan.

In conclusion, along with the progress of rural informatization access in China, the Internet has become a substantial part of the building of a new-type rural area. 37 million rural users are bringing vast demand and real business opportunities. No one doubts the rural area in China will become a great Internet market.

China’s battle to police the web

Web users in China are able to view the BBC News website for the first time in years. So how does the so-called great firewall of China work?

It is not clear why China’s net population, the world’s largest, is suddenly able to view the BBC News website after years of being blocked. Nor is it clear how long the access will continue.

But what is certain is that China’s authorities have dynamic control of what their citizens can and cannot access.

Most countries that block or filter the internet do so on a site-by-site basis. For example, Pakistan blocked YouTube recently by telling Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country to redirect traffic whenever someone typed in the address for the popular video sharing site.

By deliberately rewriting the net address books inside Pakistan, authorities were able to redirect traffic.

But this is a blunt method of filtering and relies on authorities to actively track websites it wants to ban.

China does not block content or web pages in this way. Instead the technology deployed by the Chinese government, called Golden Shield, scans data flowing across its section of the net for banned words or web addresses.

New Book Available!

Finally, the print copy of Internet Evangelism in the 21st Century is available through Amazon.com. It is $22,99 plus shipping! Also, remember to check out the print copy of Mediastrategy for Christian Witness available at the same price.

Facebook Case Study

Facebook Campaign:

This last Monday, February 18, was the 38th and final day for the ad campaign “February 18 – International Day of Prayer for Peace in Pakistan.” The purpose of the campaign was to increase the prayer support for the peoples of Pakistan. I picked the election day to focus on because four weeks seemed like neither too long nor too short of a time frame and I thought that election day would have its own natural publicity that I could leverage for prayer. The campaign was originally set for 4 weeks but was extended when the election day was reset. Forty days would have been more biblical but it seemed to work out anyway.

Overview:
The ad campaign gave some people a connecting point to show concern for the country of Pakistan as they faced recent elections while giving me the opportunity to speak truth into their lives about the type of peace that Pakistan needs.
The fans came from far and wide, but the majority were of Pakistani descent.
The wall posts were varied but optimistic and reflected different faiths.
The elections came off peacefully and all the glory goes to the Father.

Data Collected:

Ad Impressions: 4,027,802
Clicks on Ads: 1,323
Fans: 357 (adding 2 or 3 per day as of Feb. 25)
Removed Fans: 15
Fan’s Locations: Egypt, Pakistan, Australia, London and various UK cities, Various US networks, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Israel, etc.
Wall Posts: 44
Views Feb 9-16: 1,202 (171 per day)
Unique Views Feb 9-16: 697 (99.6 per day)
Updates Sent to Fans: 6
Countries Targeted:
US 82 Clicks (4 different ads over 4 weeks)
UK 14 (3 different ads)
Canada 142 (2 different ads)
Singapore 166
South Korea 125
Australia 60
Philippines 75
Egypt 649
Sweden 5
Norway 4
France 1

Cost: $170.82

Problems:
One cousin’s post had to be remove because of a bad word, even though the overall content wasn’t bad. One post was removed because it was promoting a business. One fan, “Guardian Jesus” was his moniker, used a swastika picture for his profile and some of the other profile pics were a bit provocative or even creepy. The interaction with the fans was limited, because I did not use my profile to connect with them.

Lessons:
Facebook is definitely a force to be reckoned with and is very dynamic in nature. The potential for connections across the globe is amazing. To get to a deeper connection with fans will take some dedicated time and a public profile that I was reluctant to develop, for security reasons. The campaign could probably have been more effective with more personal interaction. When I started sending out updates I lost some fans, but not that many considering that I was quoting scripture. The notes that were sent out generated very little written feedback.

If the site had been initially more C1 the fans would have been fewer, but there might have been more opportunity to pray together or use the site as a prayer guide. I didn’t expect the number of Pakistanis that joined as fans. Egypt was only added to the campaign for the last 10 days after so many cousins had joined and they were so fervent in expressing their desire to pray for peace.

I changed the ads several times and raised or lowered the price for different ads several times. Different pictures didn’t seem to matter too much. The amount bid for the ad did have an impact, but the greatest impact was how I searched for viewers. If I limited the search to a person’s likes (praying, world peace, Christianity, were just a few that I tried) it definitely limited the number of people who saw the ad. If I lowballed the bid it also limited the number of views. Egypt has 566,000 Facebook users but because the ads were so cheap and there are evidently a number of Pakistanis living there, it was the most responsive ad. Singapore has only 400,000 Facebook users but was also responsive. Canada has 7.5 million Facebook users and may be an area that I could have focused on more. It is hard to get a lot of views among the 19 million US Facebook users. Our personal networks contributed a good number of the fans but probably not more than 20%, so the ads were definitely productive and I would say worth the money spent.

The Facebook site is still active and continues to add fans but I am no longer monitoring it as frequently and I am not currently planning anymore contact with the fans. I am considering several different next steps, but I am waiting on a stateside partner’s help. Let’s keep praying for a Facebook pastor.

By RR

Social Networking, continued

So many questions. How do we leverage social networking sites for the Gospel? To do this we need to understand how advertisers use these sites and attempt to “monetize” them. To understand, think about this:

It all comes down to purchase-intent. When a user goes to Google, or any other search or vertical site for that matter, and types in “Laptop” or “Car Insurance” or “flight to Atlanta,” in most cases they are declaring their intent to purchase one of the aforementioned products in the near future. This is one of the main benefits of advertising on a search engine or a vertical site. Google’s success stems from it being the world’s #1 aggregator of consumer purchase-intent data.

