New York–The economy may be down, but don’t count the Internet out. According to a recent report by research firm Jupiter Media Metrix, long-term drivers will lead to continued growth even though current market conditions will temporarily mitigate their effects in the short term.
The study identifies four growth drivers: continued consumer demand for Internet services, more-fulfilling experiences on the part of users, growth in consumers’ average online tenure, and business cost savings. Jupiter Media Metrix also found that the number of unique visitors online grew more than 13% throughout the first half of 2001. And secured conversion rates (the visitors who go into a secure mode for buying on a Website) also increased, from less than 25% of online visitors in January 2000 to 45% in January 2001.