Runet is...

Sergey Antropov

How many in gigabytes?

You can find out the volume of the Russian Internet on the Yandex search engine page http://company.yandex.ru/. On the left is indicated how many documents the search engine knows and “how many gigabytes it is.” Today the figure is impressive - almost 670 million documents and almost 2 million servers. The volume of available information is 17.3 thousand gigabytes. But these numbers are also inaccurate. After all, Yandex does not take into account all sites, but only those known to it.

Scientists from the Nigma.ru project tried to measure Runet. The result of their calculations is more than 1 billion 52 million and 227 thousand Russian-language documents as of May 16, 2005.

You can read about the details of the computational algorithm in the news of this project. Without going into details, we will add that the May count is the second attempt to measure the Runet. The first turned out to be unsuccessful due to the shortcomings of the formula then derived. When changing some parameters, it produced sharply changing results.

Favorites

Runet is popular sites. Projects without which not a single Runet specialist can imagine his virtual life. The leader here, naturally, is Yandex. It had nearly 6.1 million visitors last October, according to TNS Gallup Media. The second is Rambler, whose resources were accessed by 4.65 million Runet users. Mail.ru closes the top three with 3.46 million people.

Following them in fourth position is the automotive site www.auto.ru. In October, more than 1.2 million readers turned its pages. How can one not remember that 60% of Runet scientists are men. Following cars, fifth place in this ranking is occupied by the newspaper of the same name, Gazeta.ru, which has attracted more than 1 million people. Next on the list is Aport (897 thousand), RBC (820 thousand), Lenta.ru (730 thousand), Gismeteo (730 thousand) and Newsru.com (568 thousand people).

Young, educated and with money in their pockets

How many in gigabytes is clear. Who is the most popular - too. Question on the other side of the monitor. How many Russian users does the World Wide Web have? Two respected companies periodically try to count domestic Internet users: the Public Opinion Foundation (abbreviated FOM) www.fom.ru and the Research Holding ROMIR Monitoring www.rmh.ru.

Estimates, as is customary, vary, but not globally. The problem is that FOM considers everyone who uses the Internet at least once every six months to be Internet users. "ROMIR Monitoring" recognizes as true Internet users only those who are online once a month or more often. Hence the differences. And yet, there are similarities between the two studies - in both cases, the calculation is carried out among Russians over 18 years of age. No one knows how many minors roam the vastness of the “web.”

According to the FOM, there are 21.7 million of us (Internet users or Runet users, as you wish). Or 20% of adult Russians. ROMIR Monitoring data is more modest - 16%. Or approximately 17.6 million people. Of these, according to the same Public Opinion Foundation, 17.5 million Russians appear on the Internet once a month, and 12.9 million once a week. 6.8 million people open their browsers every day. Solid numbers. In the recent past (autumn 2002, FOM data), 2.1 million Russians accessed the Internet at least once a day, and 8.7 million visited the Internet once every six months. It turns out that the issue of doubling is not yet facing the Runet audience. Doubles in three years.

Of all the cities (and regions), Moscow stands out. Here, 40% of adults access the Internet (ROMIR Monitoring data). Residents of million-plus cities and large centers with a population of over 500 thousand people actively use the global computer network. Residents of rural areas access the Internet less, which is understandable.

Who are Russian Internet users? According to a study by the FOM conducted in the summer of 2005, the majority of them are men, whose share is almost 60%. Mostly from 18 to 34 years old. Almost 40% have a higher education, a third (31%) have a specialized secondary education, and every fourth (28%) have a general secondary education. The income of Runet developers for our country is substantial. Almost 65% receive more than $100. per family member per month, a quarter - less than 100, but more than 50 USD, the rest - up to 50 USD. per person per month.

Interestingly, Russians use relatively new computers to access the Internet. At the end of December, Rambler conducted a survey of visitors to its projects. Among others, they were asked the question in what year the computer from which they access the Internet was released.

It turned out that 87% of the equipment was produced in the new, 21st century. Moreover, more than half of the respondents (54%) indicated that their computers were released within the last two years - in 2003 or 2004. Moreover, the age of the equipment depends little on where it is used. Office and home computers are about the same age.

How much in dollars

How much can you earn on the Internet? Starting from the provision of services for Internet access and website hosting to sales through online stores and advertising on the Internet? It's difficult to calculate. One thing is clear - these are hundreds of millions of dollars and even billions.

According to iKS-Consulting, in 2004, providers' income from providing Internet access doubled and amounted to $560 million. There are no data for last year yet, but according to analysts from the same company, they could exceed $1 billion. In 2004, traffic in the Russian segment of the Internet almost tripled and amounted to 48.3 thousand terabytes.

According to estimates from another analytical company, J"son & Partners, the volume of the Russian market may be even more significant. In particular, the market volume is estimated at $1.1 billion.

