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Do you CEE the internet reality in Central and Eastern Europe?
2010-04-07
The dynamics of the internet in the CEE region, its rapid development and unique characteristics have captured the attention of the key online players in Europe for several years now. gemiusAudience results, showing the increase of penetration rates on particular markets and the augmentation of online adspends, are clear signs of the increased potential of this part of the world for advertisers. The strength of the CEE markets is further confirmed by the firm position held by local social networking websites in particular countries.
Central and Eastern Europe having experienced numerous economic and technological barriers in the past is now proving its potential on the online market. Although the CEE region has not yet attained a level of development similar to Western markets, its unquestionable assets are rapid growth as far as, for example, internet penetration rate is concerned. Moreover, this region may offer competitive prices and new solutions which are ready to be implemented.
As mentioned above, a glance at the internet penetration growth rate between the years 2006 and 2009 may serve as justification for the increased interest in the potential of the region.
Five of the studied CEE countries have noted internet penetration levels of over 50 percent, and, as seen on the chart, in most instances the countries of the region are experiencing constant growth. What is interesting is the fact that, according to these data, the country which has the lowest penetration rate – Ukraine – has at the same time experienced the most significant growth in the studied period. Between the years 2006 and 2009 the growth on this market amounted to 84 percent.
Furthermore, another indicator which may serve as proof of the rate of development in the countries of this region is the average growth of the amount of money allocated for online advertising expenditure. Upon comparing the outcome for the CEE region with that of the countries of Western Europe, one can clearly note how dynamic this increase is – in the period 2007-2008 the growth of online adspends on CEE markets amounted to 52 percent which is more than double the result for Western markets in the same period.
The visibly lower rate of growth for Western countries in all probability stems from the high development and saturation of these markets. On the other hand, in the CEE region, where markets are less mature, the dynamics of expansion and investment in online advertising are significant as far as the potential of these countries is concerned.
As mentioned above, it is not only increasing penetration rates and online expenditures that give evidence of the possibilities present in Central and Eastern Europe. Local online brands, created and developed in these countries, have proved themselves in the battle with the global giants. A case in point may be social networking websites. It is interesting to observe how in these countries, the ideas and solutions developed “at home” have defied the expansion of such entities as Facebook. The specificity of the online market in these countries demonstrate the new fields that advertisers and other interested parties may explore.
Data that show the current situation on the CEE online market are taken from the gemiusAudience research study – a study which has been conducted and developed by Gemius since 2002 and is carried out on more than 16 markets across Europe and the Middle East. gemiusAudience makes use of a unique hybrid measurement methodology, which consists of integrating site-centric research with panel study and offline structural data. Moreover, the method of conducting this study is adapted every time to the particular internet situation on a given market in order to obtain the most precise data (by means of choosing either cookie panel of software panel in the research). What is more, the gemiusAudience study also provides data on the usage of applications, streaming content (audio and video) as well as mobile websites. gemiusAudience results prove to be an indispensible tool in the work of advertisers, publishers, media house representatives, as well as analysts and journalists. The gemiusAudience study was the main tool in the preparation of „Do you CEE? Interactive Overview of Central and Eastern Europe Markets 2009” IAB/Gemius Report which can be downloaded from the website of the third Internet CEE conference www.internetcee.com.
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Contact:
Marta Klepka - Deputy Director of International Operations marta.klepka@gemius.comPress contact:
Grażyna Jakubowska- grazyna.jakubowska@gemius.com