Internet users spend roughly 5% of their time declaring purchase intent (i.e. searching) on search results pages that seize approximately 40% of Internet ad spending, and 95% of their time browsing ad-supported content (i.e. social networking sites, news sites, Web-based email sites) that are mainly unsold or sold for relatively low rates and difficult to monetize via contextual means.

So, if we think of people searching for felt need issues, we see that they are showing intentionality- if the same stats work of a lost soul searching for solice and answers to his life issues, the question is how to turn that search into a purchase (personal contact, conversion, small group, house church)?

Please comment on this below.

Social Networking Sites Going Global

MySpace, Facebook and other social-networking sites aren’t just slugging it out for customers in the USA.

They’re expanding aggressively overseas, where a vast majority of Internet users live.

Most are targeting Asia and Europe, both of which have more users of social networks than the USA, and are growing at faster rates, according to data from market researcher ComScore Media Metrix. Some are launching new sites, others are offering translation applications, and some are acquiring sites that are popular in specific countries, such as Russia.

About 80% of the world’s estimated 1.2 billion Internet users are outside the USA, according to Computer Industry Almanac. Half the $40 billion online advertising market is non-U.S., says eMarketer.

 COMMENT: As with other forms of new technology, we need to get on board. How can we use Social Networking sites to communicate our Message? DH

For the entire article 

The internet in China, Alternative Reality

 China will soon boast more internet users than any other country. But usage patterns inside China are different from those elsewhere

ONE of the more striking end-of-year statistics pumped out recently by the Chinese government was an update on the number of internet users in the country, which had reached 210m. It is a staggering figure, up by more than 50% on the previous year and more than three times the number for India, the emerging Asian giant with which China is most often compared. Within a few months, according to Morgan Stanley, an investment bank, China will have more internet users than America, the current leader. And because the proportion of the population using the internet is so low, at just 16%, rapid growth is likely to continue for some time.
That such a big, increasingly wealthy and technologically adept country has embraced the internet is no surprise, but it has done so in a very different way from other countries. That is in large part the result of the government’s historically repressive approach towards information and entertainment. News is censored, television is controlled by the state, and bookshops and cinemas, shuttered during the Cultural Revolution, are still scarce.

The internet itself is also tightly controlled. Access to many foreign websites (such as Wikipedia) is restricted, and Google’s Chinese site filters its results to exclude politically sensitive material. New rules governing online video came into force this week. Electronic retailing is in its infancy, thanks to an unwieldy government-controlled payment system, so most shopping is still done in person. The attempt by eBay, the world’s leading online auction site, to enter the Chinese market was a flop. Alibaba, a site often described as the eBay of China, is in fact more an electronic yellow pages, helping buyers find sellers, than an online auction room.

Asia Blogging Network

Take a look at the Asia Blogging Network site. Think through with me the possibility of becoming involved in this type of blog. All blogs look for contributors who can post stories that are of interest to the readers of their blogs. Specifically, dealing with social issues. Take a look at the list of 60 blogs, city oriented and special interest oriented. If something fits, comment, get involved in the lives of the readers!

Internet Statistics Update

In Dec 06 I posted my first “Internet Statistics Update”. Today is the next installment. What we see here is a 3-6% increase in internet usage and broadband connections. While I did not include China and Hong Kong in my previous post, it is interesting to note that China is far exceeding the predictions of 2000 in internet and broadband connections. This is possibly because technology is making them cheaper or simply that the Chinese are becoming more global.

I think the question is simple here: What are we doing to reach the internet users? We know that there is an increasing number of “eyeballs” looking at computer screens as opposed to listening to radio or television. The internet MUST be part of any integrated mediastrategy! (DH)

CHINA - 162,000,000 Internet users as of June/07, 12.3% penetration. 50,916,000 broadband Internet connections as of Nov/07.

HONG KONG - 4,878,713 Internet users as of Feb/05, 69.9% penetration. 1,796,200 broadband Internet connections as of Sept.30/07.

CAMBODIA - 44,000 Internet users as of April/07, 0.3% penetration. 1,000 broadband Internet connections as of Sept.30/07.

THAILAND - 8,465,800 Internet users as of Sept/07, 13.0% penetration. 105,000 broadband subscribers as of Sept.30/07.

LAOS - 25,000 Internet users as of Sept/06, 0.4% penetration. 100 broadband subscribers as of Sept.30/07.

VIETNAM - 18,226,701 Internet users as of Nov./07, 21.4% penetration. 1,205,262 broadband Internet connections as of Nov.30/07.

MYANMAR - 300,000 Internet users as of Oct/06, 0.6% penetration. 800 broadband subscribers as of Sept.30/07.

SINGAPORE - 2,421,800 Internet users as of Sept/05, 53.2% penetration. 796,500 broadband subscribers as of Sept.30/07.

INDONESIA - 20,000,000 Internet users as of May/07, 8.5% penetration, Up from 18,000,000 in Dec 05. 1,008,200 broadband Internet connections as of Sept.30/07.

MALAYSIA - 14,904,000 Internet users as of June/07, 60.0% penetration. 1,106,000 broadband subscribers as of Sept.30/07.

KOREA(South) - 34,430,000 users as of June/07, 70.2% penetration.
14,524,685 broadband subscribers as of June/07.

PHILIPPINES - 14,000,000 Internet users as of April/07, 15.4% penetration. 123,000 broadband subscribers as of Sept.30/07.

JAPAN - 87,540,000 users as of 8/07, 68.7% penetration. 27,152,349 broadband subscribers as of June/07.