Companies engaged in online trading are not inferior in income to providers. According to the National Association of Electronic Commerce (NAUET), the growth rate of Internet sales in 2004 was at the level of 38-40%. The volume of retail trade in 2004 amounted to $662 million, wholesale - $442 million. Together over $1 billion. According to analysts, in 2005 the turnover of online retail trade in Russia will amount to $770 million. For comparison: in the USA the same figure in 2005 was $172 billion.

At the same time, experts were not too lazy to determine the “portrait” of the average Russian online store. The study was conducted by NAUET and CNews Analytics employees. So, the average electronic counter lasts 3 years. On average, he has 1.5 thousand visitors per day, of which 78 people (about 5%) become real buyers. Each purchase costs an average of 2.1 thousand rubles. In total, the average online store receives 162.6 thousand rubles per day.

Against this background, one of the largest and most famous stores on the RuNet, Ozone, looks simply gigantic. Unlike its competitors, Ozon sells goods not only via the Internet, but also via mail. In 2004, the giant's online trading turnover alone amounted to $12 million. In 2005, management plans to double the store's sales and bring them in total to $40-45 million. In 2003, the store accepted about 290 thousand orders, in 2004 - already more than 500 thousand. Almost half of the buyers are Muscovites (49%), every tenth is a resident of St. Petersburg.

The volume of electronic payments in 2004 was estimated at $1.2 billion. Forecast for 2005 - $5.1 billion. The exact numbers are still unknown. And even online casinos managed to collect $6 million from Runet operators in 2004. Compared to trade volumes, the numbers are small. But here too there is growth.

Inside the bag

Let's take a look into the bag of the average online shopper. What is he hiding there? Typically, books, computer components and music CDs. The choice in favor of virtual counters is most often determined by the desire to save time, find the desired but rare product and at the same time spend less money. All this is confirmed by the results of studies conducted among Russian Internet users by the holding company "ROMIR Monitoring" already known to us. Active network users aged 14 years and older took part in the surveys.

In total, 42% of Runet users visit online stores. Of these, only 41% make purchases. Almost half (45%) search these sites for product information and compare prices. 14% admitted that they visited online stores, but now they do not buy anything there. The typical client of online stores is a young man aged 25-34 years. The second most active are representatives of the age group 35-44 years. Young people from 18 to 24 years old love to wander through virtual shelves, but place orders less often. Mostly Muscovites buy. Petersburgers and residents of the regions are looking for information in online stores. At the same time, the majority of fans of virtual shopping are men. Their share among clients is two thirds.

More than half (51%) buy books and stationery from online stores, 38% buy computers and their components, and 29% buy household appliances. Less frequently included in the cart are music discs (21% of all respondents bought them online), films (21%) and software (17%). Movie, theater and concert tickets (15%), cosmetics and perfumes (12%), and payment cards (12%) are in little demand. Every tenth Russian Internet user managed to buy food products online.

What is the advantage of virtual trading? Almost two-thirds of Runet users (61%) cited time savings, and half (51%) like home delivery of goods. About the same number (47%) cited the opportunity to find a product that is not available in traditional supermarkets among the reasons for buying online. 37% of Runet residents save money by purchasing online.

Commercial break

According to the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (AKAR) www.akarussia.ru, the Internet advertising market in Russia grew by 65% ​​in the first three quarters of 2005, to $35 million. According to this indicator, it is twice as large as television advertising.

For comparison: in 2003, Internet advertising budgets amounted to only $18 million, in 2004 - $30 million. However, despite its rapid growth, the Internet's share of total advertiser spending is small. Thus, in 2005, the volume of the entire advertising market in our country was estimated at $4.9 billion. It turns out that virtual reality accounted for only 1%.

The situation should change in the near future. According to ACAR forecasts, in 2010 companies will spend an impressive $500 million on their Internet promotion, with total advertising costs of $10.3 billion. Thus, the share of advertising on the Internet should increase to 5%. Internet advertising volumes will grow by 65% ​​annually, reaching a maximum of 70% per year in the new year 2006.

The future is the Internet - investors understand this too. Last year they paid round sums for popular resources. The investment company "FINAM" acquired the most popular dating site "Mamba".

According to experts, the transaction amount was $18-20 million. The purchase of another major project, Gazeta.ru, according to analysts, cost the publishing house "Secret of the Firm" $10 million.

And further

Of course, within the framework of one article it is impossible to fully describe what Runet is. This is not only millions of users and thousands of popular resources. This is a piece of bread for many specialists, from website developers and optimizers, to owners of large portals and provider companies.

This is an opportunity to freely communicate, receive information, and exchange opinions for millions of people. For some, browsing the Internet is relaxation, for some it is a favorite job, and for others it is both.

So let’s wish Runet to grow both quantitatively and qualitatively in the new year. Fortunately, there is always room to grow and something to strive for.